Teledyne FLIR LLC (an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "

forward-looking infrared Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...

"), a subsidiary of

Teledyne Technologies Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an American industrial conglomerate. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky. From August 1996 to November 1999, Teledyne existed as part of the conglomerate Al ...

, specializes in the design and production of

thermal imaging Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video and/or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared i ...

cameras and sensors. Its main customers are governments and in 2020, approximately 31% of its revenues were from the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

and its agencies.

Operations

FLIR produces devices for the following markets: * Surveillance and reconnaissance * Force protection * Border and maritime patrol * Critical infrastructure protection * Search and rescue * Detection * Targeting * Airborne law enforcement * Drug interdiction

Facilities

The company has offices, manufacturing, and/or

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

facilities in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...

;

Goleta, California Goleta (; ; Spanish for "Schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 2000 c ...

;

North Billerica, Massachusetts North Billerica is an unincorporated village of the town of Billerica, Massachusetts, United States, one of the nine sections (hamlets) that make up the Town of Billerica. It is the home to Faulkner and Talbot mills and the North Billerica Trai ...

;

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

;

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

;

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of th ...

;

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

;

Chelmsford, Massachusetts Chelmsford () is a town in Massachusetts that was established in 1655. It is located northwest of Boston. The Chelmsford militia played a role in the American Revolution at the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. ...

;

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

;

Elkridge, Maryland Elkridge is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Howard County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,593 at the 2010 census. Founded early in the 18th century, Elkridge is adjacent to two other counties, A ...

;

Freeport, Pennsylvania Freeport is a borough in Armstrong County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania; it is situated along the Allegheny River in the southwest corner of the county. The population was 1,813 at the 2010 Census. Geography Freeport is located at (40.674 ...

;

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...

;

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...

;

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...

;

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

;

Täby Täby () was previously a trimunicipal locality, with 66,292 inhabitants in 2013. However, as from 2016, Statistics Sweden has amalgamated this locality with the Stockholm urban area. It is the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Swed ...

;

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

;

Hvalstad Hvalstad is a village and a small part of the municipality of Asker. Hvalstad has slightly over 2,000 inhabitants, a number that has doubled since the 1970s. Hvalstad lies 20 kilometres from the centre of Oslo. Hvalstad Station is on the Drammen ...

; and

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...

Products

FLIR One

The FLIR ONE camera is limited to 9 frames per second due to United States regulatory concerns. The camera can be used to detect water and air leaks. It is available as an add-on for Android and iOS devices.

AN/PVS-22

The AN/PVS-22, designated as the Universal Night Sight (UNS) is a clip-on night vision sight built off FLIR's MilSight 105 scope. The UNS can be used to engage long-range targets and can handle recoil up to .50BMG. The AN/PVS-22 was originally co-designed by

Knight's Armament Company Knight's Armament Company (KAC) is an American firearms and firearms parts manufacturer, best known for producing the Rail Interface System (RIS) and the Rail Adapter System (RAS) grips for firearms use. They currently produce a variety of fire ...

and OSTI Inc. for SOCOM. Ownership of the tradename "Universal Night Sight" was fought over by KAC and OSTI. It is uncertain how FLIR came to own the rights for the AN/PVS-22 and MilSight 105 design.

History

The company was founded in 1978 to pioneer the development of high-performance, low-cost

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

(thermal) imaging systems for airborne uses. Originally based in

Tigard, Oregon Tigard ( ) is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tua ...

, the company relocated to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in the mid-1990s. In 1990, the company acquired the industrial infrared imaging group of

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other produ ...

. In June 1993, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

, raising $12 million. In January 1998, the company acquired Agema Infrared System of Sweden for approximately $80 million. In January 1999, J. Kenneth Stringer III was named

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the company. In April 1999, the company acquired Inframetrics. In May 2000, Stringer was fired by the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

due to errors in the company's accounting practices, Earl Lewis replaced Stringer as President & CEO of the company, and

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

was dismissed as auditor. In January 2001, Flir agreed to pay $6 million to settle class-action shareholder litigation and FLIR settled with the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

in October 2002. Three executives were charged with fraudulent accounting. In 2004, the company acquired a building in

Wilsonville, Oregon Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County, Oregon, Washington County. It was founded as Boones Landing because of th ...

, from

Mentor Graphics Siemens EDA is a US-based electronic design automation (EDA) multinational corporation for electrical engineering and electronics, headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Founded in 1981 as Mentor Graphics, the company was acquired by Siemens in ...

for $10.3 million for use as a new headquarters. In January 2004, FLIR acquired Indigo Systems, a developer and supplier of infrared imaging products, including cooled and uncooled infrared detectors, camera cores, and finished cameras, for $190 million. In 2011, after losing a trade secrets claim against the founders of Indigo Systems, FLIR agreed to pay $39 million to settle a countersuit. Beginning in 2005, the company began supplying BMW with imaging technology for use on its vehicles. In March 2007, the company reported that it would restate its financial statements for the period from 1995 to 2005 due to

options backdating In finance, options backdating is the practice of altering the date a stock option was granted, to a usually earlier (but sometimes later) date at which the underlying stock price was lower. This is a way of repricing options to make them more v ...

