Bomb squad robot purchase at Mobile Police Department
Municipal police department · Bomb disposal · Trade press
An independent editorial outlet wrote its own account of this deployment. Numbers still appear exactly as published, and still need verification against your own job.
The job
The Mobile City Council in Alabama approved the purchase of a Remotec Andros Spartan unmanned ground vehicle for the police department's explosive ordnance disposal unit on February 18, 2025. The robot is designed to disable bombs while police and other first responders keep a safe distance, will be stationed at the Port of Mobile, and can respond to emergencies citywide.
The agency
not published; the robot is stationed at the Port of Mobile with citywide response
The equipment
Remotec Andros Spartan unmanned ground vehicle, 55 inches high, 29 inches wide, 42 inches long, 600 pounds, with cameras able to use visual light, infrared, thermal, and X-rays (reported-by-trade-press)
The published numbers
$446,815 purchase price (reported-by-trade-press); a federal port security grant pays 75 percent of the cost (reported-by-trade-press); funding named as the FY24 Federal Port Security Grant (reported-by-trade-press); top speed of 3.3 mph (reported-by-trade-press); runtime exceeding six hours (reported-by-trade-press); up to four simultaneous camera views (reported-by-trade-press); council approval February 18, 2025 (reported-by-trade-press)
Where a source did not publish a figure, this entry says so rather than guessing.
What we would check before believing it applies to you
EOD robots are the oldest and least contested category of police robotics, and the procurement pattern here is the one to study: a federal port security grant covered 75 percent of the price and the council approved the local share in open session. Grant funding ties the asset to the port, so an agency copying this must read the grant terms for where the robot lives and which missions qualify. At $446,815 this is a capital asset that also needs trained operators, maintenance money, and a replacement plan, none of which the grant necessarily covers. Mobile police had already used remote devices in a documented 2022 standoff outside Government Plaza, delivering water to an armed barricaded suspect, which reflects how often these platforms support negotiation rather than render safe procedures. Count on the robot reducing exposure for people, not reducing the caseload.
Sources
Is your job like this one?
Describe what your agency is weighing. Abe will give you an honest preliminary assessment, and if a robot or a drone is the wrong answer, he will say so.