L-3 Communications Cincinnati delivers FLIR imager for Stryker gun
Engineers at L-3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics in Cincinnati has started delivering 72 advanced infrared thermal imagers for the U.S. Army Stryker mobile gun system under contract to General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich. The thermal imagers will be part of the Commander’s Panoramic Viewer that provides situational awareness and target assessment for the Stryker, which is a wheeled battle tank with a 105-mm tank gun. The Commander’s Panoramic Viewer on the Stryker has a dual-field-of view indium antimonide medium-wave infrared thermal imager helps the vehicle commander see a 360-degree view during the day, at night, and in bad weather. For more information contact L-3 Communications online at www.L-3com.com.
Army names EOIR Technologies for sensor research contract
The U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) at Fort Belvoir, Va., is looking to EOIR Technologies Inc. in Woodbridge, Va., for new orders for technology products and services totaling $3.4 million. EOIR Technologies Inc. is working on next-generation technologies for the NVESD, including night-vision and advanced sensor applications, disposable sensors, and other threat-detection systems. Many of the devices use next-generation electro-optic and infrared sensor technologies to support U.S. military combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The Army NVESD is responsible for innovations in optoelectronics and thermal imaging for weapons targeting, electronic surveillance, and other mission-critical military applications. The $3.4 million in new orders come under an NVESD omnibus contract awarded in July. Since that date EOIR Technologies Inc. omnibus contract awards have totaled $29 million. As of last October, EOIR Technologies had funded a backlog of $55.1 million. The ongoing Omnibus contract may provide a maximum ceiling amount of as much as $80 million in fiscal year revenues. For more information, see www.eoir.com.
Connex is new distributor for Stratos Lightwave
Stratos Lightwave in Chicago has signed up Connex GmbH in Lohne, Germany, as an authorized distributor of Stratos video-media converter products. “Their order-fulfillment support in the European markets will enable Stratos to improve our rapid-response capability for our customers,” says Mark Benton, director of product management-video at Stratos Lightwave. Stratos makes fiber-optic interconnects, and Connex manufactures connecting and distribution systems. “We already offer Fiberfox Series EBC connectors that utilize the Stratos expanded-beam technology and are fully compatible with similar format Stratos harsh-environment connectors,” says Gunter Bergmann, managing director of Connex. For more information contact Stratos online at www.stratoslightwave.com, or Connex at www.connexonline.com.
Janos Technology expands optical testing services
Leaders of Janos Technology Inc. in Keene, N.H., are offering the QED sub-aperture stitching inferometer (SSI), which will expand the company’s rate of optical fabrication and testing services. The SSI will increase interferometric capabilities by providing radius-of-curvature and surface-figure measurements for high-numerical-aperture and large-aperture optics. The automated SSI workstation has a five-axis CNC machine base integrated with a Zygo VeriFire phase-shifting interferometer capable of measuring lenses as large as 280 millimeters in diameter. The SSI automatically acquires and stitches subaperture data, and calculates and compensates for reference wavefront errors. For more information contact Janos Technology online at www.janostech.com.
Korean air force picks Elbit Systems for EO/IR imager
Elbit Systems Ltd. in Haifa, Israel, won a contract from the Korean air force for real-time EO/IR long-range oblique imagery systems for Korea’s F-16 jet fighter aircraft. The $50 million contract award follows a competition in which Elbit subsidiary Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop Ltd. (ELOP) was selected after demonstrating its system’s performance. The system sends infrared images in real time to a ground station by wideband data link where images correlate with other sensors such as synthetic aperture radar, visible images, maps, and multispectral infrared images. ELOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems. For more information, see www.elbit.co.il.
Toshiba offers high-resolution ‘ice cube’ cameras for machine vision
The Toshiba American Imaging Systems Division in Irvine, Calif., is offering the miniature, high-resolution, progressive-scan, ice-cube-size charged-coupled-device camera family, which consists of the 1/2-inch IK-52V and the 1/3-inch IK-53V. The 29-cubic-millimeter cameras weigh 45 grams each and have VGA resolution. The 659 by 494 pixels have horizontal resolution at 500 TV lines. The video graphics array outputs to a frame grabber for data storage, or direct to a VGA monitor for immediate viewing. For more information contact Toshiba online at www.cameras.toshiba.com.
Kollsman makes thermal binoculars for Marine Corps
Kollsman Inc. in Merrimack, N.H., won orders worth $33.6 million to provide high-performance thermal binocular system Long Range Thermal Imagers (LRTI) for the U.S. Marine Corps. The LRTI is a portable binocular, hand-held, battery-operated thermal imager for long-range observation and reconnaissance. Initial deliveries will be made in 2006 and 2007. Most of the work will be in Merrimack, N.H. Kollsman is a subsidiary of Elbit Systems of America, which will provide support on this contract through Elbit Systems Electro-Optics (Elop) Ltd. The initial orders came from the Marine Corps Systems Command, Infantry Weapons Branch, in Quantico, Va. Under the contract, the U.S. government may purchase as many as 5,000 LRTIs. For more information contact Kollsman online at www.kollsman.com.
M2 Optics offers custom polycarbonate fiber-optic cable-management packages
M2 Optics Inc. in Holly Springs, N.C., is offering a series of custom polycarbonate fiber-optic cable-management packages for field simulation and testing. The M2 Fiber Lab 800 is a polycarbonate case with built-in handle that holds one spool of optical fiber, and provides both ends terminated on the front panel with user-specified connectors and panel-mount adapters. The enclosed canister protects the cable and comes in clear, blue, yellow, orange, and green. For more information contact M2 Optics online at www.m2optics.com.
Sensors Unlimited to build 1280-by-1024-pixel infrared focal-plane array
Sensors Unlimited Inc. in Princeton, N.J., will design a 1280-by-1024-pixel infrared focal-plane array under contract to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va. The DARPA Microsystems Technology Office awarded Sensors Unlimited a potential $4.6 million contract to develop a dual-wavelength, visible and shortwave infrared focal plane. This uncooled indium gallium arsenide array will enable high-resolution, passive night-vision imaging with sensitivity to wavelengths from 0.4 to 1.7 microns, using pixels on a 15-micron pitch. The focal-plane array will have less than 10 electronics readout noise while operating at video rates. For more information contact Sensors Unlimited at www.sensorsinc.com.
