CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. firm General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been chosen to take part in the JCAD program.
General Dynamics said in a statement Wednesday that GDATP, a business unit of the corporation, had been "selected by the U.S. Department of Defense to participate in the first major phase of Increment 2 of the Joint Chemical Agent Detector -- JCAD -- program."
General Dynamics said its handheld chemical agent detector, JUNO, "incorporates next-generation differential mobility spectrometry -- DMS -- technology, providing better detection, sensitivity and selectivity compared with that of traditional, handheld ion mobility spectrometry -- IMS -- based chemical agent detectors."
"The goal of the JCAD program is to improve protection for the war fighter by making it possible for users to confidently, quickly and easily monitor exposure levels to multiple chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals and nontraditional agents simultaneously, and confirm decontamination effectiveness," the company said.
“Our JUNO technology represents the next generation in handheld chemical threat detection systems,” said Bill Gural, vice president and general manager of Detection Systems at General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products. “This achievement is the result of our continued commitment to innovate through independent research and development and our ability to leverage our expertise in detection technologies.”
General Dynamics said JUNO "features a simple, cell phone-style interface and is capable of detecting, identifying, quantifying and alerting individual war fighters to the presence of chemical agent vapors."
"As new chemical threats emerge, JUNO’s software can be upgraded and its detection library capacity can be expanded. It can be used in handheld, fixed-site, ground vehicle, shipboard and aircraft interior applications," the company said.
"Under the terms of the Initial JCAD Increment 2 base contract, General Dynamics will deliver five units for competitive testing and evaluation. Total production quantities for the selected JCAD system could exceed 100,000 units. General Dynamics’ JUNO-related work will be performed at its facility in Charlotte, N.C.," the company said.
