DRS Technologies wins Army contract for rugged computers

DRS Technologies Inc. received a $20.3 million contract to provide rugged computer systems for the U.S. Army's Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below program, which is also called FBCB2, officials of the Parsippany, N.J., company said today.

The computer systems will be installed on M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to support the Army's Blue Force Tracking requirements. Blue Force Tracking is a system of rugged computer hardware and software that forms a wireless "tactical Internet" on the battlefield. Blue Force Tracking requirements include beyond line-of-sight reporting and tracking and improvements in the flow of battle command information at the soldier, weapons and platform levels.

The contract was awarded to DRS by the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, N.J. Work will be performed by the company's Tactical Systems unit in Palm Bay, Fla. More than 1,600 systems are expected to be delivered from March through June 2004, according to DRS officials. Including the latest award, DRS has won about $129 million in contracts associated with FBCB2.

"Ruggedized computer systems ? play an important role in the U.S. Army's dominance of the 21st century battle space," said Steven Schorer, president of DRS's Electronic Systems Group. "These systems have proven to be crucial assets for our forces in Iraq as part of the Army's network centric communications infrastructure by providing improved interoperability and networked battlefield command information."

DRS Technologies, which develops mission-critical defense systems, employs 5,700 people worldwide and had 2003 revenue of $675.8 million.