DRDO, PSU and Private Defence Sector News

[Steven Rogers]

Okay @Sancho your source suggest this, that MMW seeker is planned only for PGM launched from air.

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[S.Balaji]

I had an opportunity to speak with Imarat (RCI) guy some time back, he said that development trails of Nag is over and nag was tested successfully with MW IIR for 4kms expect duing 11am to 1pm in desert heat where it achieved 3.5kms (or 3.2km...i not sure which) sucessfully... future iterations of Nag (mk2) would have MMW seeker for terminal guidance......he said nag's performance during the noon is comparable or better than the best in the market. He also said they were awaiting Army's nod for user trails.

 

[PD_Solo]

I had an opportunity to speak with Imarat (RCI) guy some time back, he said that development trails of Nag is over and nag was tested successfully with MW IIR for 4kms expect duing 11am to 1pm in desert heat where it achieved 3.5kms (or 3.2km...i not sure which) sucessfully... future iterations of Nag (mk2) would have MMW seeker for terminal guidance......he said nag's performance during the noon is comparable or better than the best in the market. He also said they were awaiting Army's nod for user trails.

Any updates on Fire control radar for LCH ?

 

[Sancho]

Their are various credible sources which say that MMW seeker is developed for PGMs, NAG was from start used LWIR seeker, then they shifted to MWIR seeker coupled with sofradier's CCD camera. MMW was always meant for HELINA, but why only post section of their statements why not a complete statement.

Sent from my Aqua Ace II using Tapatalk

Air launched NAG is Helina and the point was what was delivered several years after their promises? Because the same habit is visible in many of their projects and as long as that habit doesn't change and the forces actually can trust that they get what they requested, according to the minimum requirements, they will suffer in operational terms.

 

[porky_kicker]

Soldiers deploying tonbo imaging long range observation system at a border post.

 

[Steven Rogers]

View attachment 23029 View attachment 23030 View attachment 23031 View attachment 23032

Soldiers deploying tonbo imaging long range observation system at a border post.

Who are their manufacturing subsidiaries. And what does this mean.

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[porky_kicker]

Who are their manufacturing subsidiaries. And what does this mean.

Sent from my Aqua Ace II using Tapatalk

They manufacture most of the imaging equipments themselves except for the core which they source from sofran.

It means they must have come up with a periscope inhouse, but I am intrigued because periscopes in submarines r generally referred to as attack periscopes with intelligence gathering capabilities.

It beats why they used the term self defence , guess everything for us in defensive in nature lolz.
Somebody will come and kick out ass and then we will do the needful that too in half neasures.

 

[Steven Rogers]

They manufacture most of the imaging equipments themselves except for the core which they source from sofran.

It means they must have come up with a periscope inhouse, but I am intrigued because periscopes in submarines r generally referred to as attack periscopes with intelligence gathering capabilities.

It beats why they used the term self defence , guess everything for us in defensive in nature lolz.
Somebody will come and kick out ass and then we will do the needful that too in half neasures.

They don't have manufacturing unit, they do RnD which also includes core, some of the equipment which they import are only available from Israel or France. The CEO of tonbo imagings himself said in an interview about this. CNBC I guess was the channel still available on YouTube.

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[cyclops]

@porky_kicker @Steven Rogers

Tonbo Imaging - A Strong Defence | JUN 02 , 2016
RA Chandroo
Power of I 2016
Tonbo Imaging - A Strong Defence
Why top defence agencies across the world have their eyes set on Bengaluru-based Tonbo Imaging

Kripa Mahalingam

On target: Tonbo’s advanced vision systems have fetched it multi-million dollar contracts from agencies such as DARPA

