The U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) deployed a remotely operated robot built to trace, validate and dispose unexploded explosive ordnance and other hazards to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
AFCEC developed the Man Transportable Robot System Increment II to replace the Air Force Medium Sized Robots destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2018, USAF said Thursday.
The center delivered a total of seven MTRS II robots to the 823rd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron and the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron.
Master Sgt. Justin Frewin, explosive ordnance disposal program manager at AFCEC, said the center plans to ship three to five robots and an operational new equipment training program to EOD flight teams for the 16 to 18 months.
"Being able to update or rewrite the software means the Air Force can easily expand our capabilities down the road by adding tools, sensors and other attachments, whereas the old model required hardware updates," said Kaelob King, a senior airman at the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron.