DRS Technologies, a subsidiary of the Italy-based Leonardo-Finmeccanica, won a $339 million five-year, firm-fixed price indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) U.S. Army contract to produce a next-generation hand-held precision laser targeting system to target munitions, the company said Tuesday.
The contract calls for DRS to produce the Joint Effects Targeting System (JETS), which is designed for users to engage targets with precision munitions and provide digital connectivity to request call-for-fire. Using JETS, forward observers will be able to call for precision-guided munitions onto targets.
JETS aims to add enhanced technologies for the U.S. military while reducing the unit weight and improving precision accuracy. This will make the system a “battlefield multiplier,” DRS said.
The system will allow the targeting of munitions including the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Excalibur, and laser-guided bombs.
The system will also feature day and thermal night-vision sights, celestial compass sensors, an eye-safe laser range-finder and a digital magnetic compass. The JETS handheld module is set to weigh under 5.5 pounds.
“JETS will give forward observers the capability to call in precision munitions in all scenarios, leading to less munitions expended, higher target success rates and ultimately greater protection for our warfighters on the ground,” Shawn Black, vice president and general manager of the DRS Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems line of business, said in a statement.