After working for five years in the US after completing his education, Arvind Lakshmikumar and his wife decided it was time to come home; and so, in 2004, they did. After a short stint at Honeywell, Lakshmikumar was back then heading technology and operations at the Indian arm of the US-based Sarnoff Corporation, which specialised in vision, video and semiconductor technology innovations. In his stint in the US, he was the director for a number of international military programmes (DARPA, US Army, NSF and DRDO) and lead subcontractor on multiple next-generation military programmes. Lakshmikumar built various imaging systems for Boeing and Lockheed Martin and was part of programmes such as Future Combat Systems, which made the US Army combat-ready for modern warfare. “When we came back to India, we looked at all the companies in the defence sector. They were mostly using screwdriver technology,” explains Lakshmikumar, CEO, Tonbo Imaging. In other words, they were buying products from Europe and the US or Israel and putting them together as there was no ecosystem to build products from the ground up. “There is no harm in buying from companies overseas as long as you have access to the best technology and control over the same. But unfortunately, when you buy this way, you don’t have access to the best technology and every time you face a problem, you have to go back to the seller and are subject to their whims,” adds Lakshmikumar.

Visionary: Arvind Lakshmikumar capitalised on the talent inherited from a key acquisition
This is why Lakshmikumar and his team decided to set up Tonbo Imaging after completing a management buyout of the Indian arm of Sarnoff Corporation, which in turn decided to divest its Indian operations in 2008, giving Tonbo everything except its products, which were protected by IP restrictions. Thomas M Strat, who was a programme manager and assistant director at DARPA — an agency of the US Department of Defence that is responsible for the development of emerging technologies to be used by the military — and is now an advisor to Tonbo, thinks it was a smart move by Lakshmikumar and his team. “Sarnoff had some capable scientists and engineers at its Bengaluru facility. If you are starting a company, there is nothing better than to have top-notch talent working for you. This has been one of the primary reasons for Tonbo’s success.” Explains Lakshmikumar, “We bought out their assets and shares in India but decided to build the products from scratch. We chose defence as our core market because as far as night-vision technology was concerned, Indian defence was lagging behind.”

Ramesh Radhakrishnan Partner, Artiman Ventures
The team at Tonbo Imaging has strong domain expertise, which it has successfully leveraged to build best-in-class products at competitive prices
- Ramesh Radhakrishnan
Partner, Artiman Ventures
Adding that the country was till then dependent on PSUs and defence labs — which had little incentive to build and commercialise core technology — for such products, Lakshmikumar explains how his company decided to structure itself like a Valley products company. “We decided that our core focus would be cutting-edge night-vision technology for soldiers, land and naval systems, weapons and aerial platforms. Imaging and interpretation strategic electronics technology is what we decided to build.” Tonbo soon realised that it wouldn’t be able to compete with the big guys such as Lockheed Martin or Raytheon by building a similar model. After all, most imaging and military equipment companies are vertically integrated because there was no ecosystem in place when they started out. “These companies had to invest a lot more in infrastructure and technology. Luckily for us, we were able to ride the consumer electronics ecosystem. Today, the electronics that goes into your smartphone is more powerful than what goes into a 155 mm Howitzer gun. So, we leveraged this ecosystem and built solutions for the market. This way, we didn’t have to set up large manufacturing facilities,” explains Lakshmikumar.

Mridul Sharma, National manager, special product group, AIMIL
In India, we have worked with eight to 10 OEMs and found Tonbo to be the best. The company is very quick when it comes to product development
- Mridul Sharma
National manager, special product group, AIMIL
Local Muscle
So far, the company has set up a pretty strong supply chain, which has in turn helped it leverage the power of contract manufacturing. “Our model is something like Apple’s, where we control the IP and supply chain, and own the customer. Suppliers must feel that you are the company they should bet on. Everything else is unimportant. By outsourcing the manufacturing process and controlling prices, we can offer competitive rates and still make a 50% gross margin in this business,” Lakshmikumar says. The company has set up a contract manufacturing facility in Kochi and manages to offer products 50% cheaper than its foreign competitors. About 80% of its revenue comes from exports to the US, Europe and Singapore, where it competes with Thales and Sagem, two of the biggest players in this space. “The team at Tonbo Imaging has strong domain expertise, which it has successfully leveraged to build best-in-class products at competitive prices,” says Ramesh Radhakrishnan, partner, Artiman Ventures, which invested in the firm in 2012. “The company is able to leverage innovative designs in micro-optics, low-power electronics and real-time imaging processing to design imaging systems for real-world applications.”

