U.S. funds chemical detector development CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Chemical detection devices under development by Chemring Detection Systems are to be evaluated and further developed with U.S. military funding. The North Carolina company, a subsidiary of Britain's Chemring Group PLC, said the $500,000 in funding came in two contracts from the U.S. Joint Project Manager for Nuclear Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance for the Multi Mission Multi Threat Detection project. The first award was for testing and evaluation of Chemring's handheld THOR-1064 product to detect the presence of compounds in solid or liquid form, identify the specific compound detected and automatically provide an alarm. The second award supports the test and evaluation of the Differential Mobility Spectrometer Vapor Detection System, a developmental prototype that offers enhanced sensitivity and selectivity over Ion Mobility Spectrometry based devices. "These important contracts help us to evaluate the capability of our new detection products," said CDS President Bill Gural.