DRS Technologies Inc. has received an initial production order valued at more than $65 million from the U.S. Army for the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle (ENVG) III program.
The Enhanced Night Vision Goggle III, or ENVG III, promises an enhanced image of the battlefield and frees Soldiers from using traditional firing positions. Like current systems, ENVG is worn on a helmet but it is wirelessly linked to the Family of Weapon Sights – Individual, or FWS-I.
Because the FWS-I wirelessly transmits a video signal of the weapon sight to the ENVG III, a Soldier will be able to accurately fire his weapon without having to bring the weapon up to eye level. Soldiers will be able to point the weapon around a corner and fire from behind cover.
The FWS-I can be mounted on the M4 carbine, M16A4 rifle, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M136 AT4 rifle, or M141 Bunker Defeat Munition and clearly see targets past 1,000 meters.
Because the sight picture, from the weapon’s point of view, appears in the ENVG III, the Soldier gets the benefit of the 40-degree view provided by the ENVG III. This provides much greater situational awareness than the 18- to 26-degree view, which is provided by the scope of the weapon providing rapid target acquisition capabilities.
The ENVG III contains a “smart battery pack” connected from the sensors in the front of the helmet through fiber optic cables to the back of the helmet. The smart battery pack contains a small computer processor, which merges the image from the FWS-I with the ENVG III image. This allows Soldiers to see both the thermal and night vision imagery at the same time, detecting the heat signature of a target in visually degraded environments, such as in a smoke-filled room.
The contract awarded to DRS initiates fielding of next-generation technology that provides soldiers with an information hub through the ENVG display. DRS Technologies partnered with N2 Imaging Systems LLC, a UTC Aerospace Systems Company, on the ENVG program.
“This is a very important program for the Army, and we stand ready to provide this incredible technology to our warfighters to ensure they have one more tool on the battlefield to not only keep them safer, but to make sure they are able to complete their mission,” said Shawn Black, VP/General Manager, for one DRS Technologies’ C4ISR business unit.
The production order is the first issued to DRS under an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $367 million awarded by the Army to the company in 2015. The third-generation Enhanced Night Vision Goggle vastly improves situational awareness and is expected to change the way ground troops fight.
About DRS Technologies
DRS Technologies is a leading technology innovator and supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and prime contractors worldwide. The company specializes in naval and maritime systems, ground combat mission command and network computing, global satellite communications and network infrastructure, aviation support and avionics systems, and intelligence and security solutions. Additionally, DRS builds power systems and electro-optical/infrared systems for a wide range of commercial customers. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, DRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo-Finmeccanica S.p.A., which employs more than 47,000 people worldwide. See the full range of capabilities at www.drs.com and on Twitter @drstechnologies.
Photo courtesy of usarmy.mil
