The US Army has awarded a five-year $559m contract to Northrop Grumman to provide lightweight laser designator rangefinders (LLDR) for military personnel.

LDDR can be operated day and night in nearly all battlefield conditions including haze, smoke, fog and rain. The system recognises targets and finds the range with an eye-safe laser rangefinder.

The system also transfers the targets location and related information to other digital battlefield systems and can be used with laser-guided munitions.

Northrop Grumman has delivered over 800 LLDR systems to the army since the first contract was awarded in 2002.