Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Quentin Davies with Captain Judith Gallagher and the Dragon Runner, which is small enough to fit into a backpack.Lance Corporal Ben Miller shows off the Cutlass bomb disposal robot, which is being developed for the UK armed forces.On and off: Captain Judith Gallagher from the Royal Logistics Corp demonstrates the latest small bomb disposal robot, called the 'Dragon Runner.' It has a handheld controller similar to a games console
The Dragon Runner device will help soldiers to find and deactivate dangerous explosives on the front line. Its capabilities were demonstrated by members of the Royal Logistics Corps.
Measuring 12.2"x16.6"x6", the light-weight robot is reminiscent of the robots used in the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker. It weighs 14lbs - the same as seven bags of sugar- and can move at speeds of up to 5mph.
The sophisticated robot is manoeuvred over tough terrain using an intuitive controller, not unlike to a games console. It can climb stairs and even open doors.
The dragon has four on board cameras that relay images back to the operator via the hand held controller. Each shot can be viewed on screen separately or all four at once in a grid.
It is fitted with a manipulator arm that can dig around suspicious objects and lift items that weigh up to 10lb. It can also place small charges that work to disrupt suspect devices.
Around 100 of the multi-terrain robots have been built under a £12m contract with QinetiQ UK.
They will be used by a number of regiments including the RAF's Bomb Disposal Squadron, which is being deployed to Helmand province in March.
The MOD also demonstrated the Cutlass unmanned bomb disposal vehicle, which is being built at the Northop Grumman plant in Coventry.
The manipulator arm is equipped with a state-of-the-art gripper and has nine degrees of freedom for greater movement and agility inside limited spaces, such as the interior of a car.
The robot is able to creep along at deliberately slow speeds for delicate operations and may accelerate to high speeds to enable rapid travel. The six-wheeled design offers mobility on all types of hard and soft terrain and in all weather conditions.
It will eventually replace the Wheelbarrow model, first invented by an Army officer to protect soldiers defusing IRA bombs in the 1970s.
The Cutlass will be deployed with British troops by the end of 2011.
Colonel Robert Herring, from the Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal, said such devices were crucial in their war against the Taliban.
'The insurgents are extremely mobile, agile and adaptive and they know they can't defeat us man-to-man, firefight-to-firefight, so they use what we call asymmetric tactics to engage us and their weapon of choice is the improvised explosive device,' he said.
'IED levels in 2009 have more than doubled compared to two years ago and we have seen an exponential increase in IED activity and the trend just continues to rise.'
The Dragon Runners are already proving their worth against the threat of roadside bombs, according to the MOD.
Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said: 'Dragon Runner is an excellent addition to the golf bag of tools that are available to our bomb disposal experts in the Armed Forces and we will continue to develop that kit as new technologies emerge.'
