TAUNTON, Mass., 26 Jan. 2007. Kopin Corp. has increased production volume of display system hardware for the U.S. Army's Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS-II) production program.
"The production increase reflects the U.S. Army's urgency to deploy significant numbers of thermal weapon sight hardware in the field," says Dr. John C. C. Fan, president and chief executive officer. "The TWS systems allow soldiers to see in total darkness, smoke or dirty battlefield conditions and identify targets that might be camouflaged. The TWS hardware can play a vital role in our troops' survival, and we hope every soldier in the field benefits from the exceptional capabilities of this equipment."
Kopin has been providing microdisplay hardware for systems manufactured by BAE Systems in Lexington, Mass., and DRS Optronics of Palm Bay, Fla., as part of the program. Both suppliers have completed their product qualification and Kopin's production volume has ramped to more than 1,000 systems per month to each supplier.
Awarded in March 2004, the TWS-II program provides for the production of up to 60,000 light, medium, and heavy thermal weapon sights over a four- to-five-year period. Kopin provides BAE Systems and DRS Optronics with a combination of microdisplay system components and complete display modules.
Each TWS system utilizes the Kopin CyberDisplay 640M active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD), a ruggedized, industrial grade, monochrome VGA-quality display with 640x480-pixel resolution in a 0.38-inch diagonal package. With an operating temperature range of minus 37 degrees C to 65 degrees C in a low-power, durable package, the CyberDisplay 640M is well suited for a broad spectrum of infrared imaging applications.
The display module for the TWS consists of the CyberDisplay 640M, backlight, and interface/control electronics. The system converts the output from TWS thermal imaging electronics to a high-resolution monochrome image.
