Smiths Detection contracted for JCAD tech

EDGEWOOD, Md., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department has contracted Smiths Detection for the company to support the Joint Chemical Agent Detector program.

U.S. company Smiths Detection was awarded a $65 million contract to support the Defense Department's JCAD Increment I program with the production of add-on technologies.

Under the contract, Smiths Detection will supply the JCAD program with a variation of its Lightweight Chemical Detector system. Officials say the LCD, capable of being worn by soldiers in combat zones, alerts military units of the presence of chemical warfare threats.

"We are delighted to be involved in the JCAD program, which effectively provides the U.S. military with two instruments in one; a point detector for chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals as well as a survey instrument that checks for contamination," Mal Maginnis, Smiths Detection president global military and emergency responders, said in a statement.