Smiths Detection Wins $21M Chemical Detector Orders

JCADs Protect U.S. Troops from Chemical Warfare Agents and Toxic Industrial Chemicals

Smiths Detection today announced the award of two orders totaling almost $21 million from the U.S. Army under the Department of Defense's Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) program.

Mal Maginnis, President of Smiths Detection, said: "As one of the largest chemical warfare protection projects in the world, JCAD has played an important role in Smiths Detection's history. Our ability to deliver highly cost-efficient solutions on schedule is a key factor in the program's on-going success."

The JCAD is based on Smiths Detection's LCD product line of advanced, light-weight, threat detection devices that can be easily strapped to a belt. The LCD is a low-cost system that protects police, hazmat and Special Forces by testing the air and providing an immediate warning if dangerous chemicals such as warfare agents and toxic substances are detected.

The enhanced M4A1 JCADs, which have started delivery, are manufactured in Smiths Detection's facility at Edgewood, Md. The plant, which employs nearly 230 people, recently expanded to help meet demand from the U.S. military for the JCAD program. It is the main US manufacturing plant for X-ray and a range of chemical warfare detection systems. The two latest orders comprise one of $4.9m and another of $16.9m.