Kylmar is based in Andover, Hampshire, England, and has approximately 50 employees. Kylmar a UK-registered subsidiary of General Dynamics UK Limited (www.generaldynamics.uk.com).
Kylmar is a UK company that has been supplying electro-optic equipment and systems into the UK military intelligence and Special Forces for counter terrorism applications for nearly two decades. From its inception, the company has designed and manufactured equipment, specialising in highly capable electro-optical systems deployed for long periods of time, often operating in harsh environments, where high reliability is essential to a successful outcome. Kylmar has fielded systems operating in temperatures ranging from -40ºC to +70ºC, from green sea state to desert sandstorms.
In the past and out of necessity, the UK defence industry became a leader in the development of technology to combat the terrorist threats posed to the nation and as a result, many of Kylmar’s products, systems and techniques have been highly classified. During that period, the company has kept a low profile, focusing on the elite users in a niche market. Indeed, many of our staff have direct experience of working in hostile theatres and understand the need for a low key presence.
The dramatic changes in the world political arena in recent years have changed all that and Kylmar is emerging as a leading player in overt surveillance across the world. The threat of terrorism is no longer unique to the UK, although much of the industrial experience, capability and technology and their application to counter terrorist activity have been developed here. As a consequence and with the support of UKTI/DSO, Kylmar has successfully delivered systems to countries with similar problems. The growing opportunity to provide this capability offshore is the principle reason for the significant expansion and ongoing success of the company.
Above all, Kylmar is a technology company, with its success founded on a strong engineering team with the experience and deep understanding of the application of modern tools, techniques and materials needed to meet customers’ needs. The use of advanced aspheric optics and ultra sensitive detectors in a number of wavebands enables the passive detection and identification of targets at very long range. The ability to position the sensors with sub 1 mil accuracy enables precise positional information to be returned with the imagery. Further image processing and dissemination techniques assist in enhanced and rapid situation awareness. The use of lightweight materials such as carbon fibre and magnesium alloys coupled with ultra stiff Silicon Carbide metal matrix composites enables very lightweight, high resolution electro-optic systems to be manufactured for handheld man-portable roles.
This technical capability is only one aspect of Kylmar’s broad experience in counter terrorism, which has shown that the deployment scenarios demand equipment with specific interfaces, physical and environmental characteristics. Retro-reflectance avoidance, merged visual and thermal imagery and rapid target geo-location are typical requirements. Man-portable, vehicle based and fixed infrastructure systems utilising these technologies all have a role to play and Kylmar is strong in all three areas.
Facial identification at long range in harsh conditions is a key operational tool, and Kylmar’s long range starlight systems are proving effective in battlefield, counter terrorist and Homeland Security applications. Kylmar systems are often geo-referenced and can be built into wider surveillance networks. They provide real time imagery which can be transported via fibre or microwave for subsequent analysis and manipulation including onward transmission using low bandwidth paths. The very high target acquisition accuracy enables precise target evaluation when cued from other sensors such as radar, seismic or acoustic devices.
Kylmar’s products and systems also have many applications in other military, paramilitary and civil arenas. To date, Kylmar has provided solutions for tactical targeting, border surveillance and base protection roles and products have recently been procured in volume for long range commercial identification requirements.
Security considerations prevent the general release of product details into the public domain. Anyone wishing to know more about Kylmar products and capabilities is invited to contact us |
