Textron Defense Systems (TDS), an operating unit of Textron Systems, a
Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced that it has signed an Other
Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) that will provide up to $21 million in government funding
to design, fabricate and test a Unit Cell Module for a 150 kilowatt (kW)
Laser Weapon System (LWS) and develop a critical design for the 150kW
LWS.
Supporting TDS is Textron Systems' Advanced Solutions Center, which has
based its design upon its proprietary ThinZag® Ceramic solid-state laser
technology and a preceding company-funded conceptual design. The LWS
must meet DARPA's aggressive weight, volume, beam quality, and runtime
requirements for the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System
(HELLADS) program.
"Our successes with prior phases of the HELLADS program have enabled our
continued and enthusiastic involvement with this important DARPA
project," says Textron Systems' Dr. John Boness, chief technical officer
and vice president of Applied Technology. "To satisfy DARPA's demanding
HELLADS requirements for practical, compact, lightweight systems that
can be used on military platforms, we first had to thoroughly understand
the basic physics phenomenology governing the performance and
scalability of high power solid-state laser systems. Understanding the
physics allows our scientists and engineers to simplify the engineering
and thus create innovative systems solutions to accelerate the
deployment of practical Directed Energy Weapons to the warfighter."
The Advanced Solutions Center has been a pioneer and technology leader
in high power laser research and development for nearly a half-century.
The work that began during the sixties, seventies and eighties, at the
former Avco Everett Research Laboratory, focused on weapon-class gas
laser development and demonstrated many well-known landmark laser
devices. During the nineties and ongoing today, the Advanced Solutions
Center continues to build on that heritage by focusing on the
development of breakthrough solid-state laser concepts to provide the
warfighter with compact, affordable and rugged Directed Energy Weapon
(DEW) systems capable of withstanding the most severe operational and
environmental battlefield conditions. DARPA's most recent funding
recognizes the company's continued success and leadership in developing
High Energy Lasers for military applications.
About Textron Systems
Textron Systems Corporation has been providing innovative solutions to
the defense, homeland security and aerospace communities for over 50
years. Known for its precision smart weapons, intelligent battlefield
systems, surveillance systems, intelligence software solutions, aircraft
control components, piston engines, armored vehicles and unmanned
aircraft systems, Textron Systems includes AAI, HR Textron, Lycoming
Engines, Overwatch Tactical Operations, Overwatch Geospatial Operations,
Textron Defense Systems and Textron Marine & Land Systems. Textron
Systems Corporation is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Textron
Inc. More information is available at www.textronsystems.com/.
About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. is a $12.6 billion multi-industry company operating in 28
countries with approximately 42,000 employees. The company leverages its
global network of aircraft, defense and intelligence, industrial and
finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and
services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such
as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming,
E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation.
More information is available at www.textron.com.
Investor Contact:
Textron
Doug Wilburne, 401-457-2288
or
Textron
Bill
Pitts, 401-457-2288
or
Media Contact:
Textron
Systems
Sharon Corona, 410-628-3184
or
Textron
Kim
Reingold, 401-457-2494