Officina Stellare SpA has been selected by PSI (Photo-Sonics, Inc.) as the qualified supplier for the large number of short and long range telescopes, operating in the visible and infrared spectrum, necessary for the execution of the MITS project (Multispectral Imaging and Tracking System) launched in 2019 by the U.S. Army.
The supply program for the optical systems by Officina Stellare will develop over a span of about 5 years for a total value of approximately 9 million euros, with the initial contract covering the first two years of subset deliveries, which amounts approximately to 3.3 million euros.
The in-house availability of all design, production, integration and quality verification phases, has turned out to be the winning strategy for Officina Stellare. The control over scheduled times, flexibility and optimization of the production process, together with risks minimization, are key features in the world of Defense.
Photo-Sonics has been a U.S. Army supplier of optical tracking equipment for more than 70 years. During the first months of 2019, PSI signed a contract worth more than $27 million for all stages of development of the new multispectral monitoring and imaging system called MITS. The project was born in the TReX division of the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL) based in Arlington, Virginia. NTSXL itself will provide support and assistance for the duration of the project.
Specifically, Officina Stellare optical systems will be used on the Fly-Out and Close-In instruments, in order to create a system capable of combining the requests for high precision and high accuracy demanded by the U.S. Army.
“We are extremely pleased with this milestone, which is the result of a close collaboration with the customer and mutual growth, which started almost ten years ago,” said Gino Bucciol, VP of Business Development and Co-Founder of Officina Stellare. “This outstanding result comes in after years of optical and mechanical technologies developments required to meet the needs of this specific application in the defense sector, and the close collaboration with Photo-Sonics has been of great importance in this context. I am happy to say that Officina Stellare is now one of the very few global players qualified to serve customers for this type of product and I am sure this acquisition will pave the way to other similar opportunities.”