Cobham plc (COB) has acquired Telerob GmbH, a privately-held, German-based manufacturer of advanced bomb disposal robots and threat-response vehicles for EUR 78 million.

Telerob manufactures medium and heavy-weight explosive ordnance device (EOD) robots and response vehicles designed to deal with nuclear, biological, and chemical threats.

Cobham plans to integrate its own technology into Telerob systems, including communications equipment and sensors, that it already provides to the EOD market along with specialized cameras manufactured by another company, privately-held San Diego-based RVision, which the UK firm announced it would acquire in December 2010 for U.S. $28 million.

Telerob employs 80 persons, half of whom are engaged in R&D. The company will become part of Cobham’s Mission Equipment business unit, which develops unmanned, remote systems–from the Phoenix UAV to the latest generation of autonomous air-to-air refueling systems. The division, one of four within the U.S. $3 billion company, is also a systems solution provider in the field of EOD robot technology, which develops a range of unmanned ground systems and robots serving international homeland security and military markets.