Appropriations bill includes millions for N.H. firms

The U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress passed a defense bill that provides contracts to several New Hampshire firms, led by BAE Systems.

The conference report on the Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Appropriations Act includes $103.65 million in federal funding sought by U.S. Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., and U.S. Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and John Sununu, R-N.H., for technology and equipment developed and produced by defense contractors in New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts.

Among the contracts included in the bill:

• BAE Systems, Information and Electronic Warfare Systems, Nashua, $37.2 million, including $6 million for Compass Call, the Air Force’s premier information warfare aircraft; $6 million for Claymore Marine, an advanced naval undersea detection system; and $5.6 million to research affordable digital receiving and jamming technology for the Air Force.

• Insight Technologies of Londonderry, $12.2 million, including $6.3 million for an infrared target pointer to provide Marine Corps members with the capability to illuminate and mark targets and aim their weapons at night, and $3.5 million for the procurement of a small rifle-mounted laser range-finding system for the Army.

• Scientific Solutions of Nashua, $2.1 million for equipment to protect marine mammals from exposure to Navy sonar.

• Kollsman of Merrimack, $3.5 million to upgrade Marine Corps AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters with an enhanced night-targeting system.

• iCAD of Nashua, $1.1 million for computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.

• Impact Science and Technologies, Hollis, $5.1 million for a classified Special Operations program to prevent the detonation of improvised explosives.

• Paratek of Nashua, $2.55 million for the development of miniaturized, low-power, limited-interference, tunable radio capabilities for all service branches.

• Leonardo Technologies, Bedford, $1 million for research and development on thermo-electric power generation technologies for lower cost electricity for U.S. Army applications.

• L3 Communications of Salem, $1.7 million for multi-beam side scan sonar equipment for the U.S. Navy.

• Mentis Science of Manchester, $2 million for research and development of an advanced composite, radome, to reduce manufacturing costs for the Army.

• Gentex of Derry, $2.6 million for oxygen masks and visor technology for the Navy.

• DiOP of Salem, $2.8 million to research and develop a thermal-imaging camera system for the Navy.