Simrad Optronics AS is the holding company of Simrad Optronics Group located in

Nøtterøy Nøtterøy is an island and a former municipality in the present-day municipality of Færder in Vestfold and Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Borgheim. The parish of ''Nøtterø'' was estab ...

, Norway. Simrad Optronics Group is a global niche supplier to the defence industry, with production facilities in Norway and

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, United States. Daughter companies include Vinghøg AS at Nøtterøy, Norway and Vingtech Corporation in Maine, United States. The company was listed on Oslo Stock Exchange until July 2010. As of July 12, 2010

Rheinmetall AG Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. History Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel L ...

is the company's sole shareholder; following a voluntary offer of May 12 to acquire all issued and outstanding shares in the company. The company supplies products in four main product areas: ;Remote Weapon Systems: CCD cameras, weapon integration, firing

solenoid upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whose ...

s and

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

s for

remote weapon system A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium-caliber weapons which can ...

s ;Electro-optics: Advanced

optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiatio ...

observation,

and sight systems for various applications, including

night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vi ...

;Weapon Improvement Products: Integration of a wide range of small - and medium

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

guns to vehicle and ground mounted system ;Vehicle Systems: High-end observation and

target acquisition Target acquisition is the detection and identification of the location of a target in sufficient detail to permit the effective employment of lethal and non-lethal means. The term is used for a broad area of applications. A "target" here is an e ...

systems for light and heavy military vehicles There are today three companies using the Simrad brand: * Simrad Optronics AS, as described in this article. * Simrad commercial maritime applications (fish finding electronics as echo sounders, catch monitoring systems, trawl sonars etc.), made by Kongsberg Simrad now part of

Kongsberg Maritime Kongsberg Maritime (KM) is a Norwegian technology enterprise within the Kongsberg Gruppen (KOG). Kongsberg Maritime deliver systems for positioning, surveying, navigation, and automation to merchant vessels and offshore installations. Their most ...

a division of

Kongsberg Gruppen Kongsberg Gruppen is an international technology group headquartered in Norway, that supplies high-technology systems to customers in the merchant marine, defence, aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries, and renewable and utilities industri ...

. * Simrad consumer maritime applications (marine electronics as radars, navigation, autopilots etc.), made by

Navico Navico is a marine electronics company providing navigation, marine instruments and fish finding equipment to both the recreational and commercial marine sectors. The Navico Recreational Marine Division is one of the world's largest provider of ...

. The reason for three different companies with different owners using the same brand name is the common history, as the name comes from the original SIMRAD company founded in Oslo, Norway in 1947, by

Willy Christian Simonsen Willy Christian Simonsen (13 September 1913 – 4 December 2003) was a Norwegian engineer and business founder. He was born in Kristiania as a son of chemist Einar Simonsen (1867–1918) and Alice Sophia Andersen (1877–1969). He finished his s ...

, making

marine VHF radio Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore (for example with harbormasters), and in certain circumstances ship-to-ai ...

s and

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

application for the commercial fishery fleet. The name was an abbreviation of Simonsen Radio.

References

{{reflist Defence companies of Norway Manufacturing companies of Norway 1980 establishments in Norway Companies formerly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange