DRS TECHNOLOGIES AWARDED $142 MILLION CONTRACT TO PRODUCE INTERNATIONAL
NAVAL INFRARED SEARCH AND TRACK SYSTEMS
21 Apr 06. DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a new $142 million contract for the production of SIRIUS Long-Range Infrared Search and Track Systems (LR-IRST) for the Canadian Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy. Jointly developed by DRS Technologies and Thales Naval Nederland, the SIRIUS LR-IRST system is designed to enhance ships’ self-defense capabilities by automatically detecting and tracking anti-ship missiles and aircraft.
The contract was awarded to DRS by the Canadian Commercial Corporation in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on behalf of the Canadian Department of NationalDefence and the Royal Netherlands Navy. For this award, DRS will deliver LR-IRST systems to the Canadian Navy for installation on board Halifax Class General Purpose Frigates and to the Royal Netherlands Navy for installation on De Zeven Provincien Class Air Defence and Command Frigates.
Work for this contract will be accomplished by the company’s DRS
Technologies Canada Company unit in Kanata and Carleton Place, Ontario,
Canada, with Thales Nederland B.V. in Hengelo, the Netherlands, as a major subcontractor. System deliveries are expected to begin in March 2008 and continue through August 2011.
“The selection of DRS for this significant contract represents the
culmination of a highly successful international development program, which
utilized the company’s experience in advanced signal processing and
electro-optical infrared systems,” said Steven T. Schorer, president of
DRS’s C4I Group. “By choosing to field this new sensor system, the Canadian and Royal Netherlands navies have taken an important step toward ship self-defense by augmenting the capabilities of existing radar systems. The LR-IRST system is designed to be especially useful in the expeditionary combat domain and littorals, where the risk of asymmetric threats to navies remains high.”
The SIRIUS LR-IRST system is the most technologically advanced,
next-generation system of its kind with unique processing algorithms that ensure a low false alarm rate. Proven in extensive trials in cold and warm water environments, it provides continuous passive search of the horizon and also supports a number of other ship tasks, including mine countermeasures, search and rescue, air operations, navigation and patrol. SIRIUS also provides high-resolution, panoramic video in day and night conditions that significantly improves situational awareness against asymmetric threats by automatically detecting and tracking small, low flying aircraft and small surface targets, which might otherwise go undetected by radar.