The Hindu Business Line : Thales supplies thermal cameras to Indian Army

The maker of Sophie, French defence major Thales, has said that it recently supplied 500 of the special thermal cameras to the Indian Army. A variant, Catherine, has also been acquired for the T90 tank programme, said the Thales International Chairman & CEO, Mr Jean-Paul Perrier, who was here for Aero India 2005.

Sophie is a specialised, long-range infra-red camera that can see through sand, dust, fog and smoke and identify a tank at night up to a range of 3 km. The camera can operate in areas of high temperature and high humidity and have been preferred during battles, security and peace-keeping missions. Some 6,000 of Sophie cameras are in use by the armed forces of 45 countries.

Present in the country since 1953 on air, sea and ground military platforms, Thales said it has provided ground based air defence radars to the IAF, besides equipping the ongoing MiG 21, MiG 27 and Jaguar upgrade programmes with avionics packages. It has supplied air traffic management solutions to the Airports Authority of India, the Navy and the Coast Guard.

The company, which closed 2003 with total revenue of euro 10.6 billion, is associated with domestic major HAL for transfer of avionics technology, with BEL for air defence radar and ECIL. Senior officials said the India arm, Thales International India, formed in 2003, sees a growing market opportunity in the country and is exploring partnerships with L&T, TCS, Mahindra and other domestic companies. The order value rose from euro 60 million in 1999 to euro 210 million in just three years.

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Thales supplies thermal cameras to Indian Army