Foster-Miller (QinetiQ North America) · military or security robot
TALON
A small tracked robot in military service since 2000, mainly for clearing roadside bombs, with reconnaissance, hazmat and coastal versions.
- Price
- —Not published
- Height
- —Not published
- Weight
- —Not published
- Payload
- —Not published
- Speed
- —Not published
- Battery
- —Not published
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Why it matters
TALON is on the market today.
Real-world use
Widely used by US forces for IED disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Maker
Foster-Miller (QinetiQ North America)Company · Massachusetts, USAPublic attention
How much public attention TALON gets, from open data.
- 4,004 views of its Wikipedia article in the last 90 days (Foster-Miller TALON)
- 2 news stories from reputable press listed on this page
Measures how much people read and write about a robot, not how good it is. Measured 2026-10-14; same method for every robot. How it is measured
What’s inside
The parts the company has talked about publicly.
- Movement
- Tracks
- How it runs
- Remote-controlled. A soldier or operator controls TALON from a portable Tactical Robot Controller.
- Actuators & motors
- Electric tracked chassis; climbs stairs and runs through sand, water and snow.
- Hands
- EOD version carries a robotic manipulator arm; reconnaissance versions omit it.
- Sensors & vision
- Colour, black-and-white, infrared and night-vision cameras; HAZMAT version adds chemical, gas, temperature and radiation sensors.
- Battery & power
- About 8.5 hours at normal speed; up to seven days on standby (lithium-ion).
- AI & software
- Remote control by two-way radio or fibre-optic link from a portable or wearable operator control unit.
- Other details
- Under 45 kg (27 kg reconnaissance version); range up to about 1,200 m. Withstands repeated decontamination; worked 45 days at Ground Zero after 9/11.
Lineage
Every Foster-Miller (QinetiQ North America) machine in order.
Watch TALON
Made, sold and where
Unit counts are usually company figures; analysts often disagree.
- Price
- Not published
- How to get one
- No official buying page found
- Sold or delivered
- Military and public-safety sales
- Where it is sold or used
- United States (Foster-Miller, later QinetiQ North America; sustainment parts made in Franklin, Massachusetts)
- Customers and pilots
- US Army (353 Talon IV units being refurbished in 2014), US forces in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan; maker cites about 20,000 EOD missions
News
The latest 2, newest first. Summaries are ours; tap through for the original.
- Army keeps TALON fleet running
The US Army awarded QinetiQ North America a $90m contract to maintain, upgrade and service its fielded TALON robots through December 2023.
Army Technology - $90m TALON sustainment deal
Military Embedded Systems reported the IDIQ sustainment award and that parts would be made in Franklin, Massachusetts.
Military Embedded Systems
Side by side with its peers
Picked by the same rules for every robot: another maker’s robot that moves the same way, is at the same stage and does at least one of the same main jobs, first shown within two years. Closer size and price rank higher. Few robots match closely, so these are the nearest matches. How we choose
| Measure | TALONFoster-Miller (QinetiQ North America) |  PackBotiRobot (later Endeavor Robotics, now Teledyne FLIR)Same jobs: bomb disposal, reconnaissance · Both on tracks · Both on sale or in pilots |  tEODortelerob (now an AeroVironment subsidiary)Same job: bomb disposal · Both on tracks · Both on sale or in pilots |
|---|---|---|---|
| First shown | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Status | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial |
| Height | — | — | — |
| Weight | — | 14.3 kg | 360 kg |
| Joints | — | — | — |
| Speed | — | 9.3 km/h | 3 km/h |
| Payload | — | — | — |
| Battery | — | — | — |
| Price | — | — | — |
Sources
Figures come from press coverage. Every link below backs something on this page.
Photos and logos only identify each robot and its maker. Simbeing is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsing any company, and nothing here is advertising. Figures are for statistics only and are not advice of any kind. Terms of use