Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Defense |
Founded | 1922 in Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Headquarters | Barrington, Illinois, United States, until closed |
Products | Airborne cameras, ground stations, stabilization systems |
Recon Optical (Recon/Optical, Inc. or ROI) was a privately held defense contractor providing electro-optical and stabilization products.
Founded in 1922 by Eugene W. Fuller as Chicago Aerial Survey Company, it was later known as Chicago Aerial Industries or CAI, before changing to Recon/Optical. Originally based in Chicago, by 1960 it had moved to Barrington, Illinois, when it was visited by presidential candidate John F. Kennedy.
For many years a subsidiary of Bourns, Inc., Recon/Optical was purchased by Goodrich Corporation in 2008, becoming part of Goodrich ISR Systems. Recon Optical FPT was then purchased by Electro Optic Systems Holdings (EOS Defense), the US subsidiary of Australian company Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd, in 2009, [1] [ unreliable source? ] and the Illinois office was closed in 2012.
With its focus initially on airborne cameras (first film, then digital), Recon/Optical provided end-to-end intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, Force Protection Technology (FPT), and optical components for military and government use. It produced optic systems in the infra-red, including forward looking infrared (FLIR), and visible imaging (with haze reduction technology); in both frame and line scanning cameras. Recon/Optical also provided ground-stations to view and analyze the images being gathered by the aircraft. Using its gimbal technology for aiming and stabilizing cameras, Recon/Optical then moved into providing stabilization technology for remotely operated weapon systems. [2]
Electro–optics is a branch of electrical engineering, electronic engineering, materials science, and material physics involving components, electronic devices such as lasers, laser diodes, LEDs, waveguides, etc. which operate by the propagation and interaction of light with various tailored materials. It is closely related to photonics, the branch of optics that involves the application of the generation of photons. It is not only concerned with the "electro–optic effect", since it deals with the interaction between the electromagnetic and the electrical states of materials.
Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, specializing in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, aerospace, and navigation products. Its customers included the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, United States Intelligence Community, NASA, aerospace contractors, and commercial telecommunications and wireless customers. In 2019, it merged with Harris Corporation to form L3Harris Technologies.
Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation was a company founded by Sherman Fairchild. It was based on the East Coast of the United States, and provided research and development for flash photography equipment. The technology was primarily used for DOD spy satellites. The firm was later known for its manufacture of semiconductors.
The M230 Cannon is a 30 mm (30×113 mm), single-barrel electrically-driven autocannon, using external electrical power to cycle the weapon between shots. It was designed and manufactured originally by Hughes Helicopters in Culver City, California. As of 2019, it is produced by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.
A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor.
RAPTOR was a reconnaissance pod used by the Royal Air Force on its fleet of Tornado GR.4A and GR.4 aircraft. RAPTOR was manufactured by the Goodrich Corporation, initially part of UTC Aerospace Systems, but now part of Collins Aerospace.
Selex ES was a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, active in the electronics and information technology business, based in Italy and the UK, and formed in January 2013, following Finmeccanica's decision to combine its existing SELEX Elsag and SELEX Sistemi Integrati businesses into SELEX Galileo, the immediate predecessor of Selex ES. From 1 January 2016, the activities of Selex ES merged into Leonardo-Finmeccanica's Electronics, Defence and Security Systems Sector becoming Leonardo S.p.A.
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. The US military has fielded both the M101 CROWS and M153 CROWS II systems.
Aeronautics Ltd. is an Israeli company specializing in the manufacturing of Unmanned Aerial Systems for military uses. Since its establishment in 1997, the company has sold its products to more than 20 defense, military and homeland security customers in 15 countries. Its headquarters are in Yavne, Israel.
The Canon EF-S 55–250mm f/4–5.6 IS lenses are a series of telephoto zoom lenses for Canon EOS digital single-lens reflex cameras with a Canon EF-S lens mount.
Orbotech Ltd. a subsidiary of KLA Corporation and a technology company used in the manufacturing of consumer and industrial products throughout the electronics and adjacent industries. The company providing electronics reading, writing, and connecting solutions used by manufacturers of printed circuit boards, flat panel displays, advanced packaging, micro-electro-mechanical systems and other electronic components. The company is headquartered in Yavne, Israel and operates in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific.
The Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) are a variety of small sensors, generally covert, dedicated to detect and identify activities on the ground such as enemy soldiers or vehicles. UGS come as systems with an integrated communication network and processing capabilities.
Gyrocam Systems, LLC was part-owned and funded by a private equity fund that was located in Melbourne Australia. The company made the Gyrocam camera system, a gyro-stabilized camera system using multiple sub-cameras. Founded by Ken Sanborn, Peter Rudaizky and Edwin Daniels in 2003. Gyrocam Systems was based in Sarasota, Florida. Gyrocam also had facilities in Washington, D.C., and Afghanistan. Gyrocam marketed their systems as a technical solution to identify and classify objects of interest, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and enemy insurgent activity using stabilized, multi-spectral, optical sensor packages integrated on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Gyrocam continued to expand their presence in the land sensor market providing integrated solutions to the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. Gyrocam’s products also have airborne and maritime applications.
Gorgon Stare is a video capture technology developed by the United States military. It is a spherical array of nine cameras attached to an aerial drone. The US Air Force calls it "wide-area surveillance sensor system".
Kestrel is a wide-area motion imagery system used on aerostats at U.S. forward operating bases in Afghanistan to monitor the surrounding areas. Developed by Logos Technologies, the system is equipped with electro-optical and infrared cameras, providing day/night force protection and overwatch to troops.
OIP Sensor Systems is a Belgian defence and space company.
The Buckeye system is an operational airborne surveying system that provides high-resolution spatial imagery over an area of interest to support military operations involved with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Once mounted on a helicopter or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it incorporates visual information from a digital camera and elevation data from a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system to create a two and three-dimensional colored map with orthorectified, 4 to 6-inch resolution.
Slinger is an anti-drone weapon system developed by Electro Optic Systems (EOS) of Symonston, Australia. It was introduced in May 2023.