DRS Technologies Receives $11M Order To Produce Assemblies For The U.S. Army's Improved Target Acquisition System

Parsippany, NJ - DRS Technologies, Inc. announced recently that it received an $11M contract to produce and test Xenon Beacon Tracker (XBT) assemblies for the U.S. Army's Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS). The ITAS is used for launching TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked Wire-guided) missiles.

The contract was awarded to DRS by the Network Centric Systems business of Raytheon Company in McKinney, Texas. Work will be accomplished by the company's DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems – Optronics Division in Melbourne and Palm Bay, Florida. Product delivery will commence in August 2008, with completion expected by May 2009.

The Xenon Beacon Tracker is a major line replaceable unit (LRU) and is the heart of the ITAS, which tracks targets and furnishes guidance commands to the TOW missile. The XBT converts the optical image of the flashing beacon to electronic signals that are subsequently processed by the internal computer. Guidance corrections then are relayed to the missile via the wire connections between the launcher and missile.

"DRS has been a supplier for the TOW missile's ITAS for a long time, so we are proud to have the opportunity to reapply our knowledge and experience for the continuation of this product line," said James M. Baird, president of DRS's Reconnaissance, Surveillance & Target Acquisition (RSTA) Segment. "The TOW missile has been a crucial part of the U.S. Army's heavy anti-armor weapon system arsenal, and as long as they depend on it, DRS will ensure the components it manufactures for it are of the highest quality."

SOURCE: DRS Technologies, Inc