CILAS: Press release

PRESS RELEASE

NEW PRODUCT: SAFEAIR, AIRBORNE REAL TIME SELECTIVE PARTICLE DETECTOR

Nanoparticles production quantity increases with a worldwide market around 700-1000 billion euros.

The risk of accidental release or chronic exposure to engineered nanoparticles gets higher with the production and handling of nanoparticles in large quantities.

More and more workers being involved, the development of robust and reliable technologies for detection and measurement of airborne nanoparticles has become a key point for the protection of the individual health and the environment.

Little is currently known about the toxicity of nanoparticles. CILAS and INERIS have developed a unique solution to minimize nanoparticle exposure.

This new instrument called SAFEAIR is presented for the first time at NANOTECH 2010 - Booth 761

It is an airborne real time selective nanoparticle detector. This innovative new instrument is based on a breakthrough in detection technology. It allows monitoring the air quality by selectively measuring the concentration of airborne nanoparticles, it is then possible to differentiate the engineered nanoparticles from the ones naturally present in the air.

The measurement of nanoparticles is based on the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. A chemical analysis allows concentration measurement from 2µg/m3 for particle size between 10 nm and 10µm.

This instrument can become an essential tool for R&D laboratories as well as large production facilities ensuring competitiveness.

SAFEAIR can be considered as a first and very important step towards legislation while the topics of assessing the impacts on health and environment will keep on being addressed.

Contact: Jean-Paul Dufour

dufour@cilas.com

CILAS HAS UNVEILED PACA2M, ITS NEW VERY LARGE OPTICAL COATINGS MACHINE

IN COOPERATION WITH THE POPSUD/OPTITEC COMPETITIVENESS CLUSTER

CILAS has started up PACA2M, its new optical coatings machine, the largest in Europe using magnetron sputtering technology, now operational in its Aubagne site near Marseille in the south of France.

PACA2M, a 18 metres long machine, can deposit optical coatings on parts measuring up to 2 meters by 2 meters, up to 40 centimeters thick and weighing up to 1.5 tonnes. Optical controls are carried out in real time during the deposition of the coatings. Fully automated, the PACA2M has a five position load-lock for an increased productivity.

The PACA2M project officially began in 2007 when it received a label from POPSUD, the association in charge of operating the OPTITEC competitiveness cluster dedicated to optics and photonics. The PACA2M Project was then awarded a national and regional funding. The goal of the project was to design and build an optical coatings platform of exceptional dimensions and performance in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region and to share this platform with the regional actors in optics, with the help of POPSud/OPTITEC.

CILAS has gathered for the PACA2M Project several partners and funding agencies to help creating the platform. POPSud/OPTITEC has selected the project for its high optical level and for the advantages it will offer in region for optical industries and academics. The FUI (French governmental agency funding industrial R&D projects) managed by the DGCIS (French government division supporting business and innovation), the PACA Region and the General Council of the Bouches-du-Rhône are jointly funding the project.

Alliance Concept has designed and manufactured the PACA2M thin film coatings deposition system. The Fresnel Institute, with which CILAS has enjoyed a privileged partnership for many years, has designed and manufactured the optical control system and is developing the main coating processes. Thales Alenia Space has provided support for the specification of the PACA2M coatings machine for the coating of space telescope mirrors.

With PACA2M, CILAS is making a major investment in a large capacity machine that will allow it to target new markets based on large-sized optics. The potential markets concern the coating of reflectors for the French Megajoule laser, the coating of the mirrors of solar furnaces and of space and ground telescopes.

The PACA2M platform also has the advantage of addressing mass production markets, since the capacity of the machine enables a very large number of components to be processed in a single run under highly competitive conditions.

CILAS has, on its Aubagne site, a recognised expertise in the deposition of optical thin film coatings. PACA2M, which can be used to coat large-sized optical and metal parts, further extends the range of services proposed by CILAS in the optical thin film coatings field.

CILAS DELIVERS IN ADVANCE TO DGA THE COMPACT JAMMING LASER MILDA

CILAS has delivered to the French Direction Générale de l’Armement the prototype of the compact laser source MILDA – Mid Infrared Laser for DIRCM Application. The DGA awarded this project to CILAS two years ago, following the initial studies conducted for the CESAM project.

Launched by the DGA in 2002, the CESAM project involves the development and production of a jamming laser source to be used by military transport aircraft for self-protection purposes.

The first stage of the project was the validation of the design principles and feasibility of using a laser-jamming system to counteract the threat of auto-guiding infrared missiles (MANPADS or man-portable air-defence systems). This second stage, which is prior to a series of trials, is essential for CILAS since the potential market of laser sources for Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) using infrared jamming represents several million euros.

