US Army Places New Orders for Thermal Weapon Sights

, PARSIPPANY: DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has received approximately $76 million in new orders to produce next-generation Thermal Weapon Sights II (TWS II) for US Army ground force applications. 
 
DRS received the new orders from the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) acquisition center in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, acting on behalf of Program Executive Office Soldier. For these orders, DRS will produce Light, Medium and Heavy Thermal Weapon Sights, which will utilize the company's uncooled infrared technology. 
 
Work for this contract will be accomplished by the company's DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems – Optronics Division in Palm Bay and Melbourne, Florida, and Infrared Technologies Division in Dallas, Texas, and Irvine, California. Product deliveries will be in excess of 1,600 Light, 3,900 Medium and 2,000 Heavy Thermal Weapon Sights. 
 
This order is part of a competitively secured five-year contract awarded to DRS in March 2004. The contract has a total potential value of $375 million, including options. 
 
“As an industry leader in uncooled, high-performance, thermal imaging systems, the TWS II produced by DRS are contributing immediately to the military's current and future force objectives,” said James M. Baird, president of DRS's Reconnaissance, Surveillance & Target Acquisition (RSTA) Segment. “The urgency and demand for TWS II by commanders continues to increase significantly. Improving soldiers' surveillance, targeting and combat effectiveness 24 hours a day, in zero illumination and in obscurants, such as fog, smoke, dust and sand storms, DRS's TWS II is optimized to place increased lethality in the hands of individual war fighters and enhances their survivability on the open and urban battlefields.” 
 
The DRS family of Light, Medium and Heavy TWS II use advanced uncooled thermal imaging sensors that currently support the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Special Operations forces. They provide soldiers and armament crews with greater range of threat detection and wider field of view at a reduced cost. Offering superior image quality, greater battery life, soldier-friendly ease of use and lightweight, these sights better equip war fighters to see the battlefield under vision-obscured conditions and engage the enemy. The Light TWS produced by DRS will mount onto M4, M16 and M136 assault rifles; the Medium TWS will operate on M249 and M240B Squad Automatic Weapons; and the Heavy TWS will operate on M2, M107, MK19, M24, M4/M16 Sniper Weapon Systems. 
 
The variety of DRS's uncooled infrared sensors ensures availability to international militaries, as well. The company's thermal weapon sights product line also is applicable to homeland defense initiatives supporting first responders and government customs and border control/protection agencies, in addition to private security companies, domestic law enforcement agencies, and for applications where the protection of high-value assets and critical infrastructure from terrorist threats are priorities. 
 
DRS has recently expanded production facilities and operations in Florida and Dallas to meet the continuing and growing demand for more of these critically needed systems and will be producing and delivering in excess of 1,000 systems per month by the end of the year.  
 
DRS Technologies, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, 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.