Persistent Systems has announced that it will supply the QinetiQ North America (QNA) team chosen for the U.S. Army’s Common Robotic System-Individual (CRS(I)) program of record with its Wave Relay mobile ad hoc networking technology (MANET). 

Weighing less than 25 pounds, CRS(I) is a backpackable robot that dismount users can carry with sensor suites for viewing and detecting threats, which provides greater situational awareness in the field.

“We’re excited to, once again, deliver the Wave Relay MANET to the U.S. Army and help lead the drive towards networking the battlefield,” says Leslie Hulser, director of Programs for Persistent.

“We are also very proud of our partnership with QinetiQ and congratulate them on this award.”

One of the first members of the Wave Relay Ecosystem, QNA won the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, valued at up to $164 million, earlier this year. The company has already started placing Low Rate Initial Production orders for Persistent’s Wave Relay-enabling Embedded Module, which will be fitted into each new ground robot.

Persistent notes that its Embedded Module form-factor is QNA’s MANET radio of choice for CRS(I), as it provides secure, long-range data communication for the small ground robots.