This compact jamming laser source, which could be integrated into a future self-protection system, for the A400M for example, will transmit beams in low and average infra-red spectral bands at a high rate, thus ensuring a better effectiveness of jamming. The main characteristics are:
- strong brightness associated with a top-quality beam;
- frequency-modulation capacities;
- full performances obtained quasi-instantaneously.

The development and production of this compact jamming laser confirms CILAS 40 years know how in militarized laser sources for ground, naval and airborne applications.

Press contact : Véronique Trivero
+ 33 (0)2 38 64 40 14
+ 33 (0)6 70 57 00 09
trivero@cilas.com
........................................................................................................................

CILAS DELIVERS TWO SLD 500 COUNTER SNIPERS
SYSTEMS TO THE MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND

Orleans-France, June 8th. CILAS is delivering two SLD 500 counter snipers systems to the US Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC). The order was placed last December after several trials campaigns in various weather and distance conditions.

Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) intends to test in depth the capabilities of this system before using it to protect the US Forces engaged in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“CILAS is very proud to deliver this new generation of SLD 500 counter snipers systems to the US Marine Corps and contribute to the Forces protection” M. Jacques Battistella, CILAS CEO declares.

CILAS SLD 500 is able to detect sights, goggles or optics, and indicates the GPS position and the distance of the threat. Real time information is given before shot occurrence allowing a rapid and adapted response.

This system can be coupled to external sensors such as acoustic detectors, thermal camera, movement sensors and others depending of the needs.
The first generation of the system has been combat proven since 1996.

CILAS CONDUCTS A STUDY ON A REMOTE BIOLOGICAL AGENT DETECTION SYSTEM

Orleans, March 24th 2009 At the beginning of 2009, the Délégation Générale pour l’Armement entrusted CILAS with the task of conducting a three-year Prior Studies Programme concerning the upgrading of a laser remote biological agent detection system.

The study consists in a new development phase of a demonstrator which can be used to evaluate the operational function of remote detection of a biological threat in a representative environment. This demonstrator is based on analysis of the fluoresence induced by laser excitation in the UV range.

The study entrusted to CILAS is part of the Perséide programme, the aim of which is to define means of protection against bacteriological and chemical threats by around 2015.

After the success of the development and testing of the BODE (Biological Optical Detection Experiment) demonstrator, a European project which is part of PASR no. 6 (Preparatory Action for Security Research), the awarding of this programme testifies to the confidence placed in CILAS for remote detection methods.

For over 40 years, CILAS has developed, manufactured and marketed a wide range of products and systems for defence and civilian and military security, large-scale scientific laser programmes, and scientific and industrial instrumentation. With a turnover of 30 million euros, CILAS employs 200 people on four sites in France.

CILAS CONDUCTS A STUDY ON UAV DETECTION BY ACTIVE IMAGING

Orleans, March 18th 2009 The Délégation Générale pour l’Armement has just entrusted CILAS with the task of conducting a Prior Studies Programme concerning the possibility of detecting and tracking small airborne targets by means of a high-resolution active laser imaging system.

Small airborne targets such as UAVs have become a new threat which is taking on increasing importance on battlefields. At present they are difficult to detect and identify.

CILAS has been entrusted with this study on account of its expertise in high-resolution active laser imaging. The aim is to quantify the contribution this technology can make to detecting, tracking and identifying these new targets. This entails validation of the first phase of a process making it possible to move on to the jamming and damaging of UAVs by high-power lasers.

CILAS CONDUCTS A STUDY ON UAV DETECTION BY ACTIVE IMAGING

Orleans, March 18th 2009. The Délégation Générale pour l'Armement has just entrusted CILAS with the task of conducting a Prior Studies Programme concerning the possibility of detecting and tracking small airborne targets by means of a high-resolution active laser imaging system.

Small airborne targets such as UAVs have become a new threat which is taking on increasing importance on battlefields. At present they are difficult to detect and identify.

CILAS SUPPLIES NAMSA WITH 28 LASER DESIGNATION SYSTEMSWITH 28 LASER DESIGNATION SYSTEMS

Orléans France, February 13^th. CILAS has recently supplied an Armed Force with 28 DHY 307 laser designation systems via the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA). These systems will be used to provide targeting for laser-guided precision weapons such as smart bombs, semi-active shells and missiles.

The DHY 307 laser designator makes it possible to guide either NATO and Russian or Chinese standard ammunitions, giving it maximum interoperability.

The CILAS DHY 307 has been operational for several years and has demonstrated its effectiveness during operations conducted by French and foreign forces, particularly in Afghanistan. When guiding ammunitions, it has an accuracy of less than a metre.Being lightweight and low signature, it is used by FAC (Forward Advance Controllers) and TACP (Tactical Air Control Parties) on the ground or mounted on a vehicle.

The availability of product references and prices on the NATO Logistics Stock Exchange (NLSE), which is accessible via the NAMSA electronic portal www.natolog.com, raises the possibility of supplying NATO allied member countries.

