Ukraine war driving European IR sensor evolution, says producer

SemiConductor Devices' (SCD's) Sparrow-HD IR detector. (SCD)

Infrared (IR) detector manufacturer SemiConductor Devices (SCD) has seen a significant increase in European demand for its products in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, the company has told Janes, with requirements in such areas as loitering munitions and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs).

Speaking to Janes on 10 December, Shai Fishbein, vice-president of business development and marketing at SCD, said the Israeli company has seen revenue growth of more than 20% in Europe in the past two years, a rate of expansion that it expects to continue into the next two years.

This upsurge began with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, which has driven European countries to replenish the equipment that was deployed. There has also been a wider increase in defence spending, Fishbein said, with much focused on supporting domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with which SCD works directly.

Many of the priorities for military spending tie in with SCD's work on IR products. For instance, there has been growing demand for high-end, multisensor gimbals in airborne, naval, or land applications, as well as solutions for smaller tactical platforms that have low demands in size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C).

There has been a particular growth in demand for ground platforms, he said, with shortwave IR (SWIR), midwave IR (MWIR), and longwave IR (LWIR) detectors integrated into applications such as gunner and commander sights, he noted. He highlighted the growing needs for such detectors in smart and loitering munitions, as well as in C-UAS applications, with MWIR detectors in particular used to detect potential threats in all-weather types and terrains.