TALON™ robots have been in continuous, active military service since 2000 when they were successfully used in Bosnia for the safe movement and disposal of live grenades.

TALON™ robots were used extensively at Ground Zero in search and recovery efforts after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. One of only two robot types actually used at Ground Zero (the others were the Inuktun robots), TALON™ robots were the only ones to last through the entire mission without requiring a major repair.

TALON™ robots were the first robots taken into Afghanistan during action against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. They initially accompanied the Special Forces on a Classified mission in Afghanistan and are still there now working on Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) projects.

In October, 2002, Foster-Miller received a 10-year, $27.6 million contract from the U.S. Navy to supply them with TALON™ robots for remote reconnaissance and EOD.

The standard TALON robot is a modular system that includes a removable, double-jointed, 64-inch (1.6m) arm and gripper. It is controlled through a two-way RF or fiber optic link from an attaché-sized Operator Control Unit (OCU). Along with up to seven cameras located on the vehicle, the OCU provides continuous situational data for precise vehicle positioning. TALON’s speed ranges from 4 mph (6.6 kmh) down to a creep with a continuous operational life of over four hours. It has been configured with more than 60 different mission packages and can carry more than 200 pounds (~90 kg) as a payload for maximum flexibility in any situation.