The US army has awarded DRS Technologies a $120m order for low-power uncooled thermal weapon sight II bridge systems to help warfighters see what cannot be seen with the naked eye.
DRS’s TWS II bridge family of light, medium and heavy-weapon sights use commercially available L-91 AA batteries for power and offer advanced, uncooled thermal imaging sensors.
The sight technology allows users to look deep into the battlefield through darkness, smoke, dust, fog and degraded weather conditions. The lightweight sights produce crisp thermal images of critical targets to improve surveillance and target-acquisition ranges while enhancing situational awareness and decision making.
RSTA president Terry Murphy said that DRS was now delivering more than 2000 systems a month.
“The investments the US Army and DRS have made in this highly reliable and easy-to-use family of thermal sights are paying off for our warfighters. We’re committed to helping them accomplish their missions with maximum lethality and survivability,” said Murphy.
The order from the US Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command is a follow-on to an existing five-year, $2.3bn indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) TWS II bridge contract awarded to DRS in 2007.
DRS TWS II bridge systems are used by the US Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and special operations forces as well as by homeland defence initiatives, customs and border-control agencies and domestic law-enforcement agencies.
