Dual use opportunities for EO sensors-how to afford military sensing

There are many dual use opportunities for electro-optical sensors. A number of EO sensors have already been transitioned from military development to commercial applications. Many more need to be transitioned for the military to be able to afford the sensing technology that it needs. The old paradigm was that the military developed what it needed and then produced it. Companies then exploited that development for commercial markets. The new paradigm will be that the military asks for participation from companies with commercial interests even in the development phase. In addition, the military will plan its developments to promote a volume manufacturing market as a method of getting production costs down to affordable values. This has to be carefully planned to preserve a military edge over potential adversaries. With rapid technical progress the military edge occurs simply because we are “first to market” with the military hardware. In a slower technical development this edge is not enough