Rapiscan Awarded $4M to Provide Trace Detection Systems to International Airport
OSI Systems [OSIS] says its Rapiscan Systems security division has received a $4 million order from an international airport for multiple units of its Itemiser 4DX explosive and narcotics trace detection system. The award includes follow-on service and spare parts support. The desktop system will be used for checkpoint security. The customer wasn’t disclosed.
Army Plans to Acquire CUAS Systems from SRC, DRS
The Army says it plans to acquire counter unmanned aircraft systems from two contractors, SRC, Inc., and Leonardo DRS. The Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal says it has a sole-source requirement to provide expeditionary low, slow small unmanned aerial vehicle defeat system (E-LIDS) in support of an Army and Joint Urgent Occupational Need. The E-LIDS capability provided by SRC is aimed at detecting, tracking, classifying, evaluating and defeating Group 1, Group 2 and low-end Group 3 UAS. The Army plans to buy up to 100 E-LINDS and related support over five years. Separately, the same contracting command plans to acquire up to 100 mobile low, slow small unmanned aerial vehicle integrated defeat systems (M-LIDS) to meet an Army and Joint Urgent Occupational Need to detect, track, classify, evaluate and defeat Group 1, Group 2, and low-end Group 3 UAS. The Army plans to acquire the M-LIDS from DRS over five years.
IARPA Awards Contracts for Chemical Sampling and Filtering
The Intelligence Advanced Research Project Agency has awarded research contracts to Akita Innovations LLC, Leidos [LDOS], Physical Sciences Inc., and Xilectric, Inc. under the Ithildin program to develop new sorbent capabilities for sample collection, large area protection, and “smart” filters. The program runs through Feb. 2020. The test and evaluation advisors for the program are a team consisting of Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center, Johns Hopkins Advanced Physics Laboratory, and the Naval Research Laboratory. “Sorbents are materials that trap chemicals,” says Kristy DeWitt, IARPA program manager. “The sorbents used today simply trap the fraction of chemicals they are designed to trap when they are exposed to these chemicals, until the sorbent’s capacity is exhausted. Any additional functionality is left for the design of the sampler, scrubber, or filter system that uses the sorbent material. The goal of the Ithildin program is to make the sorbent itself ‘smart,’ improving efficiency and capability by shifting functionality from the sampler system or filter to the level of the basic chemical interactions between sorbent and sorbate.”
Tyonek Manufacturing Receives $21M Coast Guard Award for Helo Components
The Coast Guard has awarded Tyonek Manufacturing Group Inc. a $21.3 million contract to provide 89 wiring harness packages for the MH-65 Dolphin short-range helicopters as part of service life extension program (SLEP), program depot level maintenance. The current wiring harnesses were part of the original aircraft configuration in 1984 and a complete replacement will improve the performance of the airframe’s systems and subsystems. The SLEP will extend the service life of the helicopters by 50 percent, from 20,000 to 30,000 flight hours, allowing the MH-65 fleet to continue operating until it is phased out between 2035 and 2039.
DHS S&T Awards $6M to Norwich Univ. for Cyber Simulation Platform
Norwich Univ. Applied Research Institutes (NUARI), which is based in Vermont, has received $5.9 million from the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate to expand a cyber security simulation exercise platform to the energy sector. The Distributed Environment for Critical Infrastructure Decision-Making Exercises (DECIDE) was originally developed in tandem with and transitions to the financial services sector. DHS says that “DECIDE allows users to conduct collaborative, realistic, fully immersive, scenario-based exercises where the consequences of each participant’s actions feed back into the exercise. The exercises are designed to help trainees understand the systemic ramifications of their actions and improve communication during potential high-stress threat events.”