By Courtney E. Howard

ROCKVILLE, Md. - BAE Systems has completed its acquisition of National Sensor Systems (NSS) in Acton, Mass., a manufacturer of advanced optical systems for the aerospace and defense industry.

The $8.7 million cash transaction brings NSS into the BAE Systems Advanced Technologies business segment in Washington, and extends the company’s competencies in remote sensing, photonics, and laser communications.

National Sensor Systems specializes in electro-optical sensor systems covering the visible to long-wave infrared wavelengths. Its product portfolio boasts hardware and software solutions well suited to pointing and stabilization, acquisition and tracking, airborne imaging, spectral and polarimetric sensing, laser communications, fiber optics, LIDAR, and aerial surveillance applications.

The company also provides image processing algorithms for image enhancement and noise reduction in visible and infrared imaging systems.

“National Sensor Systems has nationally recognized expertise in delivering advanced electro-optical systems,” notes Dr. Ramy Shanny, general manager of the BAE Systems Advanced Technologies business area.

“These systems include stabilized gimbals, turrets, laser communications, and airborne optical systems,” he says. “National Sensor Systems’s technology edge in precision pointing and stabilization adds a new critical technology to the BAE Systems technology portfolio.”