. FLIR had been sued by investors for options backdating but the lawsuits were thrown out in November 2007. In October 2007, the company acquired Extech Instruments for $40 million. In April 2008, the company acquired Ifara Tecnologias of Spain for €7.0 million. In December 2009, it sold Extech Data Systems, a division of Extech which made portable printers. Also in December 2009, the company acquired security hardware maker Directed Perception for $20 million. In May 2010, the company acquired

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

Raymarine Raymarine is a manufacturer and major supplier of electronic equipment for marine use. The company targets both recreational and light commercial markets with their products, which include: * GPS Chartplotters * VHF Radios *Digital Fishfinders ...

for $180 million. In December 2012, the company acquired Lorex Technology for $60 million. Lorex was sold to Dahua Technology in 2018 for $29 million. In May 2013, Andrew C. Teich was appointed President & CEO after the retirement of Earl Lewis. In April 2015, the company paid $9.5 million to settle allegations of violations of the

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable world ...

after it paid for a world tour for

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

n officials. According to the

, Flir earned more than $7 million in profits from sales influenced by the FCPA violations. In November 2015, the company acquired DVTEL, a provider of software and hardware technologies for advanced video surveillance, for approximately $92 million in cash. In February 2016, the company's technology was used by

Bullitt Group Bullitt Group Ltd is a British-based international mobile phone and consumer electronics business. Founded in 2009 by Colin Batt, David Floyd and Richard Wharton; Bullitt designs, manufactures, markets, and sells consumer electronic devices in ...

and

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

in a mobile phone that uses its lightweight thermal imaging technology. In November 2016, FLIR acquired Point Grey Research, owner of the Brickstream brand of camera products, for $259 million. In December 2016, FLIR acquired Prox Dynamics, the makers of the Black Hornet Nano, a nano-

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

used by the military and law enforcement for surveillance and reconnaissance, for $134 million. In May 2017, Jim Cannon was appointed President & CEO of the company. In January 2019, the company acquired

Aeryon Labs Aeryon Labs is a Canadian developer and manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Founded in 2007, it is headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario. Aeryon Defense is a wholly owned subsidiary, based in Denver, Colorado, focused on sales and support fo ...

for $200 million. In March 2019, the company acquired Endeavor Robotics, the former

iRobot iRobot Corporation is an American technology company that designs and builds consumer robots. It was founded in 1990 by three members of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, who designed robots for space exploration and military defense. The com ...

division responsible for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for the global military, public safety, and critical infrastructure markets, for $382 million in cash. The company also opened a second headquarters in

. In October 2019, the company acquired patents related to tethered drones, which are connected to the ground with a cable and can stay aloft much longer than drones powered by batteries, from Aria Insights. In April 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the company released a thermal camera that can be used to identify elevated

skin temperature Skin temperature is the temperature of the outermost surface of the body. Normal human skin temperature on the trunk of the body varies between 33.5 and 36.9 °C (92.3 and 98.4 °F), though the skin's temperature is lower over protrudi ...

. Demand for these products surged, putting stress on the company's supply chain. In January 2021,

announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $8 billion, against FLIR's 2019 revenue of $1.9 billion. The acquisition was completed in May 2021.

Mentionable Use Cases of Products

In 2017, Teledyne FLIR partnered with the WWF's Wildlife Crime Technology Project. An initiative supported by a $5 million grant from Google, FLIR cameras were deployed in several game preserves in Namibia, Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe. The program's thermal cameras, along with drones, digital tracking systems and other technology, was used to prevent poaching. On October 4, 2022, Teledyne FLIR announced that

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

will use its thermal LWIR camera module, the Boson, in its design of an inflatable re-entry heat shield. On October 25, 2022, Teledyne FLIR was awarded $48.7 million (USD) to provide Maritime Forward Looking Infared (MARFLIR) II sensors and variants of the SeaFLIR 280-HD surveillance systems to be used by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. https://militaryembedded.com/radar-ew/sensors/eoir-sensors-from-teledyne-flir-defense-to-equip-us-coast-guard-cutters

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Teledyne FLIR 1978 establishments in Oregon 1993 initial public offerings 2021 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1978 American corporate subsidiaries Avionics companies Companies based in Wilsonville, Oregon Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Defense companies of the United States Electronics companies established in 1978 Manufacturing companies based in Oregon Teledyne Technologies Video surveillance companies