MAROKO133 Update ai: ‘World’s most capable’ bomb disposal robots deployed in UK with hapti

📌 MAROKO133 Update ai: ‘World’s most capable’ bomb disposal robots deployed in UK

The first batch of L3Harris T4 multi-mission bomb disposal robots, billed as the “world’s most capable” threat-neutralizing machines, have been brought into service by the armed forces.

The medium unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) are being deployed with British Army and Royal Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams across the UK, Cyprus, and Gibraltar. The multi-mission bomb disposal robots can neutralize bomb threats and safeguard both operators and the public.

The delivery is part of a £32 million ($43 million) programme that will ultimately provide 50 T4 units. The project is managed by Defence Equipment & Support’s Specialist Vehicles and Uncrewed Land Systems (SVULS) team in partnership with L3Harris.

Each T4 comes equipped with advanced controls, high-definition cameras, and a haptic feedback system that allows operators to “feel” what the robot arm touches, giving them precision in hazardous environments.

Smaller, faster, smarter robots

The T4s are more compact than the larger L3Harris T7 models already in service. Weighing just over 220 pounds (100 kilograms), the new robots are designed to maneuver in cramped areas, climb stairs, and fit inside a standard 4×4 truck—making them ideal for rapid emergency response.

Both the T4 and T7 share a haptic feedback interface that mirrors the user’s hand movements, cutting down training time and letting operators unzip bags, open glove boxes, and manipulate suspicious objects with near-human dexterity.

Depending on the task, a T4 can run for more than seven hours, with a skid-steer track system enabling speeds above five miles per hour. The platform is shielded for electromagnetic interference, sealed for durability, and can withstand a range of temperatures from -4°F to +140°F.

“The T4 robots offer many of the same capabilities and intuitive control as the T7 robot but in a more compact footprint, allowing operators to safely access threats in much smaller spaces,” said Ed Zoiss, President of Space and Airborne Systems at L3Harris.

Closing a capability gap

UK officials underscored that the robots will bolster national security and help meet Military Aid to the Civilian Authorities (MACA) obligations.

Steve Hayward, SVULS Team Leader at DE&S, said: “The team has delivered equipment into the hands of the users at pace, conducting trials and testing to achieve delivery milestones ahead of schedule.

Providing this capability in support of the UK Defence’s Military Aid to the Civilian Authorities obligations demonstrates the commitment within DE&S to deliver the right equipment where it matters.”

Colonel Tim Gould, Head of Programmes at Army DEODS, added: “The L3Harris T4 will now join its T7 stablemate in supporting our EOD operators on their vital work to safeguard the UK public from explosive hazards. The T4 will close a capability gap in the UK MACA EOD response by enabling greater UGV access in confined spaces.”

L3Harris has also set up a UK-based support team to ensure long-term maintenance and training, aligning the T4 rollout with existing logistics for the T7 fleet.

Ian Menzies, General Manager of the ICI Division at L3Harris, said: “The T4 gives operators the ability to neutralise explosive threats from a safe distance, reducing risk to life and strengthening the UK’s operational resilience.”

With deliveries underway, the T4 robots are expected to transform how British EOD teams tackle bomb disposal and hazardous materials operations, combining agility, endurance, and cutting-edge control technology to keep soldiers and civilians safe.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 MAROKO133 Hot ai: Trump Executive Order Quietly Declared That NASA Is Now a Spy

The Trump administration issued an executive order late last month, quietly declaring that NASA will operate as a national intelligence and security agency going forward.

The order stipulates that the agency will now “have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.”

It’s a major departure for the agency, which has historically focused on space exploration, as well as space and Earth sciences over its 67-year lifespan.

“No mention of that science and exploration stuff,” NASA Watch founder Keith Cowing, a former scientist at the agency who now closely follows its internal and external politics, wrote in a blog post.

There are signs that Trump’s intentions behind the order were at least partially related to labor concerns, rather than spycraft. The order also added NASA to the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS), excluding it from collective bargaining representation.

The news that NASA will now be a spy agency was seemingly overshadowed in the media by the president’s elimination of union rights for thousands of federal employees — mere days before Labor Day — despite multiple lawsuits challenging the change.

The change of status outlined in the order will also affect other agencies and subdivisions of the government, including the International Trade Administration and the National Weather Service.

The move sparked a protest outside of NASA’s Washington, DC, headquarters earlier this week.

“A huge part of the reason that I have that independence, and that my colleagues do, is that as a union-represented worker I know that I am protected from unfair retaliation,” Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association area vice president Monica Gorman told the crowd, as quoted by Government Executive.

Trump’s latest declaration comes at a turbulent time for NASA. The White House has already threatened to cut the agency’s science budget in half for the next fiscal year, potentially putting dozens of major space missions on ice.

While lawmakers have come up with a far more lenient revision to the proposed budget, NASA is quickly running out of time.

Trump’s most recent reimagining of NASA also underlines the president’s desire to militarize space and commitment and send “boots” to the Moon and Mars, as interim NASA administrator Sean Duffy recently put it.

The president has also proposed sending weapons into space for the first time as part of his proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense program, raising concerns over a space arms race with the United States’ adversaries.

Meanwhile, space science has taken a back seat, with Duffy vowing last month that NASA will give up on “all of these Earth sciences,” highlighting the White House’s dismissal of climate change and anti-science stance.

Despite its doubling down on crewed space exploration, experts warn that the United States could fall behind China in the race to return to the Moon.

Put it all together, and it feels as though the government is increasingly NASA’s primary adversary, with the agency is expected to lose thousands of senior-ranking employees as Trump remakes the United States in his image.

More on NASA: Now That NASA Found Signs of Life on Mars, It’s Clear Trump Made a Massive Error

The post Trump Executive Order Quietly Declared That NASA Is Now a Spy Agency appeared first on Futurism.

🔗 Sumber: futurism.com