Press contact : Véronique Trivero
+ 33 (0)2 38 64 40 14
+ 33 (0)6 70 57 00 09
trivero@cilas.com

CILAS contracted to supply new "Monomorph" deformable mirrors for high power lasers
for AWE (UK) and LULI (France)

Orléans, August 25th. CILAS has recently been selected by two customers to design and manufacture deformable mirrors for high power lasers.

In the United Kingdom, AWE has ordered deformable mirrors from CILAS as part of the contract for Wavefront Sensors and Adaptive Optics. New monomorph deformable mirrors from CILAS will be used on the two petawatt class lasers of the Orion project at AWE (UK).
The monomorph deformable mirrors (63 actuators, 86 mm useful aperture) will be delivered before the end of this year. The monomorph deformable mirrors are being supplied to AWE by BFI Optilas (UK) as part of an adaptive optics system for laser beam correction which has been designed by Imagine Optic (France).

In France, the Laboratoire d'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (LULI) a joint unit for research between the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), the Ecole Polytechnique and Paris VI University, has ordered a monomorph mirror from CILAS.
With 31 actuators over a 98 mm useful aperture, this deformable mirror will upgrade the 100 terawatts class laser at LULI as part of the Elfie Project.

Monomorph deformable mirrors especially designed to correct high power laser beams with short pulses (terawatts and petawatts class), complement the wide range of deformable mirrors marketed by CILAS for adaptive optics systems worlwide.

Press contact : Véronique Trivero
+ 33 (0)2 38 64 40 14
+ 33 (0)6 70 57 00 09
trivero@cilas.com

...........................................................................................................................

EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY ENTRUSTS CILAS FOR THE DESIGN STUDY AND PROTOTYPING OF THE ADAPTIVE MIRROR FOR THE 42-METER EUROPEAN EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPE

Orleans, 17 January 2008. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has recently entrusted CILAS with a design study and prototyping of the adaptive mirror for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The E-ELT, the next ESO large programme, will have a primary mirror diameter of 42 metres and is planned to be operational in 2018. It will be the world largest installation of its kind.

CILAS, acclaimed for its high-resolution imagery and adaptive optics, won an international call for tender issued by ESO in the frame of the E-ELT Phase B..

The adaptive mirror, designed to correct in real time the turbulence of the terrestrial atmosphere, will have two major innovative characteristics:
- a diameter of 2.5 metres;
– between 5,000 and 10,000 piezoelectric actuators with large correction stroke.

"Designing this mirror is a veritable technical challenge. It will play a key role in the performance level of the future telescope, enabling the ELT to reach a resolution 100 times better than the largest telescopes currently in use. This contract is also evidence of the trust that ESO has placed in us, trust that we are very proud to have gained and will do anything to maintain in the future, particularly with regard to this programme." said Jacques Battistella, CILAS CEO.

“We are pleased to pursue our past fruitful industrial partnership with CILAS for the design and prototyping of one of the most challenging component of the European ELT. Adaptive Optics is now considered as a crucial element of any future large telescopes. For that reason ESO has proposed to design an Adaptive telescope which includes, from the start, a large deformable mirror in its optical train. It is essential for the E-ELT that industrial partners like CILAS bring their expertise to design and prototype such a complex and innovative component” said Norbert Hubin Head of the Adaptive Optics Department at ESO.

Thanks to longstanding and fruitful cooperation over the last twenty years, CILAS has already delivered fourteen adaptive mirrors to ESO, the most recent being the Very Large Telescope SPHERE Deformable Mirror with 1,377 actuators. The expertise and technologies developed by CILAS in this field have enabled the company to grow and develop new-generation of adaptive mirrors, with increasing actuator numbers and density and to meet the always more demanding requirements of its customers.

CILAS adaptive mirrors optimised for high-resolution imaging and laser beams correction, are currently being used in Adaptive Optics systems at GEMINI and SUBARU Telescopes respectively in the United States and Japan.

For over 40 years, CILAS has developed, manufactured and marketed a wide range of lasers, optronics products and systems for defence, civilian, military security, large-scale scientific laser programmes, and scientific-industrial instrumentation. With a turnover of 30 million euros, CILAS employs 200 people on five sites in France (www.cilas.com).

ESO is the intergovernmental European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. On behalf of its thirteen member states ESO operates a suite of the world's most advanced ground-based astronomical telescopes located at the La Silla Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile. The ESO Headquarters are situated in Garching near Munich, Germany (www.eso.org).

Press contact : Véronique Trivero
+ 33 (0)2 38 64 40 14
+ 33 (0)6 70 57 00 09
trivero@cilas.com

...................................................................................................................................

