PARSIPPANY, N.J. /BUSINESS WIRE/ -- DRS Technologies, Inc., announced that it has been awarded approximately $21 million in new contracts from the U.S. Army to produce Driver Vision Enhancers (DVEs) for installation on a wide range of frontline combat and tactical wheeled vehicles. Increasing drivers' vision capability, survivability, and mobility in low-light conditions, the DVEs will support U.S. Army and Marine Corps units engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The contracts were awarded to DRS by the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) in Fort Monmouth, N.J. For these awards, DRS will provide DVEs in partnership with the Program Manager Forward Looking Infrared (PM FLIR) in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The systems will be installed on the family of M1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, Stryker Interim Armored Vehicles, Light-Armored Vehicles (LAV), and M113 Armored Personnel Carriers. The company's DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems unit, Infrared Technologies Division, in Dallas, Texas, will produce the focal-plane-array sensors. The unit's Optronics Division in Palm Bay, Fla., will assemble and test the B-Kits, sensor assemblies, and display control modules. The DVE is based on DRS's uncooled infrared technology and electronics, developed by the unit's California Division in Cypress and DRS Nytech Imaging Systems unit in Irvine, Calif. Product deliveries commenced last month and will continue through November 2007.
"As a key supporter of this significant, multi-year U.S. Army program, these recent orders reinforce our position as an industry leader in uncooled, high-performance thermal-imaging solutions for the military," said Fred L. Marion, president of DRS's Surveillance & Reconnaissance Group. "The quality and reliability of our DVEs support the military's objectives for increased mobility, survivability, and situational awareness of ground combat operations under adverse conditions."
Using DRS's low-power uncooled infrared (LPUIR) detector, thermally compensated optics, and an 800 by 600-pixel active matrix liquid crystal display panel, the company's DVE provides military vehicle drivers with the ability to see clearly at increased distances, regardless of light level, adverse weather conditions, and battlefield obscurants, such as smoke and dust.
The DVE provides enhanced situational awareness, target and ambush detection, and vehicle tracking, and it allows ground support elements to better keep pace with night-vision-capable combat forces. The DVE provides commonality between combat and tactical vehicles, and is readily adaptable to both vehicle types for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
DRS Technologies, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., is a leading supplier of integrated products, services, and support to military forces, intelligence agencies, and prime contractors worldwide. The company employs approximately 10,000 people.
For more information about DRS Technologies, please visit the company's web site.