Smiths wins 273 million US Department of Defense contract for Automatic Chemical Agent Detector Alar

Flexible and accurate ACADA units can be carried, mounted or remotely deployed to warn soldiers of the presence of chemical warfare agent

SMITHS Detection, part of the global engineering business Smiths Group, today announced its Military unit has been awarded a $27.3 million Automatic Chemical Agent Detector Alarm (ACADA) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense, with a contract ceiling of $74 million over the next five years.

Smiths Detection is supplying the military with its GID-3 chemical agent detectors for the ACADA program.

The ACADA is an advanced point-sampling, chemical warfare agent detection system that continuously monitors for the presence of nerve agents and blister chemicals using IMS (Ion Mobility Spectrometry) technology.

It provides early warning of chemical attacks and can be remotely deployed, vehicle mounted or carried by soldiers.

Tim Picciotti, Vice President and General Manager, Smiths Detection U.S. Military, said: Through Smiths Detection's innovative engineering, we have developed a sophisticated product that fills a critical need in troop protection and has been proven under the most extreme conditions.

Approximately 1000 units have been funded by Congress specifically for use by the U.S. Army National Guard to reduce the critical equipment shortage facing the troops.

Since 1998, Smiths Detection has supplied more than 30,000 ACADA (GID-3) units to the Department of Defense for deployment with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and National Guard. 10,000 GID-3 units have been purchased by other customers and deployed worldwide.

ENDS