DRS TECHNOLOGIES awarded $49 million contract to upgrade key targeting system of U.S. Army Bradley fighting vehicles

Category: Contracts

Parsippany, NJ, March 29 - DRS Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: DRS) announced today that it has received a contract valued at approximately $49 million to provide Improved Bradley Acquisition Subsystems (IBAS) for the U.S. Army’s Bradley A3 vehicle program.

The Bradley Fighting Vehicles are among the most formidable ground force capabilities in U.S. Army inventory and continue to be an integral part of the military’s operations in Iraq. The IBAS enables vehicle gunners to detect, identify and engage tactical targets at dramatically greater operational ranges, increasing ground force survivability and target lethality.

The contract was awarded to DRS by the Ground Systems Division of United Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE: UDI), the prime contractor for the development and production of the Bradley. For this order, DRS will produce, test and provide support services for the IBAS, which includes the Target Acquisition Subsystem (TAS) and Missile Control Subsystem (MCS). This order also will include the new U.S. Army Block 1 B-Kit – a Second Generation Forward Looking Infrared (SG FLIR) system developed as part of the Army’s Horizontal Technology Integration (HTI) initiative.

Work for this award will be accomplished by the company’s DRS Optronics unit in Palm Bay, Florida. Product deliveries are expected to commence this October and conclude in July 2006.

"This latest award underscores DRS’s position as a major supplier to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle program and as a leading provider of fire control solutions to Army ground combat platforms," said Fred L. Marion, president of DRS’s Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group. "This new contract supports our reputation as a proven, world-class fire control systems producer and highlights our customer’s regard for our strong, long-term performance on this program. The leading edge sighting system technologies that are being incorporated in IBAS are critical to the Bradley A3, providing increased target acquisition performance, greater stand-off ranges and improved survivability for our ground forces. DRS remains committed to providing superior systems that play a crucial role in the digital battlefield."

The Bradley A3 is the Army’s most advanced, integrated digital ground system, providing outstanding survivability, mobility and lethality to soldiers in all types of close-combat urban scenarios or in open combat desert warfare.

IBAS enhances lethality through automated ballistics solutions and target tracking software. Using Standard Advanced Dewar Assembly (SADA) II technology, IBAS incorporates the HTI Second Generation Block 1 B-Kit FLIR, direct view optics, dual-aided target tracking capability, eye-safe laser range finder capability, a daylight television, and a two-axis stabilized pointing head mirror assembly. Other IBAS system improvements include enhanced shoot-on-the-move capability for the Bradley 25mm gun.

DRS Technologies, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, provides leading edge products and services to defense, government intelligence and commercial customers. Focused on defense technology, DRS develops and manufactures a broad range of mission critical systems. The company employs 5,800 people worldwide.

Patricia M. Williamson
31.03.2005

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