Itronix wins $11 million Army laptop order, other business

Itronix Corp. has won two contracts worth more than $11 million to provide more than 2,200 ruggedized laptop computers to the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Ga.

More than 1,600 of the units have been delivered, said Vince Menzione, Itronix's vice president of public sector, with the remaining laptops to be delivered before the end of the year.

"There are plans to possibly roll out additional units," he said. "This is 2003 money."

While the laptops were not delivered in time for the deployment to Iraq, the 3rd Infantry's experiences with their previous laptops helped Itronix, Menzione said. "They had over 30 percent failures over there."

This is the largest single order Itronix has received from the government to date. The company's most significant sale until now had been an $8 million order from the FBI last year, he said.

In addition to the Fort Stewart contracts, Itronix also recently received about $8.8 million in federal appropriations for developing new, transformational technologies to support the country's warfighters.

Of the funds, $7 million is dedicated to Itronix and its partner, Trident Systems Inc., Fairfax, Va., to continue efforts to jointly develop the Dismounted Intelligence Situation Mapboard System for the Marine Corps, which will provide full situational awareness to infantry units on the ground.

Itronix and another partner, General Dynamics Corp., Falls Church, Va., will use the remaining $1.8 million to pursue innovative power source solutions for wireless, ruggedized handheld and laptop computers.

Headquartered in Spokane, Wash. and with more than 500 employees, Itronix was a subsidiary of Acterna Corp. of Germantown, Md. As part of Acterna's bankruptcy reorganization, Itronix was sold for $40 million in cash plus the assumption of some liabilities to Golden Gate Capital. The sale was completed Oct. 7.

"We are privately held, well funded and profitable," Menzione said.