Firms sign licensing agreement

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PARIS, June 18 (UPI) -- Russian and French companies have signed a licensing agreement for the manufacture of thermal imagers.

The agreement is between Rosoboronexport and Thales Optronics.

A second agreement was also signed for the repair in Russia of thermal imagers made by the French company.

"We have been constantly improving our cooperation with Thales company," said Rosoboronexport Deputy Director General Igor Sevastyanov. "Signing the contract is another step in developing our relations. This is a good example of modern technologies attracted into areas where we are somehow lagging behind foreign analogues.

"The new thermal imagers will be manufactured for the Russian Ministry of Defense, and will also be installed in Russian-made armored vehicles offered for export."

Thales' Catherine XP will be made at the Vologda optical-mechanical plant, which has had a facility for the repair and servicing of Catherine FC thermal imagers since 2008. The new Catherine XP thermal imagers have a higher resolution and target detection range than the Catherine FC and also consume less power.