US defence prime General Atomics has announced that it has acquired EO Vista, a space and airborne based electro-optical (EO) sensor system payload manufacturer, on 15 September 2023.
The Massachusetts-based EO specialist has a history as a reliable US Department of Defense (DoD) contractor, having delivered an EO and Infrared (IR) Weather satellite system, to support the transition from the Defense Meteorological Support Program (DMSP) on-orbit systems to a new generation of affordable, high performance, small weather satellites.
Beginning in 2013, the once privately-owned company has reached an estimated annual revenue of $7.9m with a company size of 11-50 employees. General Atomics will integrate the market-leading business into its Electromagnetic Systems group.
“EO Vista has a proven track record of rapid innovation that set new standards for performance and affordability in electro-optical payload designs,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, stated.
“We look forward to bringing EO Vista’s unique capabilities on-board as we continue to expand our weather and science programmes and our growing portfolio of sensor system payload designs to support a wide range of customer requirements, including Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance [ISR] missions.”
Armed forces rely on EO/IR systems for information superiority and situational awareness as these systems are integrated across all platforms. Research in the field of IR, nonlinear crystals, laser radars, advanced 3D visualisation, persistent surveillance systems, multispectral and hyperspectral sensors, are some of the advancements leading to the creation of more capable EO/IR systems.
GlobalData, a leading intelligence consultancy, anticipates the airborne segment to dominate the global EO/IR systems market in the next decade. This accounts for 39.7% of a market that will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.1% from its current value of $10.1bn to reach $13.6bn by 2032.
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