Ultralife Receives Army Battery Order

Advanced Battery Technology, Nov 2003

Ultralife Batteries Inc. of Newark, New York, received an order valued at approximately $4.2 million from the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command (CECOM) for its BA-5372/U military batteries. The order represents another production release under the $32 million NextGen II, 5-year Small Cylindrical Battery contract, which CECOM awarded to Ultralife in June 2002. The company expects to deliver the order throughout 2004.

John D. Kavazanjian, Ultralife's president and chief executive officer, said, "This year we have been delivering primarily against orders for the BA-5372 unrelated to the NextGen II contract. Today's order and the production releases we received from CECOM in August give us visibility for continued profitable revenue growth."

NextGen II is CECOM's five-year acquisition strategy with production contracts awarded to provide three types of primary (non-rechargeable) lithium-manganese dioxide batteries to the U.S. Army. The three battery types - BA-5372/U, BA-5367/U and BA-5368/U - comprise the Small Cylindrical Cell Lithium Manganese Dioxide Battery Group. A major objective is to maintain a domestic production base of sufficient capacity to meet peacetime demands and have the ability to surge quickly to meet deployment demands.

The BA-5372/U battery is used for memory backup primarily for the AN/PRC-119 MANPACK Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS), and in numerous other applications, including encryption and cryptographic devices and the Patriot Missile System.