7 October 1998: Two of Europe“s leading periscope manufacturers, Pilkington Optronics (PO) of the UK and Germany“s Zeiss Eltro-Optronic (ZEO), have signed a co-operation agreement covering their opt…
7 October 1998: Two of Europe“s leading periscope manufacturers, Pilkington Optronics (PO) of the UK and Germany“s Zeiss Eltro-Optronic (ZEO), have signed a co-operation agreement covering their optronic mast programmes (see GlassOnline report of 1/10/98). The two companies will participate jointly on research, development, production and logistic support of optronic masts and marketing and sales strategies. Each future collaborative project will offer the PO CM010 or the ZEO equivalent – the OMS 100 – or an adaptation of either mast. A recent report said that the agreement will focus its immediate marketing aims on the Greek submarine retrofit programme and the contracts for new-build submarines in Portugal and South Africa. According to Dr. Jeff Miles, PO“s regional marketing director, one of the long-term aims of the joint venture is the production of complementary optronic masts – notionally called “Euromast“. The accord reduces the competition in optronic mast production from four to three companies, leaving Kollmorgen and SAGEM as the main competitors. A co-ordinating committee is expected to be set up for each new joint programme to discuss marketing strategy, while a pool of engineers will be gathered to form the strongest team. The current agreement is also expected to expand to include conventional hull-penetrating periscopes, the report said.