Leonardo DRS announced on 13 October at AUSA 2026 in Washington that the C5ISR Center of the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) has awarded the company a contract to support the Delivering Unmatched Thermal Capability Hastened, or DUTCH, initiative.
The initiative is focused on accelerating the development and transition of next-generation uncooled thermal infrared (IR) sensing capabilities for defence applications. It is intended to advance high-performance, affordable thermal-imaging technology that can support rapid integration with a broad range of platforms and operational environments.
Under the award, DRS will demonstrate high-definition, high-frame-rate uncooled thermal camera cores engineered to deliver advanced sensitivity, image quality and responsiveness. Potential applications include UAS, counter-UAS, missile and rocket seekers, weapon sights, night-vision systems, ground-vehicle sensing and targeting, unmanned surface vessels and other emerging applications.
“Our selection for the DUTCH initiative reflects the depth of our uncooled IR technology portfolio, our understanding of operational needs and our ability to transition advanced sensing capabilities into scalable production,” commented Jerry Hathaway, SVP & General Manager for the company’s Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems business unit. “Today’s operational environment requires thermal-sensing solutions that can be produced at scale, integrated efficiently and perform reliably in the most challenging conditions.”
Main image shows thermal imagery captured with a Leonardo DRS uncooled infrared camera core. (Leonardo DRS)
