Arotech Corporation announced that a second contract has been entered into between its Electric Fuel battery manufacturing subsidiary and the US Army Communications Electronic Command (CECOM) pursuant to 10 U.S.C. ss. 2304c(2), "Unusual and Compelling Urgency," for delivery of advanced zinc-air batteries. The US Army has already shipped Electric Fuel BA-8180/U batteries from its first contract to US forces in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
The contract calls for delivery of the BA-8180/U zinc-air non-rechargeable batteries following the delivery of batteries under the current contract from September through November 2003 with a current order ceiling of $1.6 million.
This contract was awarded only a few weeks after the Company made delivery to CECOM of the first zinc-air batteries under the first contract, awarded in November 2002. Recently, the Company successfully completed the rigorous tests required by CECOM.
The BA-8180/U is a 12/24 Volt, 800 Watt-hour non-rechargeable battery pack, approximately the size and weight of a notebook computer. The battery is based on the new generation of lightweight, 30 ampere-hours cells developed by Electric Fuel over the last 5 years with partial funding by CECOM. In extensive field-testing, the BA-8180/U battery typically provided 4 to 6 times the run time of a BA-5590, a primary lithium battery pack widely used in the military. Zinc-air batteries are considerably safer in combat situations and more environmentally friendly than lithium batteries.
"Within a very short time we have gained acceptance of our products and now our manufacturing and quality have been confirmed," said Arotech Chairman and CEO Robert S. Ehrlich. "This order is further proof of our strategic shift to batteries for the military, and a very good sign for the future."
