An international technology group with a facility in Northeast Pennsylvania has won a contract worth millions of dollars. Among other products, the company makes a specialty glass component used in United States Army air defense systems.
German-based company Schott announced Wednesday it was awarded a contract extension worth $2.7 million with Raytheon Technologies to supply the U.S. Army with Stinger missile systems. The company’s local facility makes the glass covers for the missile launch tubes.
Schott has created products used by NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense since the 1960s. The company’s Duryea facility makes infrared glass and other specialty optical glass parts.
The surface-to-air missile systems use a laser – that’s where the specialty glass comes in, said Steve Sokach, Schott's director of sales for the Americas.
“It’s very durable and it transmits at multiple wavelengths that will allow the guidance system in the device to select the target from a defensive posture,” Sokach said. That means the specific glass allows a missile to lock-on to a target in the sky.
Components made by Schott could even end up in Ukraine as the U.S. provides military support in its fight against Russia, according U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, who attended the announcement and went on a tour of the Duryea facility.
“We’re going to be able to deliver even more Stinger missiles to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and its people,” Cartwright said.
Congressional funding for the U.S. Army made Schott's contract extension possible, a company spokesperson said.
Founded in the late 1800s, Schott has locations in 33 countries and makes glass materials used in night vision goggles, military helicopters and satellites.
