SprayCool gets Army contract for chassis

Liberty Lake-based SprayCool Inc. announced Monday it will provide electronics chassis for radar used in new unmanned aerial vehicles as part of a U.S. Army contract with Lockheed Martin Corp.

The Army awarded Lockheed roughly $40 million to include the radar systems, which are capable of penetrating foliage, into three Warrior UAVs, said Dan Kinney, SprayCool’s director of business development for aerospace. SprayCool technology will cool electronics on the Warrior – an Army version of the Predator flown by the U.S. Air Force – used for processing the low-frequency radar systems, which will function at all hours and in all weather conditions and relay information to ground troops, according to the company.

The weapons-carrying Warrior, slated to debut in fiscal year 2009, is expected to be the longest-range UAV in the Army, running on diesel and capable of staying aloft for three days at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet, according to the Army.

SprayCool expects to deliver the chassis this spring, Kinney said. Each drone will carry two SprayCool boxes, one through a separate deal with a Lockheed subcontractor, he said.

While similar to custom-designed SprayCool systems used on Army Black Hawk helicopters and Air Force Global Ha6wk UAVs and U-2 spy planes, the chassis delivered to Lockheed are intended for use on multiple platforms, Kinney said.