(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) today announced that she has included $50 million in federal defense work for Washington state companies in the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations bill. Murray, who serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee, helped pass the bill out of the full Senate Appropriations Committee today. The bill will next move to the Senate floor.
"This funding will allow Washington state companies to provide our men and women in the military with the best equipment available," Murray stated. "We need to do everything we can to help bring our soldiers home safely, and investing in these technologies is a critical step forward. Washington state companies are at the forefront of research and development and they will continue to provide our military with the state of the art equipment they need."
Projects Funded in Southwest Washington
Integrator Advanced Concepts Development
Insitu, Inc., Bingen
$4 million
The Integrator Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is a low-altitude, long endurance aircraft designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. The Integrator features modular payload bay that can be adapted to a variety of missions. The Integrator builds on the successful ScanEagle UAS technology and shares the same launch, recovery, and control station. Two Integrator prototypes are currently flying, and this funding will support further development and testing.
Enhanced Directed Armor RPG Vehicle Protection System
Armor Systems International, Vancouver
$1 million
The rocket propelled grenade (RPG) is one of the most common and damaging weapons used by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Enhanced Directed Armor RPG Vehicle Protection System will help develop a system to protect military personnel and vehicles from RPG attacks and shaped-charged explosives. This solution for protecting vehicles is based on a non-lethal net projection that utilizes a net that deploys and engages the incoming RPG prior to impact, thereby reducing or eliminating damage. This funding for phase II of the project will support the engineering, modeling, field testing, and integration analysis of the Enhanced Directed Armor defense system.
Lightweight Multi-purpose Laser
nLight, Vancouver
$3 million
The Army has identified an urgent need for laser warning lights for use at military checkpoints. When approached by unidentified persons, service members in Iraq and Afghanistan have few non-lethal options. This program will help develop a new class of eye-safe military lasers that will help reduce civilian deaths and friendly fire incidents in combat situations.
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