Thomas Strat Former assistant director of DARPA
If you are starting a company, there is nothing better than to have top-notch talent working for you. This has been one of the primary reasons for Tonbo’s success
- Thomas Strat
Former assistant director of DARPA
But for the start-up to gets its footing in the Indian defence space, the validation had to come from outside. “Defence is a complex business for a start-up to get into in India. Customers here started adopting our products only after we sold them outside. For us, the objective was to get cracking on a few international sales; the local attitude would change thereafter,” explains Lakshmikumar. He says that traditionally, all military programmes used to either buy global or buy and then make in India, where PSUs such as Bharat Electronics would manufacture products after technology transfers. But all that is now changing, with the defence ministry updating the defence procurement procedures and introducing a new category for locally made products, called indigenously designed developed and manufactured (IDDM) items; these will be a priority during procurement. There are two subcategories within this segment: one that calls for 40% of the content to be sourced locally when the product is designed in India and the second that calls for 60% of the content to be sourced locally when the product is not designed in India.

Anand Ladsariya, Angel investor
A lot of start-ups fail when they make the transition from concept to commercialisation, but Tonbo had it all figured out
- Anand Ladsariya
Angel investor
“So, if there is an Indian manufacturer who indigenously designs, develops and manufactures for a programme, he will be the highest in the food chain. Our products are 95% indigenously built, since the only thing we source from outside are detectors; optics, electronics, software and IP are all built by us. This allows us to sit with the big boys at the table,” he says. Apart from being prime bidders, Tonbo also works with larger players such as L&T, Bharat Electronics, Norway’s Kongsberg (which makes the largest remote-controlled weapons platform) and Greece’s Hellenic Systems (which supplies Howitzer guns to Indian defence). IDDM allows Tonbo to move from smaller projects to building for larger, $500-million contracts. But winning contracts is one thing — execution is a whole another deal. So, the company is now looking to raise its next round of funding of around $30 million-50 million and is in talks with several investors.

Its first infusion had come in the form of angel funding from Mumbai Angels in 2011. “We were the first investors in the company. What impressed me back then was the fact even at that early stage, the team was very professional,” says Anand Ladsariya, angel investor and a member of the Mumbai Angels. “They had domain expertise and innovation was their strength, but the key was that they were able to articulate their vision about how they would leverage that innovation to build a successful commercial business. A lot of start-ups fail when they make the transition from concept to commercialisation, but Tonbo had it all figured out.” Ladsariya rates Tonbo as one of the top three investments of the 80-odd he has made so far. Tonbo followed the angel round of funding with its first institutional round of funding from Artiman Ventures in 2012. “We met in 2011 and were very impressed by the team at Tonbo and the products they were building. We waited for a year to see some traction before we invested. We are excited to be a part of the growth story of a world-class company like Tonbo,” says Radhakrishnan.

Aided by a strong supply chain, Tonbo is churning out products which are 50% cheaper than competition
Night vision, by day
Among the other ideas the founders were sure about was the conviction that the company wouldn’t make India-centric products but those that would find a place in the global market. Tonbo builds advanced imaging and sensor systems that allow soldiers to see during night and day and through dense smoke, dust, fog and foliage. This is possible through the use of fusion technology that combines thermal and visual images into a single video feed, giving soldiers a real-time interpretation of the battlefield. For instance, its enhanced vehicle imaging platform provides a comprehensive 360-degree view of the landscape to the driver and his crew during all weather conditions. “The imaging systems that go on top of guns, UAVs or into weapons systems are actually cameras in some form or the other. For years, the design process for cameras has not changed: it still includes a single sensor, a single lens and an electronics package. But in nature, be it humans or insects, all creatures have multiple eyes that help us see the environment better. So, we decided to incorporate multiple apertures while designing our imaging systems,” he explains. In fact, Tonbo means dragonfly in Japanese, and dragonflies are known to have 40,000 eyes, the compound structure of which allows them to sense things in really low-light conditions even at lightning speeds.

