Smiths Detection Wins $27M US Chemical Detector Order

Smiths Detection, part of global technology business Smiths Group, has received a $27 million order from the US Army under the Department of Defense’s Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) programme.

Mal Maginnis, President of Smiths Detection, said: "The threat from a wide range of chemical weapons is both real and immediate and one that the military must be fully equipped to combat. This latest order for our state-of-the art detectors establishes the JCAD programme as by far the most important in the history of Smiths Detection."

The JCAD program is based on Smiths Detection's LCD 3.3, an advanced, light-weight, threat detection device that can be easily strapped to a belt. The LCD protects troops in the field by constantly sampling the air for the presence of chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals.

The enhanced M4A1 JCADs, which have started delivery, are manufactured in Smiths Detection's facility at Edgewood, Maryland. The plant, which employs nearly 250 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 chemical warfare detection systems.