FLIR Systems has received a contract from the US Army to provide a new chemical agent detection spray.
Through the contract, the army intends to procure a solution to detect sulphur mustard, a highly toxic chemical warfare agent.
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The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is valued at around $35.1m. It was awarded by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND).
Under the contract, FLIR Systems will deliver a new version of the Agentase C2 spray.
The company’s chemical agent disclosure spray possesses a key characteristic of changing colour on surfaces, equipment or clothing when chemical warfare agents are detected.
Agentase C2 enables targeted detection and allows decontamination experts to locate trace levels of contamination on surfaces.
The spray will be delivered in support of the US Army’s Contamination Indicator / Decontamination Assurance System (CIDAS) programme.
It can be used in emergency response missions, as well as decontamination of personnel or equipment exposed to chemical warfare agents.
FLIR Government and Defense president David Ray said: “Blister agents like sulphur mustard and nerve agents such as VX and sarin are an ongoing concern to the military.
“Our Agentase C2 spray technology offers unprecedented performance, enabling rapid detection of highly toxic substances while reducing the lifecycle cost of decontamination operations. This new award underscores our strategy to provide mission-critical solutions that help protect personnel on the frontline and save lives.”
The spray can aid in detecting and mitigating chemical warfare agents such as Sulphur Mustard, VX, or Sarin.
FLIR will carry out work under the contract at its facility in Pittsburgh.
The company will begin the engineering and manufacturing development phase, which will run for a period of 30 months.
The contract will then start production under an 18-month low-rate initial production phase, before transitioning to a 72-month full-rate production phase.
FLIR expects to deliver the Agentase C2 spray shipments in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020.
