Cleo Robotics has landed a contract with the U.S. Army for its small, unmanned aircraft systems.
The Boston-based company was awarded the contract, valued at $2.5 million, by the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) after demonstrating its technology during an Army Innovation Day competition.
Cleo Robotics will deliver an unspecified number of its prototype Tactical Dronut to the U.S. Army. The company says its drones are designed to operate in GPS-denied, dangerous and difficult to reach areas. One of the key features that allows the drone to operate in these spaces is that the propellers are located inside the drone. This allows the drone to operate in confined spaces without fear of breaking a propeller and downing the drone, or hitting people or sensitive equipment.
“This project’s goal is to improve air platform kinematics in support of indoor and outdoor short-range operations in complex environments to help mitigate operational gaps involving the clearing of buildings, potential tunnels, and other enclosed spaces that are incredibly challenging for our warfighters,” Nathan Rozea, Army RCCTO ACE office project lead on the TacDronut effort, said in a statement.
The Army’s RCCTO specializes in rapid prototyping and initial equipping of new technologies that could be useful on the battlefield.
“Partnering with a company like Cleo Robotics allows the Army RCCTO to bring disruptive capabilities to the warfighter. Working through our Innovation Day process paired this approach to a unit of action,” said Robert Monto, Jr., deputy director of the Critical Technologies Office and Advanced Concepts and Experimentation within the RCCTO.
The company already has a commercial drone, known as the Dronut X1, which is used to inspect hard to reach areas in factories and industrial facilities. Cleo Robotics said this drone is used by Fortune 500 companies. The drone can live stream high-definition video and collect LiDAR data.
The Boston startup said that the military can benefit from its drones similarly to private companies. It envisions its drones being operated within congested and contested areas in buildings, tunnels and other enclosed spaces.
“We developed the Dronut specifically to operate in challenging environments and provide lifesaving intelligence and information, so the TacDronut program is a natural progression for this technology,” said Omar Eleryan, founder and CEO at Cleo Robotics. “This endorsement by the U.S. Army is a great testament to the groundbreaking technology we’re building, and we’re thrilled to be working with the Army RCCTO team and Soldiers from an elite group like the 82nd Airborne Division.”
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