Company
Howe & Howe
Howe & Howe Technologies is an American defense and emergency response robotics company based in Waterboro, Maine, founded in 2001 by twin brothers Mike and…
- Founded
- 2001
- HQ
- Waterboro, ME, USA
- Status
- active
Models
1
Overview
Howe & Howe Technologies is an American defense and emergency response robotics company based in Waterboro, Maine, founded in 2001 by twin brothers Mike and Geoff Howe. Now a subsidiary of Textron Systems following its acquisition in December 2018, the company manufactures the Thermite series of robotic firefighting vehicles and the RIPSAW family of unmanned ground vehicles, including the RIPSAW M5 developed for the U.S. Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle program. The Thermite RS3 was the first robotic firefighting vehicle sold domestically in the United States, deployed by the Los Angeles City Fire Department.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
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Key facts
Parent
Textron Systems Corporation (acquired Dec 2018)
Robot
Thermite line of remote-controlled firefighting robots (RS3, EV2)
Focus
Unmanned ground vehicles for fire suppression and hazardous environments
Country
US
Founders
Mike Howe and Geoff Howe (brothers)
Products
Thermite RS3 (firefighting robot), RIPSAW M5 (military UGV)
Deployments
Los Angeles City Fire Department (Thermite RS3), U.S. Army RCV program (RIPSAW M5)
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Current leadership (4)
- Mike Howe Co-founderreported, not verified
- Geoff Howe Co-founderreported, not verified
- Geoff Howe Co-Founder & CEOsecondary-verified
- Michael Howe Co-Founder & Presidentsecondary-verified
Founders (3)
- Geoff Howecofounder
- Michael Howecofounder
- Mike Howecofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Howe & Howe.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Howe & Howe in third-party press
Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- ATI Industrial Automation2 models
- August Robotics2 models
- Embodied2 models
- EverestLabs2 models
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Sources (1)
Common questions
- What is Howe & Howe?
- Howe & Howe Technologies is an American defense and emergency response robotics company based in Waterboro, Maine, founded in 2001 by twin brothers Mike and Geoff Howe. Now a subsidiary of Textron Systems following its acquisition in December 2018, the company manufactures the Thermite series of robotic firefighting vehicles and the RIPSAW family of unmanned ground vehicles, including the RIPSAW M5 developed for the U.S. Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle program. The Thermite RS3 was the first robotic firefighting vehicle sold domestically in the United States, deployed by the Los Angeles City Fire Department.
- What does Howe & Howe make?
- Howe & Howe has 1 robot model on the DEPLOY registry: Thermite RS3 (Howe & Howe builds physical robots).
- Is Howe & Howe publicly traded?
- Howe & Howe is not an independent public company; it has been acquired, per the DEPLOY registry.
- Who competes with Howe & Howe?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Howe & Howe building in the same form factors include DJI, Boston Dynamics, ATI Industrial Automation, August Robotics.
- Where is Howe & Howe headquartered?
- Howe & Howe is headquartered in Waterboro, ME, USA.
- Where does Howe & Howe operate robots?
- Howe & Howe is a robot manufacturer and does not directly operate deployments on the DEPLOY registry. Its products are deployed by customer operators; see the company page for the verified deployment record.
- Is Howe & Howe a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Howe & Howe ranks in roughly the top 27% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Howe & Howe founded?
- Howe & Howe was founded in 2001.
- Is Howe & Howe safe?
- Howe & Howe has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-07
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-07
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Howe & Howe.Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- ATI Industrial Automation2 models
- August Robotics2 models
- Embodied2 models
- EverestLabs2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Howe & Howe from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Howe & Howe Completes First Domestic Sale of the Thermite RS3 to Los Angeles City Fire Department
Howe & Howe sells the first Thermite RS3 robotic firefighting vehicle to LAFD, marking the first domestic sale of a robotic firefighting vehicle in the US.
LAFD Debuts the RS3: First Robotic Firefighting Vehicle in the United States
Los Angeles City Fire Department debuts the Thermite RS3, the first robotic firefighting vehicle in the United States, manufactured by Textron Howe & Howe Technologies.
Textron Systems Finalizes Acquisition of Howe & Howe Technologies
Textron Systems completes acquisition of Howe & Howe Technologies, the Waterboro, Maine-based defense robotics manufacturer known for the RIPSAW and Thermite platforms.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/howe-and-howe.md
- RSS feed: /companies/howe-and-howe/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/9a2c6a89-b9e8-4ff9-9c4d-b067ce4d92d1
- Revision history: /companies/howe-and-howe/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
- ATI Industrial Automation2 models
- August Robotics2 models
- Embodied2 models
- EverestLabs2 models
Video
SWATBOT is a tracked SRT mobile ballistic shield and entry all terrain robot that allows operators a safer more protected stand off. The Swatbot also offers more effective defensive and offensive capabilities in the act
Howe & Howe Technologies is joining Team USA in the giant robot duel by upgrading our track systems for much greater speed and power, increased agility and stab
www.howeandhowe.com Terramec 1 is a small robotic dozer that is the perfect size for small yard work. No longer do you have to be in the machine to operated it
Howe and Howe Technologies has developed the first mid-sized robot to be used for SWAT/SRT applications. Complete with a folding armor wall able to protect up
Howe and Howe Tech introduce the world's most powerful mid-sized firefighting robot with an astonishing flow rate of 2500GPM. The RS2-T1 is designed to create
Thermite T3 is the latest fire fighting robot by Howe and Howe Technologies. Capable of putting over 1000 gpm of water or foam on any hazardous fire in any env
Tuesdays @ 10PM EP on Discovery http://discovery.com/howetech The US Army asks the Howe brothers to make some big changes to H&H's two hi-speed tanks called th
Designed to create standoff, Thermite™ is the perfect tool to help operators combat fires safely and efficiently.
Designed to mitigate life-threatening situations, Thermite robotic firefighters provide fire suppression, situational awareness and intelligence gathering to fi
Ripsaw M3 is the pinnacle of high performance tracked innovation. A lighter more nimble variant of the Ripsaw M5 and developed by Howe X Howe Inc. - a company
Please donate & fund my Military Channel handsomely & generously! Thanks! https://paypal.me/ArronLee?country.x=SG&locale.x=en_GB Join me on YouTrip and pay in
Tuesdays @ 10PM EP on Discovery http://discovery.com/howetech Follow the family business of identical twin brothers, Mike and Geoff Howe, as they design and bu
Watch as our Thermite® RS1 maneuvers through real-life firefighting simulations at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX).
Please Subscribe and Support For More Videos and Content. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC88Wpf9g5I59unIcit3H2Uw?sub_confirmation=1 As the Team Ripsaw offeri
Howe and Howe Tech introduce the world's most powerful mid-sized firefighting robot with an astonishing flow rate of 2500GPM. The RS2-T1 is designed to create
Reality vs attention
Howe & Howe draws attention at the 81st percentile but verifies reality at the 13th percentile among other robots. Hype Gap +68.9, 2nd widest among other robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 14, 2026