Lighteight and Low Cost Infrared Optics for Manportable Fire Control and Missile System

Agiltron proposes a new class of significantly lightweight long wave infrared (LWIR) lens system for Army manportable fire control and missile systems. Our unique afocal design uses only three thin lenses with aspherical and Fresnel surfaces, holding the promise of providing unsurpassed optical zooming performance. Leveraging on our extensive expertise in chalcogenide glass lens fabrication, we propose to produce these lens by a low-cost molding process. Chalcogenide glass is a much lightweight and inexpensive material than the present LWIR lens material of single-crystal Germanium. This program will lead to volume production of high performance LWIR complex shaped lenses without the need for polishing and with little waste. The technology potentially produces premium IR imaging optics at drastically lower cost and lightweight that are unattainable before. The program target is to realize a state-of-the-art LWIR optic system of less than 300 grams and at production cost less than $4,000.