U.K. marketSmiths Detection to supply chemical detectors to U.S. Army

The Edgewood, Maryland-based military division of Bushey, Hertfordshire-based Smiths Detection, has been awarded a $23.8m contract option to supply the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) with lightweight detectors under its Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) program. The M4 JCAD is based on the Smiths Detection Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD) which has been developed to detect both chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). The M4 JCAD is smaller and lighter and, the company says, it is also offering soldiers better detection capabilities than chemical point detection systems currently in service. It also benefits from the use of a nonradioactive technology compared with previous generations of detectors. The award is part of a Low Rate Initial Production contract won by Smiths Detection under Increment 1 of the JCAD program. A Full Rate Production decision by the DoD is anticipated within months, with potential orders for up to 54,000 additional M4 JCAD units.

Smiths Detection became involved with the JCAD program in 2004 by supplying LCD units for evaluation into Increment 1, culminating with its selection as the most capable detector in June 2007. In the same year Smiths Detection was selected to participate in the first major phase of Increment 2 of the JCAD program and supplied the DoD with multiple detectors for evaluation over the following year. The long-term potential for the JCAD Increment 2 program is for production of up to 120,000 units for the detector selected.