Theon Sensors celebrates delivery of the 100,000th night vision device and announces new strategic partnerships

Since it was founded in 1997, Theon Sensors has come a great deal closer to becoming the market leader in the field of portable night vision and thermal imaging devices. With customers in over 50 countries worldwide, the company recently reached a historic milestone: in 2020, Theon Sensors will celebrate the delivery of the 100,000th sensor. night vision device!

The 100,000. The device was binocular night vision goggles from the global Theon bestseller “NYX”, which was delivered to Austria. The company had already won a framework contract there last year to supply the army and special forces.

After Germany and Switzerland, Austria is the last of the three large German-speaking countries in Europe to opt for the NYX binocular night vision goggles. In total, the three countries hold contracts for almost 14,000 devices, making the NYX model the leading night vision goggle in Europe.

This also increases the number of NATO countries and partners using Theon mono- and binocular night vision goggles to a total of 14, including the armed forces of Greece, Denmark, Italy, Canada, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and of course the USA.There, the NYX night vision goggles are assembled locally by Elbit Systems of America under the designation PVS-31 D and delivered to the US Marine Corps.After extensive research, Elbit selected the NYX to promote and market the night vision goggles in the United States and worldwide under the designation F5032.

The NYX product family: NYX, E-NYX and MIKRON - the user has the choice

Under the umbrella of the NYX product family, Theon offers a variety of different night vision goggles, with the user being able to choose between 18 mm and 16 mm image intensifier tubes and between standard and extended fields of view. All systems are based on the highly successful and field-proven NYX, using the same fully qualified key components and optical performance based on the same high-performance optical design. The functions and ergonomics of all systems thus remain the same, allowing users to switch from one variant to another without further training, while ensuring interoperability between all systems within the family.

All Theon night vision goggles are equipped with a fail-safe automatic switch-off system, which ensures automatic switch-off in any position, regardless of position, as soon as the device is folded up or to the side. Features such as focusable IR illuminators and the ability to manually adjust brightness are standard on all goggles. Water resistance can be increased to 30 meters for special forces. Depending on the type and configuration, the weight of the Theon night vision binoculars is typically less than 500 g.

New strategic partnerships

In 2020, Theon Sensors was able to conclude further strategic partnerships in relevant fields with leading global companies, on the one hand with HENSOLDT Optronics and on the other hand with SAFRAN Electronics and Defense.

The special focus of these partnerships is currently on the German and Belgian armed forces, which are currently conducting a joint program to procure new night vision goggles. With the subsidiary Theon Germany, founded in 2019, Theon Sensors already has a strong presence in this region.

In order to be able to support the Belgian and German armed forces even better in the future, a new strategic partnership was entered into with HENSOLDT Optronics, a German and international champion in the field of sensor solutions for military and civil applications, which also operates in Belgium through the local branch "HENSOLDT Belgium". has a strong market presence.

However, the strategic cooperation with HENSOLDT Optronics is not limited to the local co-production and maintenance of night vision goggles, but should also include other areas of optronics, such as thermal imaging devices. The partnership strengthens Theon's industrial base in Germany and opens up new export opportunities for both companies by drawing on each other's global distribution network.

The new E-NYX night vision goggles with an extended field of vision have already emerged from the collaboration with SAFRAN. With this model, the two companies are also in a joint competition for the delivery of up to 10,000 night vision goggles for the French armed forces.

Theon Germany works together with JK Defense & Security Products as part of the maintenance and aftercare of introduced night vision devices. Both companies are strategically located in the Düsseldorf area, near the Belgian border.

Theon Sensors clearly has its roots in Greece and from there has risen to become the European market leader for night vision devices. Nevertheless, Germany and Belgium are regarded as home markets, since the company founder and owner has Belgian-German ancestors and the head of business development comes from the German-speaking area of ​​Belgium. For Theon Sensors, business is always a personal matter, but this time even more so!