ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- DRS
Technologies, Inc., a Finmeccanica Company, announced today that
its Network and Imaging Systems group has been awarded a
competitively bid Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
three-year contract with a potential total value of $455 million for a modular family of computers
and display systems that are expected to form the heart of
next-generation network computing technology for the U.S. Army.
The Mounted Family of Computing Systems (MFoCS) will be
installed on ground vehicles and weapons platforms to provide
modular computing capabilities across the services.
Under the IDIQ contract, DRS will provide dismountable tablets,
platform-computing servers, docking stations, interconnecting
cables, installation kits, and three sizes of ruggedized
sunlight-readable touch-screen display units for more than 40 types
of ground vehicles and weapons platforms. The three-year contract,
executed by the Army and available for the Marine Corps and other
services to acquire systems through it as well, includes options
for two one-year extensions.
The family of common computer and display technology will add
capability while reducing the overall size, weight, power and cost
of the systems currently installed worldwide on U.S. military
ground vehicles and platforms.
The award marks the most recent DRS accomplishment in a long
history of providing U.S. ground forces with state-of-the-art
network computing technology.
"This technology will provide our warfighters with a strategic
advantage on the battlefield and builds on the DRS heritage of
supplying cutting-edge network computing systems for the U.S.
military," said William J. Lynn, CEO
of DRS Technologies and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of
Defense.
Over the past decade, DRS has delivered more than 180,000 Force
XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below (FBCB2) and 25,000 Movement
Tracking systems for U.S. ground forces worldwide. The systems
provide critical Blue Force Tracking of friendly forces and
situational awareness for the military.
Mike Sarrica, President of DRS
Network and Imaging Systems, said, "U.S. warfighters deserve
reliable systems and the latest in networking technologies to
successfully conduct global operations in all types of
environments. Our partnership with U.S. ground forces began more
than one decade ago and has resulted in the delivery of some
200,000 battle-proven computing and display systems to the Army,
Marines, U.S. Special Operations Command and joint/coalition
forces." The DRS mission, Sarrica said, is "to deliver quality,
leading-edge solutions that enable mission command capabilities
with unmatched reliability and industry-leading
cost-effectiveness."
Three levels of computing and display capability in three
hardware configurations will be fielded to meet Joint Force and
Army requirements. The MFoCS family is fully interoperable with
already fielded legacy systems, protecting significant investments
in technology that provide distinct advantages in situational
awareness, battlefield digitization and mission command. The DRS
solution will not only meet key Warfighter Information
Network-Tactical requirements, but will also integrate the fielded
FBCB2 system, the current Joint Battle Command Platform.
This next generation of computing platforms also includes new
technologies such as the Intel® 3rd generation Core™ i7
Processor, expanded memory, greater storage and enhanced
Information Assurance. The enhancements will significantly improve
processing capacity and efficiency to run next-generation software
applications such as JBC-P, the Forward Observer System and the
Tactical Ground Reporting System.
The contract will support the Army PEO C3T and Program Manager
Joint Battle Command Platform at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Design and manufacturing of the
systems will be performed by the DRS Network and Imaging Systems
group in Melbourne, Florida.
About DRS
DRS Technologies is a leading supplier of integrated products,
services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and
prime contractors worldwide and is the 2013 recipient of the
Defense Security Service Award for Excellence in
Counterintelligence as well as three James S. Cogswell Awards for
Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement. The company is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica SpA (FNC.MI), which employs
approximately 70,000 people worldwide. Within DRS, the Network and
Imaging Systems (NIS) group manufactures and supports advanced
electro-optical sensor systems, and develops innovative networking
capabilities that integrate these sensors in a broader tactical C4
environment. NIS is based in Dallas,
Texas; Melbourne, Fla.;
Cypress, Calif.; Huntsville, Ala.; and the UK. For more
information about DRS Technologies, please visit the company's
website at www.drs.com.
For additional information please contact:
Michael Mount
Director
Public Affairs and Communications
571-447-4624
mmount@drs.com
SOURCE DRS Technologies, Inc.