US Army awards BAE Systems $123m for thermal weapon sights

The US Army has awarded BAE Systems a $123 million contract for continued production of thermal weapon sights that improve situational awareness and survivability for men and women in combat. The order - the most recent under a five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract - increases BAE Systems' total thermal weapon sight contract value to more than $1 billion since 2004.

The electronics technology is used on rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapon systems.

"The Army continues to show its confidence in our performance to provide a quality product for the men and women of our armed services," said Bruce Zukauskas, director of soldier solutions for BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. "This means soldiers will continue to receive our much-needed thermal weapon sights, which are lighter, smaller, and less expensive than first-generation sights, and thus help them to perform better in their missions."

BAE Systems also recently received a $14 million multi-year contract to provide these sights to the Canadian Army. The widely used thermal weapon sights allow operators of individual and crew-served weapons to see deep into the battlefield in darkness and through smoke, fog, and other obscurants, helping them detect and identify targets at longer ranges. The sights complement current and future infantry armaments, enabling users to overmatch the enemy in all conditions, day and night.

The company produces light, medium, and heavy thermal weapon sights using the company's MicroIR® uncooled infrared sensor technology to generate superior IR imagery without the need for bulky, power-consuming cryogenic cooling equipment.

The company has completed rigorous field testing of its thermal sites, demonstrating their ability to withstand harsh battlefield environments, and to date has delivered more than 80,000 sights to meet urgent Army fielding requirements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: BAE Systems

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