BiodetectionJapanese military buys biowarfare detectors

Published 15 March 2012

The U.S. military deploy the Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS), and the Japanese military want to do the same, awarding a North Carolina company a $9 million contract

Chemring Detection Systems (CDS), a Chemring Group company, announced a $9 million contract award to supply biological detection systems to the Japanese Ministry of Defense. The award was made by Marubeni Aerospace Corporation. The systems will be installed in the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle.

The system is a variant of the U.S. DOD Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS) and was approved for export by the U.S. State Department. The company says that the Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS) provides automatic detection and identification of airborne biological agents at very low levels, triggers local and remote warning systems, and communicates threat information over standard communication systems.  JBPDS is manufactured in CDS’s Charlotte, North Carolina facility.

Bill Gural, president of CDS, commented: “We have provided JBPDS to Japan for the last five years in support of achieving their Full Rate Production authorization. This sale demonstrates the relevance of CDS products in the global threat detection market and we are honored to supply a solution for the JGSDF.”  

Forty to sixty systems are expected over the life of this contract for the Japan NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle. CDS is also under contract to provide technical manuals, training materials, and to conduct training in Japan to allow for in country maintenance of the systems once fielded.