“We develop the product according to the application. For instance, if a solider wants to see long-range in a battlefield or you have to put a camera on a UAV, you have to correct for turbulence. Then, we change the lens design, use consumer electronics for processing and thus create a powerful imaging system. We are the only ones to build night-vision platforms of this sort and this allows us to build very low-cost night-vision equipment,” says the proud founder. No wonder, then, that it is the only Indian company on every electro-optics and night-vision programme of the Indian MoD. Apart from being part of the Indian navy’s modernisation program, Tonbo, which has an order book of $50 million executable over the next 18 months, is also the electro-optics supplier of choice in the Indian army’s $10-billion future infantry combat vehicle programme.

“We started working with Tonbo in 2011. We supply thermal sensors to OEMs, who then system integrate it into the cameras or imaging systems and supply that to their military clients. In India, we have worked with eight to 10 OEMs and found Tonbo to be the best. The company is very quick when it comes to product development,” says Mridul Sharma, national manager, special product group, AIMIL, which develops Indian OEMs for French company ULIS, the second largest manufacturer of uncooled infrared detectors in the world. “The company has been able to successfully compete with global players with lesser resources in terms of capital in an intensely competitive market. You have to be extremely smart to do that.” Customers vouch for those smarts, too. “I have worked with Arvind in the past, when I was serving as a commander with NATO, and later as a customer for Tonbo’s surveillance systems. He has built an enviable repertoire of imaging systems addressing guns, tanks and missiles,” says General Lucas Arnold, chairman of US security firm Chevronstar.

The company has 85 engineers on its core technology team and another 15 in sales and marketing. While Tonbo has thus far managed to retain most of its talent, it couldn’t hold back one of its earliest recruits Binny Bansal, who joined the company straight out of IIT and went on to start Flipkart with his college mate. “He was a regular nerd who did coding before he left us. We wonder if he was the smart one: look at where he is and where we are,” laughs Lakshmikumar. He adds that the only way to scale a business is by hiring people smarter than yourself, and to his credit, he does seem to have an eye for spotting good talent. “Leadership is critically important to keep a start-up going because starting a business is tough. Arvind has the right balance of technical chops and leadership abilities. He has lined up investments and landed contracts while retaining top-notch talent,” says Strat. Apart from building cutting-edge products and platforms for the defence sector, the company is also looking at sectors such as transportation and consumer IoT, where its products can be leveraged.

Tonbo is also working on technologies that it can leverage in the coming decade. “We are working on a pilot project with Tesla to see how night-vision technology can be integrated seamlessly with display,” reveals Lakshmikumar. Little wonder, he has big plans for Tonbo Imaging. “We want to make Tonbo the single largest electro-optics firm in the world. We want to control the algorithms, the platforms and the customers.” In doing so, Tonbo is looking at a multifold increase in revenue, in turn, giving the start-up a pop in its valuation. Lakshmikumar, though, sounds modest. “Valuation is in the eye of the beholder. All we want to create is a business with intrinsic value,” he smiles.
https://www.outlookbusiness.com/specials/power-of-i_2016/tonbo-imaging-a-strong-defence-2797

 

[Tanmay]

@porky_kicker @Steven Rogers

Tonbo Imaging - A Strong Defence | JUN 02 , 2016
RA Chandroo
Power of I 2016
Tonbo Imaging - A Strong Defence
Why top defence agencies across the world have their eyes set on Bengaluru-based Tonbo Imaging

