QinetiQ in $160m contract win for US Army reconnaissance robots

British defence contractor QinetiQ won a contract on Friday worth up to $164 million (£124 million) with the US military to develop portable reconnaissance robots which can be carried in backpacks.

The company, which makes a similar robot called the Dragon Runner (pictured inset), will build prototypes for a new range of machine weighing less than 25 pounds.

They will be used for clearing buildings, caves and other tight spots where hand-to-hand combat is likely, according to army specifications.

The seven-year contract, awarded to the firm’s subsidiary QinetiQ North America, will start with an initial two-year development phase worth $20 million.

Jeff Yorsz, president of the division, said building ground robots for the army had been a “driving passion” for the company “for decades”.

The firm fought off competition from US-based Endeavor Robotics, which had developed a robot called Scorpion for the army tender competition.

QinetiQ was privatised by the UK government in 2001.