BAE Systems to Develop Enhanced Night-Vision Goggle For U.S. Army.

LEXINGTON, Mass. -- BAE Systems will design and develop a digitally enhanced night-vision goggle as part of the U.S. Army's Enhanced Night Vision Goggle program. This next-generation goggle will use digital imagery to improve soldier mobility and situational awareness under all lighting conditions and in the presence of battlefield obscurants.

The helmet-mounted goggle will digitally combine video imagery from a low-light-level visible sensor and an uncooled long-wave infrared sensor on a single color display located in front of the soldier's eye. This digital technology will provide improved image quality and will enable imagery to be shared among soldiers, improving platoon effectiveness.

"This program will demonstrate the maturity and effectiveness of digital fusion technology and its benefit to the warfighter," said Margaret Kohin, Advanced Systems program director for BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. "Applying innovative technology to help our soldiers complete their missions is an objective BAE Systems stands behind every day."

The contract is managed by the Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

BAE Systems will incorporate its uncooled MicroIR[R] microbolometer sensor technology in the enhanced goggle. This technology also is used in the thermal weapon sights the company supplies to the Army. BAE Systems has two microbolometer foundries and has delivered more than 50,000 microbolometer-based imagers to date.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 96,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $27 billion on a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings Inc. for the whole of 2006.