TELEDYNE FLIR
| Registered office | United States of America - Wilsonville (Boston) |
|---|---|
| Other branches | Frankfurt (DE), Quickborn (DE) |
| Industries | Sensor Technology |
| Categories | border forces, autonomous systems |
| Sources | Unspecified |
| Website | https://www.flir.com/ |
About the company
FLIR is the abbreviation for "Forward Looking Infrared" and describes a technology that is mainly used on board ships, helicopters and drones and has made great progress in recent years in terms of range and resolution. Through the publication of drone videos, the technology has come to dominate the visual perception of wars among the general public. Especially around 2010, many European coast guard patrol boats were equipped with FLIR. For some years now, FLIR technology has also been increasingly used in so-called "autonomous driving" and is therefore becoming more and more common.
Contribution to the EU border regime
FLIR Systems is also the name of a company founded in the USA in 1978, which initially developed and offered corresponding technologies primarily for military customers. With the constant technological upgrading of the EU borders and flanked by the work of the Frontex agency, a large market opened up for FLIR (both for the technology and the company). For example in 2008, the EC 135 helicopters (from Airbus) used in Frontex operations, were equipped with FLIR systems at a cost of 1.6 million euros (the EU contributed ca. one million). The P2006T MRI reconnaissance aircraft provided by INDRA to Frontex in 2016 are equipped with FLIR Systems reconnaissance technology, and the company has also been contracted to upgrade or maintain the Spanish coastal surveillance system 'SIVE'.
While the application of FLIR technology plays and has played a role in numerous EU research projects, FLIR Systems was/is itself involved in three through its subsidiaries in Belgium and the UK (PROMERC, 2014-2016; ACHIEVE, 2017-2021; NextPerception, 2020-2023). Between 2016 and 2019, the company acquired at least three other companies that manufacture unmanned aerial and ground vehicles themselves. In May 2021, FLIR Systems was again acquired for US$8 billion by Teledyne, a giant US group that became big mainly through defence contracts.
Added: Jan. 11, 2024
Last update: Jan. 28, 2024, 12:03 p.m.