By Marina Malenic
FLIR Systems [FLIR], a manufacturer of thermal imaging and stabilized camera systems, has received a U.S. Navy contract worth just over $125 million for its BRITE Star II sensor systems, company executives said yesterday.
A five-year contract for delivery of BRITE Star II units was awarded to FLIR by the Naval Surface Weapons Center Crane Division, Crane, Ind. The units delivered under the first increment of the agreement, beginning early next year, will be used by the Navy and Marine Corps for search and rescue, reconnaissance and targeting.
The BRITE Star II multi-sensor pod for aircraft, surface ships, and land vehicles, contains a thermal imager, daylight camera, laser designator, laser rangefinder and laser pointer.
The company’s strategy of reinvesting more than 10 percent of its revenue into research and development has been paying off, according to Bill Sundermeier, president of the company’s Government Systems division.
“Our goal is to take market share away from people who rely on external funding for their R&D,” Sundermeier told reporters during an Oct. 6 briefing at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington.
FLIR Government Systems manufactures thermal imaging and stabilized EO/IR systems for airborne, maritime, land based and man-portable applications including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), border control and drug interdiction, navigation safety, maritime patrol, force protection and facility security, forward observation, training, targeting and fire control, and laser weapons designation. FLIR Systems is headquartered in Portland, Ore.
The company has seen burgeoning sales recently, tallying approximately $1 billion in revenue over the past year alone, company executives said. And while FLIR continues to do well in its commercial sales, they see many openings in the defense marketplace.
“We’ve had a duel-use legacy–that’s been our forte,” Sundermeier said. “But for the last couple of years we’ve been focusing on…really expanding into military markets.”
Raytheon is the current market-share leader in the military sensor arena. But in past year, FLIR has announced orders for over $895 million worth of rifle sights, static surveillance systems for force protection, airborne ISR sensors and similar military equipment. It has made particularly important inroads in force protection, holding some of the largest U.S. Army and Marine Corps contracts for base surveillance systems.
FLIR sensors have also been chosen for the Navy’s Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, as well as the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter. The latter program is currently undergoing a Pentagon review after larger than expected cost growth, but Sundermeier said FLIR is still working closely with the Army to meet the service’s sensor needs on the project (Defense Daily, July 22).
“We’re working diligently to meet all their…requirements, and we’ve had some successes in testing recently,” he said.
The company is also looking closely at unmanned systems, as the need for aerial ISR continues to grow (Defense Daily, Sept. 25).
“As more and more people adopt the larger [unmanned aerial vehicles], you’ll have variance” in sensor capability needs, Sundermeier explained. “If somebody wants something more affordable just for reconnaissance, they would look to a company like ours. That’s really our strength.”
Driving down cost on individual, man-portable systems is also high on the list of FLIR’s priorities.
“If the price is low enough, someday every warfighter, police officer, firefighter should have the technology,” said Sundermeier. “We really want to drive down the price.”