French infrared technologies company Sofradir is to acquire Sagem and Thales’ IR detector technology development and manufacturing facilities.
Following the transfer, Sofradir will have expertise in cooled and uncooled IR technologies. Under the agreement, Sagem will transfer to Sofradir the Indium Antimonide (InSb) technology. The Quantum Well-Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) and Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) technologies will be transferred to Sofradir from the GIE III-V Lab, an economic interest group with partners Alcatel Lucent, Thales and research institute CEA (the French nuclear energy and alternate energies commission).
Serge Adrian, senior vice president of land defence at Thales, and Philippe Petitcolin, chairman and chief executive of Sagem, said in a joint statement: ‘We are confident that Sofradir will take these IR activities to the next level and benefit from the synergies between the different IR technologies.’
Thales, Sagem and Sofradir’s IR detectors are components used in military, space, commercial and scientific technologies that include thermal imagers, missile seekers, and surveillance systems.
