Parsippany, N.J.-based DRS Technologies Inc. received an $8 million contract from the US Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Acquisition Center in Maryland on behalf of the National Guard Bureau. The contract will provide the National Guard’s Counterdrug Program with thermal imaging equipment from the company’s Night Vision Systems Inc. business unit based in Allentown, Pa., and in Prescott Valley, Ariz. The National Guard will be supplied with hundreds of rugged miniature thermal imagers from the MX-2A product line, for use by soldiers and airmen assigned to aid law enforcement agencies in detecting illegal drug activity. The handheld thermal units will detect infrared sources, including humans and vehicles, at extended distances in darkness and in obstructed atmospheres, such as dust, fog and smoke. Delivery of the units will begin immediately and is expected to conclude by March.