US Army kicks off expanded NBC sensor upgrades beyond Stryker
The US Army‘s M1135 Stryker's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) Sensor Suite Upgrade is made up of a FLIR Defense R80D SkyRaider drone integrated with FLIR's MUVE B330 biological detection payload. (Teledyne FLIR)
As the US Army is planning upgrades to its initial sensor suite, service officials are looking towards the future and how the package can be added to other vehicles, according to a request for information (RFI) published on 9 April.
A new Teledyne FLIR USD78 million contract supports the development of “an expanded sensor suite upgrade design” called Capability Set 2.2, according to the company's announcement on 9 April. At the same time, the government is doing market research on what it calls the Vehicle Integrated Point Enhanced RADIAC (VIPER) for integration on multiple land and air platforms, according to a Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) press release.
The new contract requires a delivery of six Capability Set 2.2 prototypes and will provide “added support for government testing”, according to Teledyne FLIR's press release. Upgrades to the technology include “advanced sensing”, autonomous flight control for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) SkyRaider, and hazard prediction software upgrades.
The VIPER system would replace AN/VDR-2 and AN/UDR-13. Developed by Canberra Industries in the last century, both systems are no longer in production. They also do not have the ability to determine prompt dose, according to the RFI.
The first VIPER has already been fielded through the Stryker Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) Sensor Suite Upgrade (SSU) as the proof of concept, according to JPEO-CBRND's press release from January 2025 .
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