In the trenchesMRIGlobal awarded $9 million to evaluate detection gear

Kansas City, Missouri-based MRIGlobal the other day announced that it had received a $9 million contract from the U.S. Army to test and evaluate equipment to identify chemical, biological, and radiological hazards in the field.

With this 14-month contract, MRIGlobal will assess detection equipment for compliance with the Common Analytical Laboratory System requirements.  MRIGlobal will analyze the capability of specific equipment to process samples quickly and accurately.

“We’re honored to be working with the Army to select the best equipment for use in mobile labs to protect our military and first responders from threats,” said Michael F. Helmstetter, Ph.D., president and CEO of MRIGlobal. “We are uniquely qualified for this task with our expertise and instrumentation for testing and analyzing agents and explosives.”

MRIGlobal has experience with the benchtop, portable, and handheld instruments and technologies that will be evaluated for ruggedness and reliability for this project. In addition, MRIGlobal says that its staff of 650 includes technical researchers experienced with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive agents.

MRIGlobal’s analysis will help the Army determine the equipment best suited for the mission of the users, which will likely include the:

• National Guard’s Weapons of Mass Destruction–Civil Support Teams
• 20th CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity (CARA)
• Naval Environmental Preventive Medicine Unit
• Air Force Biological Augmentation Team, and the
• United States Marine Corps MAGTF and CBIRF Units