North American robotics company iRobot has been awarded a $268 million army contract to develop the new generation of bomb disarming robots as part of the PackBot line.

Originally the contract had been awarded to iRobot’s rival Robotic FX, a small start-up company set up by a former iRobot employee. However, following a court ruling, the army cancelled its contract with Robotics FX and awarded it to iRobot.