DRS Technologies,
Parsippany NJ: DRS Technologies has announced that it has been awarded a new contract to provide the missile launch system on the Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) Weapons System for the U.S. Army's M2A3 Bradley vehicle program.
The Bradley is among the most formidable ground force capabilities in U.S. Army inventory and continues to be an integral part of the military's operations in Iraq.
The $15 million contract was awarded to DRS by BAE Systems. For this award, DRS will manufacture, assemble and test the dual-launch tube system and armament control unit (ACU) for over 450 TOW systems.
Work for this contract will be performed by the company's DRS Training & Control Systems unit in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Deliveries are expected to begin in spring 2006 and continue for approximately two years.
“DRS is a major supplier to the Bradley Combat System program and a key provider of command-to-line-of-sight systems supporting U.S. Army ground force warfare,” said Fred L. Marion, president of DRS's Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group.
“DRS remains committed to providing systems that play a crucial role in battlefield dominance.”
The TOW missile system is a crew-portable, vehicle-mounted, heavy anti-armor weapon system that consists of a launcher and one of five versions of the TOW missile. The launcher serves as a housing container for the missiles and acts as a steady platform during firing.
Attached to the vehicle via a turret-mounted motor that drives the launcher's elevation and rotation, it provides the circuitry to remotely arm and disarm the missile. The launcher is designed to defeat distant armored vehicles and other far targets, such as field fortifications.
The TOW missile system is the most widely distributed anti-tank guided missile in the world, with over half a million in service with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and military forces of approximately 43 allied countries.
In addition to the Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the TOW is commonly mounted on the Army's High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), M151 Heavy Jeeps, armored personnel carriers and Improved TOW Vehicles, as well as Marine Corps' Cobra helicopters and Light Armored Vehicles.
