HOUSTON, 2 Sept. 2010. BAE Systems won a $629 million contract from the U.S. Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Joint Program Office (JPO) to upgrade 1,700 Caiman MRAP vehicles. The upgraded vehicle, called the Caiman Multi-Terrain Vehicle (MTV), integrates a refurbished and improved armored capsule from an existing Caiman with a new high-power automotive power train, chassis, and independent suspension.

LEXINGTON, Mass., 1 Sept. 2010. U.S. Army officials needed thermal weapon sights for rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapon systems for infantry soldiers in combat. They found their solution from the BAE Systems Electronic Solutions segment in Lexington, Mass. BAE Systems won a $123 million Army contract to continue production of thermal weapon sights that improve situational awareness and survivability for infantry soldiers, company officials announced today. The order increases the BAE Systems total thermal weapon sight contract value to more than $1 billion since 2004, company officials say.

MONROVIA, Calif., 1 Sept. 2010. AeroVironment Inc. (AV) won a contract delivery order valued at $35,265,662 for digital Puma All Environment (AE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), spares, and training services. The equipment and services were procured under the existing USSOCOM All Environment Capable Variant (AECV) indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. Puma systems, which are capable of performing multiple surveillance and reconnaissance missions over water or land, will be used to protect troops and vehicles in combat areas.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., 31 Aug. 2010. Officials at SGT Inc. in Greenbelt, Md., sought a partner capable of providing technical support for high-end computing systems, including high-performance hardware and software, for the company’s work on a NASA contract. They found the needed partner at Craig Technologies in Cape Canaveral, Fla. As subcontractor to SGT, Craig Technologies will provide technical support for high-end systems used by Mission and Mission-support staff at LaRC, necessary for such operations as high-performance computing, geometry modeling, grid generation, data visualization, image processing, computational analysis, and airspace and traffic operations simulation.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, 30 Aug. 2010. Rapid Electric Vehicles (REV), a GreenAngel Energy Corp. investee company, won a contract for its bi-directional charging technology for micro-grids. Through a contract with Honeywell, REV will participate in the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development Engineering Center (TARDEC) Micro-Grid project at Wheeler Air Base, Hawaii.

ARLINGTON, Va., 29 Aug. 2010. Video analysis experts at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking Kitware Inc. in Clifton Park, N.Y., to develop software tools that will help make radical improvements to the analysis of huge volumes of overhead video data gathered from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), manned aircraft, and other video surveillance platforms.

LAKEHURST NAS, N.J., 2 Sept. 2010. Persistent surveillance experts at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Lakehurst at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, N.J., needed technology solutions for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). They found their solution from Trident Systems Inc. in Fairfax, Va.

ARLINGTON, Va., 1 Sept. 2010. Military radio communications experts at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking industry to design extremely efficient monolithic signal-recognition integrated circuits (ICs) for next-generation military cognitive radio communications, radar, and electronic warfare.

CRANE, Ind., 31 Aug. 2010. U.S. Navy ship systems designers needed electro-optical sensors for the Shipboard Protection System (SPS), which helps protect Navy surface vessels from terrorist attacks while moored to piers, at anchor, or during restricted maneuvering. They found their solution from FLIR Systems in Wilsonville, Ore. FLIR will provide the Navy with Star SAFIRE series electro-optical sensor (EOS) systems, containing forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor and laser detection and ranging tracking system under terms of a $27.1 million contract, announced Monday. Awarding the contract is the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division in Crane, Ind.

ECHING, Germany, 2 Sept. 2010. Kontron in Eching, Germany, is introducing a version of its computer-on-module ETXexpress-AI single-board computer based on the COM Express Type 6 pin-out definition as defined in the newly launched COM Express 2.0 specification by the PCI Industrial Manufacturers' Group (PICMG). The new Type 6 pin-out offers configurable digital display interfaces (DDI) SDVO, DisplayPort, HDMI/DVI, and 23 PCI Express Gen 2 lanes.

FREMONT, Calif., 1 Sept. 2010. Elma Bustronic Corp., in Fremont, Calif., is introducing a 3U VPX air blocker board to fill unused slots and redirect or contain air flow. VPX systems can require high levels of heat dissipation, and the air baffle helps cooling and can reduce static pressure build-up.

WIXOM, Mich., 1 Sept. 2010. Acromag Inc. in Wixom, Mich., is introducing two versions of CAN bus interface mezzanine cards to link network sensors and actuators with high-performance control systems. The IP560 is an Industry Pack ANSI/VITA-4 card that plugs into VME, CompactPCI, and PCI bus mezzanine carrier cards or single-board computers in embedded systems. IOS-560 models are for use within Acromag's I/O Server industrial PC, a small fanless box computer, which services mobile computing, machine control, and test applications.