EDGEWOOD, Md., 25 March 2008. textSmiths Detection, part of the global technology business Smiths Group, announced that its Military unit has been awarded a $23.8 million contract option to supply the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) with lightweight detectors under its Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) program, potentially the biggest of its kind in the world.

The M4 JCAD is based on the textSmiths Detection Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD. The chemical point detector has been developed to detect both chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). The M4 JCAD is smaller and lighter also offering soldiers better detection capabilities than chemical point detection systems currently in service. It also benefits from the use of a non-radioactive 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.

Mal Maginnis, president, Smiths Detection--Global Military and Emergency Responders, says: "Not only is the JCAD used as a point detector to monitor ambient air for a chemical threat, it can also be used as a survey instrument to check for contamination. This is a capability that previously required two instruments and is now packaged in one—the M4 JCAD."