DRS Electro-Optics in LRAS3 for US Army & USMC Scouts

LRAS3 on HMMWV(click to view full) DRS Technologies, Inc. in Parsippany, NJ received a $26 million subcontract from Raytheon Company’s Network Centric Systems business in McKinney, TX, to provide major subsystems for the U.S. Army’s Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3). The contract was awarded to DRS byexas. Work will be performed by the company’s DRS Optronics unit in Palm Bay, FL, and product deliveries are expected to continue through December. DRS has booked more than $142 million in orders on the LRAS3 program, including the latest award. So, what is LRAS3, and how has it been used in combat? LRAS3 a long-range surveillance system for Humvee scout vehicles, usually M1025s and M114s. The idea is too keep scout vehicles out of direct fire range, and so it can spot things 15 kilometers (9 miles) away, obtain GPS coordinates and transmit these to aircraft or artillery units, or even designate the things it sees for attack via its targeting laser. The system uses advanced 2nd Generation Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology, a global positioning interferometer, an eye-safe laser range finder, a designator laser for guided weapons and a day video camera. LRAS3 is meant to bridge the gap between […]