Rugged Computers: DRS To Provide Vetronics Rugged Computers For Army FBCB2 Program

U.S. Army leaders needed rugged computers and displays to support the Force Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) program. They found their solution from DRS Tactical Systems in Melbourne, Fla.

The Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime segment at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., has announced a $61.6M five-year contract to DRS for FBCB2 vetronics equipment. DRS has been providing FBCB2 equipment to the Army since 1998. DRS in 1998 won a production contract to supply prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. with nearly 2,000 RVS-330 Appliqué V4 rugged vehicle systems for FBCB2. The RVS-330 has helped digitize several U.S. Army brigades and divisions.

Among the FBCB2 equipment that DRS provides to the Army is the JV-5 block 2 rugged vehicle computer system, which uses off-the-shelf components. It has a customizable expansion bay, two 3U CompactPCI expansion slots, and sunlight-readable display.

DRS also provides the Joint Platform Tablet (JPT) for the FBCB2 program, an all-in-one rugged computer tablet for space-constrained vehicle applications. The JPT has a military-grade aluminum case, dual- core processor, 128 gigabytes of solid-state removable hard-drive storage, and a 10.4-inch XGA display with five-wire touchscreen display.

The JPT meets MIL-STD-810G, MIL-STD-461F and has embedded MIL-STD-1275 power conditioning. It can be hard-mounted into a vehicle without an additional vibration isolation kit. JPT systems provide for future CPU upgrades to processors and enhanced 2 gigabytes of RAM expandable to 4 gigabytes.

On this contract DRS will do the work in Melbourne, Fla., and should be finished by August 2018. For more information, visit www.drs-ts.com.