MEDIA CONTEST: EOD Flight gets new robot

  • Published
  • News Entry 12
ACC MEDIA CONTEST --  While it may not be faster than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, the new Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight's All Purpose Remote Transport System's capabilities are nothing to scoff at.

According to Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Bryant, 49th Civil Engineer Squadron EOD superintendent, ARTS allows EOD technicians to accomplish missions from a safe location. He said it also provides them with a remote digging capacity, which in the past was either done by hand or outsourced to other units.

Sergeant Bryant said ARTS was developed to be an EOD robot from the very beginning.
"It was developed to accomplish various EOD tasks," he said. "It can be used to clear runways of unexploded ordnances, excavate buried UXOs and move suspected vehicle improvised explosive devices."

The ARTS has many other uses, as well. It can be used as a platform for standoff munitions disruption, to fire a 90 millimeter water cannon intended to destroy vehicles and neutralize IEDs and used in firefighting and natural disaster clean up.

ARTS operates remotely using an operator control unit, vehicle platform and whatever attachment is required by the mission. The vehicle can operate outside the line-of-sight, which keeps the operator a safe distance from explosive hazards. The OCU receives the data from the vehicle in the form of audio and video by radio waves.

Though equipped for the job, this particular robot has not yet been used in battle.
According to Sergeant Bryant, though this exact robot hasn't accomplished any actual missions, most of EOD personnel in his flight have used versions of the robot on deployments.

Sergeant Bryant said the robot will be a significant addition to Holloman's EOD inventory due to its size and capability.

"Before the robot was available for EOD, we used several different procedures for accomplishing our mission," he said. "For example, when we encountered UXOs on the runway, we'd have to use a special M-60 battle tank modified for EOD with an M-9 engineering blade. The EOD technician would have to clear the ordnance while driving inside the tank. This was very dangerous because when the UXOs exploded, the technician was in very close proximity to the blast and death was always a possibility. ARTS can clear the runway and if something detonates, the robot can keep clearing without stopping."

The ARTS is currently the only robot of its kind in this area and according to Sergeant Bryant, Holloman is not expecting another one.

While Holloman is not expecting another robot, the EOD flight is making good use of the one they have.

"Having a robot positioned at Holloman allows our EOD technicians to train on driving, operating and maintaining this robotic platform," said Capt. Kristy Youngpeter, EOD flight commander. "Previously, there were only a few sites available for this experience prior to possible use in the AOR, but now our technicians can train every day and develop critical skills - this makes a huge difference in skills brought to the war fighting table."