Subcontracts to develop sensors for the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) are being awarded by Raytheon, the Ground Sensor Integrator (GSI) for FCS.
Infrared Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) for aircraft pilots are still a novelty but their use is increasing rapidly.
BAE Systems Infrared Imaging Systems has been awarded a contract to supply the first uncooled target acquisition system.
France is preparing to launch a network-centric demonstrator program that will rely strongly on infrared and other sensors and is somewhat analogous to the U.S. Future Combat Systems (FCS).
Thales UK has been selected for the Demonstration and Manufacturing Phases of the UK’s Watchkeeper Tactical UAV system. Watchkeeper will provide the UK armed forces with an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability and will be a key component of the UK's drive for Network Enabled Capability (NEC).
Missile Warning detectors have typically been UV (ultraviolet) detectors so as to avoid the background and clutter in the infrared. Now the U.S. Air Force is moving to infrared FPAs instead of UV detectors to provide missile warning for its Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) NexGen Missile Warning System.