Isothermal Systems Research Inc. has landed another big contract from the U.S. militarythis one for $29 millionand theres strong potential for the company to snag another like-sized pact in the near future.


The Clarkston, Wash.-based defense contractor, which opened a sizable office in Liberty Lake last year, signed the contract last month, under which it will provide specialized electronics and subassemblies to the Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR, says Tony Vengel, director of contracts and business management for ISR.


ISR already is working under a similar $35 million contract awarded by NAVAIR in 2000. Vengel says ISR has about $6.5 million worth of work left to perform under that multiyear contract.


Under the new, $29 million contract, ISR will perform research and development of electronic components that are cooled using the companys patented SprayCool technology, Vengel says. Work under the contract is expected to be completed by September 2008, the Department of Defense says.


The new contract likely will result in additional hiring both in Clarkston and at ISRs Liberty Lake facility at 2218 N. Molter, which houses the companys program management, engineering, and testing operations, and employs about 60.


Were not ready to say how much or how little (hiring will result), but it will, its got to, he says.


The company employs about 80 people at its Clarkston operation, giving it 140 employees overall, up from 100 a year ago. ISR said when it opened in Liberty Lake last year that it eventually could employ several hundred.


ISRs technology involves sealing electronic components in an enclosure and spraying them with a fluid that vaporizes. The vapor then travels through a heat exchanger, where its condensed, dissipating the heat produced by the electronic components, and is collected to be re-sprayed onto them. The spray-cooled enclosures can be used for chassis, pumps and piping, electronics cages, control systems, and power supplies for processors, avionics, and displays.


The new $29 million contract likely will be followed by another equally large contract, Vengel says.


NAVAIR has committed to another phase, he says. We were requesting $40 million to perform the work in the contract just signed, but the defense agency preferred to split up the work under two contracts, he says.


If the third contract is let, itll probably be another $29 million, Vengel says.


Separately, Vengel says the U.S. Navy hasnt yet conducted a flight test of the EA-6B Prowler aircraft that will test how ISRs SprayCool technology works in a high-heat, high-G-force environment. The equipment for that flight test was developed under ISRs $35 million contract with NAVAIR.


ISR has been anticipating the flight test as a means of showcasing its technology.


Vengel says the planned flight test is still in a holding pattern.