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History Of DRS Test & Energy Management, LLC
DRS Test and Energy Management, LLC (DRS TEM), a DRS Technologies company, was formed on November 4th 2003 as part of an acquisition of the former Integrated Defense Technologies, Inc. While DRS TEM is a new publicly held company under the DRS banner, it has been firmly established in the aerospace and military industry since 1952.
Our core business focuses on the design, development, and production of military and industrial hardware and its associated software.
We currently manufacture Automatic Test Equipment (ATE), Embedded Health Management Systems, Diagnostic Systems, Hybrid Electric Drives and Energy Management Systems and components for the world's most powerful weapon systems and tactical vehicles which include:
· M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank
· Bradley Fighting Vehicle
· Marine Light Assault Vehicles (LAVs)
· Hybrid Electric HMMWVs and Tactical Trucks
· Non Lethal and Lethal Directed Energy Weapons and Systems
· Tactical Lasers
· Other Directed Energy Systems
· Seawolf and Trident Submarine Sensors
Our customers include:
· United States Army
· United States Navy
· United States Marine Corps
· United States Air Force
· Army National Guard
· United Stated Homeland Security / Defense
· Department of Energy
· Australian Army
· Saudi Arabian National Guard
· Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
· State of Kuwait
· Egypt
· BAE Systems
· General Dynamics Land Systems
· Lockheed Martin
· Raytheon
· Northrop Grumman
· Boeing
· AM General
Most notably, DRS TEM has been and remains the sole supplier of automatic test equipment for both the Abrams tank and the Bradley fighting vehicles. For the past 30 years we have been responsible for diagnosing and assisting in the repair of all electronic assemblies on these vehicles. With over 500 units in the field, DRS TEM is a clear leader in the field of military automatic testing.
DRS TEM is also focused on the field of embedded diagnostics with the implementation of its “Sidecar” product which adds internal test and diagnostic capabilities to existing military vehicles. This system saves the Army millions of dollars in lost operating time and improved diagnostic capability throughout the fleet.
Our Sidecar and related systems support are now supporting the Army’s efforts to employ Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) concepts on the battlefield which utilize the on-vehicle data monitoring and analysis capabilities provided by DRS to develop fleet wide data management systems that analyze this data base for a host of logistic management activities and trends.
DRS TEM is also a leader in the field of Hybrid Electric drives for tactical vehicles as well as for mobile electric power generation and distribution systems for military applications. These advanced systems provide dramatic improvements in vehicle mobility and fuel economy but more importantly provides large amounts of mobile utility and tactical electric power in support of current and future tactical systems. DRS TEM has completed U.S. Army testing of these products and is moving rapidly to make these technologies available to our soldiers in their everyday activities.
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DRS Test and Energy Management, LLC is a new company, but not a young company. Over fifty (55) years of experience in the military and aerospace arena forms a solid foundation, on which we continue to grow. DRS TEM is proud of its heritage and its long list of accomplishments.
· In 1952, as a division of the Defense Division of Chrysler Corporation, a handful of engineers came to Huntsville to participate in the development of the Redstone Missile. At that time, the population of Huntsville was 18,000. Then, as the Missile Division, we completed the Redstone work and continued on with production of the Jupiter missile.
· On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik. This event further promoted the growth of the Missile Division's Huntsville Operations.
· In 1962, the Missile Division was awarded the prime contract for the Saturn 1B rocket, the forerunner of the Saturn V rocket that carried Americans to the moon.
· At the close of the 1960’s and the completion of the Saturn 1B rocket efforts, Huntsville operations "downsized" and turned to the commercial market. These efforts included the design, development, and production of a two-watt AM radio, and a solid-state engine ignition module called the engine control unit (ECU) which was the start of a new division of automotive electronics in Huntsville. Also in the 1968-70 timeframe we built over 6,000 TOW missiles for the Army. Then, in 1970, our parent company entered into a joint development project for the Advanced Main Battle Tank, known as the MBT-70 that is now known as the Army’s main battle tank, the Abrams Tank. The MBT-70 also formed the design basis of the Leopard Tank Program for Germany.
· In November 1976, the XM-1 prototype tank was selected by the Department of the Army to become the Abrams Main Battle Tank. The Huntsville Division of Chrysler designed, developed, and produced electronic assemblies and test equipment until 1982 when the tank manufacturing facility was sold to General Dynamics. At that time, the remaining Huntsville military operations became known as Military/Public Electronic Systems. In 1988, we became known as Pentastar Electronics, Inc; PEI to our customers.
· During this period, “PEI” began the design of test systems both for testing vehicles on Chrysler’s production lines and for military diagnostics in a product called the Direct Electrical System Test Set, or DSESTS. This system was to become and remains today the primary test and diagnostic system in support of the Army’s Abrams and Bradley fighting vehicle and the Marine Corp LAV. With over 400 systems fielded, this product now serves as the flagship of our division with more than 30 years of continuous service to our combat fleet of vehicles.
· In the late 1990’s, PEI developed an embedded diagnostic system known as Sidecar® that provided full diagnostic capability to the Abrams tank. This system has moved the off board test capability of the DSESTS to be resident within the combat tank providing capabilities to this legacy vehicle to isolate faults within a given electronic assembly and to assist in its replacement. This product is now in full production for the U.S. Army
· Also in 1976, “PEI” entered the electric vehicle market through efforts with the Department of Energy to reduce dependence on foreign oil. This initial effort has continued through the years to present day – producing the first all electric minivan which helped launch Chrysler Corporation into this commercial marketplace. As Chrysler took on the primary development role of production electric vehicles, PEI turned its own efforts to the military market and began its introduction of hybrid drive systems for support of future battlefield equipment.
· During the 1990’s, PEI was instrumental in helping the Army develop advanced capabilities in producing and transporting high performance energy management systems into the battlefield utilizing hybrid electric sources. This work is revolutionizing this field of Energy Management and supports the development and fielding of Directed Energy Weapon and Protection Systems that makes our forces more effective and is helping in transitioning our forces to a lighter, more lethal, and more mobile Army.
· On January 10, 1997 a group of private investors completed the purchase agreement of the historic military segment in Huntsville. The new company was named PEI Electronics, Inc. The investors recognized the potential of a highly dedicated staff of professionals and accepted the challenge to lead IDT-PEI into the twenty-first century building on our tradition of engineering and product quality and excellence. PEI Electronics was purchased in October, 1998 by Veritas Capital, a New York based investment firm.
· Our current ownership with DRS Technologies was initiated in November of 2003, as DRS Test and Energy Management. The company remains located at 110 Wynn Drive in Huntsville, AL in a two building campus with over 220,000 square feet of floor space within the Cummings Research Industrial Park, one mile from the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus. Here, the engineering legacy continues as we support our soldiers in uniform through the Sustainment of current force equipment with our test and diagnostic equipment, embedded health management systems, our expanded roll in Condition Based Maintenance Systems and through the provisioning of high quality utility and tactical grade mobile electric power throughout the theater of operations as we provide…Tomorrow’s Technology. Today.®
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