WORLD PREMIERE FOR CILAS ADAPTIVE MIRRORS

CILAS HAS DEVELOPED AN ADAPTIVE MIRROR
WITH 1,377 PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATORS FOR THE ESO VLT TELESCOPE

Orleans, 06 décember 2007. CILAS has delivered to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) a deformable mirror with 1377 actuators to be used in SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch), an instrument for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to be installed at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. CILAS, leader in the field of advanced adaptive optics components for high angular resolution, won an international call for tender in June 2005, for the development of this essential component. This development was funded by ESO and by the FP6 Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy (OPTICON) project of the European Commission.

SPHERE, a second generation instrument for the direct imaging and study of Extrasolar Planets, is one of the most powerful and challenging astronomical instrument being built for one of the 8-meter telescope.

The deformable mirror developed by CILAS will correct accurately in real time the wavefront of the stellar and planet images distorted by the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope. Thanks to the large number of actuators, the actuator bandwidth, the actuator stroke and the accurate control of the optical surface provided by this deformable mirror, SPHERE should be able to provide superb images with an outstanding contrast between the star and its companion planet. The characteristics of this deformable mirror outperform significantly existing components developed so far and with its 1377 piezoelectric actuators, has the largest number of actuators worldwide. The previous adaptive mirror delivered by CILAS for the ESO 1st generation adaptive instrument NACO at the VLT had 185 actuators and was operated at a frequency of 700Hz.

Thanks to longstanding and fruitful cooperation over the last twenty years, CILAS has already delivered fourteen adaptive mirrors to ESO. The expertise and technologies developed by CILAS in this field have enabled the company to grow and develop new-generation of adaptive mirrors, with increasing actuator numbers and density and to meet the always more demanding requirements of its customers.

CILAS deformable mirrors optimised for high-resolution imaging and laser beams correction, are currently being used in Adaptive Optics systems at GEMINI and SUBARU Telescopes respectively in the United States and Japan.

For over 40 years, CILAS has developed, manufactured and marketed a wide range of lasers, optronics products and systems for defence, civilian, military security, large-scale scientific laser programmes, and scientific-industrial instrumentation. With a turnover of 30 million euros, CILAS employs 200 people on five sites in France.

ESO is the intergovernmental European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. On behalf of its thirteen member states ESO operates a suite of the world's most advanced ground-based astronomical telescopes located at the La Silla Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile. The ESO Headquarters are situated in Garching near Munich, Germany (www.eso.org).

Press contact : Véronique Trivero
+ 33 (0)2 38 64 40 14
+ 33 (0)6 70 57 00 09
trivero@cilas.com

...................................................................................................................................

Cilas to build a compact jamming laser for the CESAM project

Cilas confirms its expertise in airborne lasers with perspectives for use as a self-protection system for military and civilian air transport.

ORLEANS, 13 september 2007 – The Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) has recently awarded Cilas a project for the completion of a compact laser source mock-up, building on the initial studies conducted for the CESAM project. Launched by the DGA in 2002, the CESAM project involves the development and production of a jamming laser to be used by military aircraft for self-protection purposes.

The first stage of the project was the validation of the design principles and feasibility of using a laser-jamming system to counteract the threat of auto-guiding infrared missiles (MANPADS or man-portable air-defence systems). This new step will lead to the development of a compact mock-up to be integrated into a future transport aircraft self-protection system. With this contract, Cilas now enters the production phase of the jamming laser, which will take place over the next two years and conclude in the delivery of a mock-up to CELAR (Centre Electronique de l’Armement). This second phase is essential for Cilas since the potential market for Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) using infrared jamming represents several million euros.

This compact jamming laser, which could be integrated into a future self-protection system, will transmit beams in low and average infra-red spectral bands at a high rate, thus ensuring a better effectiveness of jamming. The main characteristics are:
- strong brightness associated with a top-quality beam;
- frequency-modulation capacities;
- full performances obtained quasi-instantaneously.

A DGA partner for over 15 years, Cilas has shown both its laser technology know-how and its capacity to militarise innovative technical laser solutions on many occasions. For example, CILAS provided laser range finders for the Tigre helicopter programme and the lasers for the airborne laser designator Pods.

For Cilas, this new contract is part of a more global project and is an excellent opportunity to glean rich experience, which will be a distinct advantage in securing future civil aviation contracts. This new work is a natural complement to its participation in the PALMA European project ("Protection of Airliners against Manpads Attacks") about pre-studies in the airliners safety field.

For over 40 years, CILAS has developed, manufactured and marketed a wide range of products and systems for defence and civilian and military security, large-scale scientific laser programmes, and scientific and industrial instrumentation. With a turnover of 30 million euros, CILAS employs 200 people on five sites in France.

Press contact : Véronique Trivero
+ 33 (0)2 38 64 40 14
+ 33 (0)6 70 57 00 09
trivero@cilas.com

.......................................................................................................................................................
Mise en ligne par nos soins grâce au procédé EasyOnline(r) de Processx solutions internet