Teledyne Flir wins $15.7M US Defense contract for AR tech to reveal bio-chemical threats...

08 Dec 2021

...while micro display developer Kopin gains $19.8M order for military thermal sighting systems.

Teledyne Flir has won a development contract worth up to $15.7 million with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA JSTO) to develop novel battlefield threat mapping and visualization tools.

The technology will allow the capability to digitally map hazardous material threats from sensor data and to ‘see’ their exact location via mixed reality on mobile phones, tablets, and heads-up displays.

Teledyne Flir will work with partners to develop software that allows Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) hazards to be precisely located, measured and mapped for viewing within the Tactical Assault Kit suite of tools.

The threat map will be visualized in a ‘see-through’ augmented reality display by those running TAK on their electronics, as well as by futuristic HUD devices like the Integrated Visualization Augmentation System.

Situational awareness

Funded out of DTRA’s Digital Battlespace Management office, the program’s goal is to provide improved real-time CBRN situational awareness and enable TAK users to see and avoid chemical and biological hazards.

The project also will allow future individuals equipped with IVAS to visualize chemical-biological threats and receive real-time decision support when performing reconnaissance and decontamination missions. In addition, the program further lays the Artificial Intelligence and AR groundwork for the U.S. Army’s autonomous decontamination efforts.

“To protect our troops wherever they deploy, we need to leverage the most advanced detection and battlefield management technologies to counter the lethal risk posed by chemical and biological weapons,” said Dr. David Cullin, general manager of Teledyne Flir’s Unmanned and Integrated Solutions business. “We’re proud to lead this effort that will help our warfighters intuitively visualize dangerous chem-bio threats, while also advancing future capabilities tied to IVAS and autonomous robotic decontamination.”

The contract will fund development of a mission-flexible prototype consisting of networked chem-bio sensors and AR visualization tools that DTRA will evaluate over the course of several events. The award comprises a 12-month base period, three 12-month options, plus other optional tasks. Work will be performed at Teledyne Flir’s Pittsburgh site.

Kopin gains $19.8 M military optics order

Kopin, a developer of microdisplays and display systems for military and civil applications, has announced it has won a $19.8 million order for its eyepiece subassembly which is a critical component in the US Army’s Family of Weapon Sight-Individual (FWS-I) thermal sight system.

The FWS-I thermal sight system uses a video “see through” AR optical module featuring Kopin’s CyberDisplay LCDs and its custom-designed Pancake optics. This is the second large production order received by Kopin for the FWS-I eyepiece subassembly and the order has scheduled deliveries of the FWS-I eyepiece subassemblies into the fourth quarter of 2022.

“To-date we have received production orders totaling more than $50 million for our FWS-I eyepiece subassemblies which is a testament to Kopin's success in designing and manufacturing very complex microdisplay modules and subassemblies that are used in the most rugged environments,” commented Bill Maffucci, Kopin's VP and General Manager of Government & Professional Products.