DRS Technologies has announced that it has received a $22 million contract to deliver new embedded diagnostics systems for installation on the U.S. Army's M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
Among the most formidable ground force capabilities in U.S. Army inventory, the Bradley vehicles continue to be an integral part of the military's operations in Iraq.
For this award, DRS will procure incremental long-lead material and manufacture Chassis Modernization and Embedded Diagnostics (CMED) modification kits.
These kits will provide current production Bradley A3 vehicles with substantially upgraded weapon systems capability and an integrated, real-time, embedded diagnostics capability, while delivering increased weapon system availability, reducing logistics footprint, and lowering operating and support costs.
The CMED systems ultimately could be applied to all variants of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
The contract was awarded to DRS by BAE Systems, the prime contractor for the development and production of the Bradley vehicle. Work for this order will be accomplished by the company's DRS Test & Energy Management unit in Huntsville, Alabama. Delivery of over 400 kits is expected to begin in April 2006. Additional contracts for production and installation of these diagnostic kits are anticipated by the company.
"This award highlights the continued support of our embedded diagnostics systems as the diagnostics solution for ground combat vehicle platforms," said Fred L. Marion, president of DRS's Surveillance & Reconnaissance Group. DRS's equipment provides enhanced situational awareness to the Bradley driver, increased vehicle availability, simplified logistics, and improved product functionality and performance.
"The upgraded capabilities developed for this ground combat vehicle system ensure that the Bradley fleet will continue to play a central role on the battlefield."
For this contract, DRS will deliver CMED modification kits that include a Digital Vehicle Distribution Box with embedded diagnostics and enhanced video capability, Driver Vision Enhancer (DVE), transducer sensors, cable modifications, a Driver Display Panel, steering column modifications and common color flat panel display.
The kits will be integrated in production M2A3 and M3A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle systems at the BAE Systems Bradley production facility in York, Pennsylvania.