Kripa Mahalingam

On target: Tonbo’s advanced vision systems have fetched it multi-million dollar contracts from agencies such as DARPA

After working for five years in the US after completing his education, Arvind Lakshmikumar and his wife decided it was time to come home; and so, in 2004, they did. After a short stint at Honeywell, Lakshmikumar was back then heading technology and operations at the Indian arm of the US-based Sarnoff Corporation, which specialised in vision, video and semiconductor technology innovations. In his stint in the US, he was the director for a number of international military programmes (DARPA, US Army, NSF and DRDO) and lead subcontractor on multiple next-generation military programmes. Lakshmikumar built various imaging systems for Boeing and Lockheed Martin and was part of programmes such as Future Combat Systems, which made the US Army combat-ready for modern warfare. “When we came back to India, we looked at all the companies in the defence sector. They were mostly using screwdriver technology,” explains Lakshmikumar, CEO, Tonbo Imaging. In other words, they were buying products from Europe and the US or Israel and putting them together as there was no ecosystem to build products from the ground up. “There is no harm in buying from companies overseas as long as you have access to the best technology and control over the same. But unfortunately, when you buy this way, you don’t have access to the best technology and every time you face a problem, you have to go back to the seller and are subject to their whims,” adds Lakshmikumar.

Visionary: Arvind Lakshmikumar capitalised on the talent inherited from a key acquisition
This is why Lakshmikumar and his team decided to set up Tonbo Imaging after completing a management buyout of the Indian arm of Sarnoff Corporation, which in turn decided to divest its Indian operations in 2008, giving Tonbo everything except its products, which were protected by IP restrictions. Thomas M Strat, who was a programme manager and assistant director at DARPA — an agency of the US Department of Defence that is responsible for the development of emerging technologies to be used by the military — and is now an advisor to Tonbo, thinks it was a smart move by Lakshmikumar and his team. “Sarnoff had some capable scientists and engineers at its Bengaluru facility. If you are starting a company, there is nothing better than to have top-notch talent working for you. This has been one of the primary reasons for Tonbo’s success.” Explains Lakshmikumar, “We bought out their assets and shares in India but decided to build the products from scratch. We chose defence as our core market because as far as night-vision technology was concerned, Indian defence was lagging behind.”

Ramesh Radhakrishnan Partner, Artiman Ventures
The team at Tonbo Imaging has strong domain expertise, which it has successfully leveraged to build best-in-class products at competitive prices
- Ramesh Radhakrishnan
Partner, Artiman Ventures
Adding that the country was till then dependent on PSUs and defence labs — which had little incentive to build and commercialise core technology — for such products, Lakshmikumar explains how his company decided to structure itself like a Valley products company. “We decided that our core focus would be cutting-edge night-vision technology for soldiers, land and naval systems, weapons and aerial platforms. Imaging and interpretation strategic electronics technology is what we decided to build.” Tonbo soon realised that it wouldn’t be able to compete with the big guys such as Lockheed Martin or Raytheon by building a similar model. After all, most imaging and military equipment companies are vertically integrated because there was no ecosystem in place when they started out. “These companies had to invest a lot more in infrastructure and technology. Luckily for us, we were able to ride the consumer electronics ecosystem. Today, the electronics that goes into your smartphone is more powerful than what goes into a 155 mm Howitzer gun. So, we leveraged this ecosystem and built solutions for the market. This way, we didn’t have to set up large manufacturing facilities,” explains Lakshmikumar.

Mridul Sharma, National manager, special product group, AIMIL
In India, we have worked with eight to 10 OEMs and found Tonbo to be the best. The company is very quick when it comes to product development
- Mridul Sharma
National manager, special product group, AIMIL
Local Muscle
So far, the company has set up a pretty strong supply chain, which has in turn helped it leverage the power of contract manufacturing. “Our model is something like Apple’s, where we control the IP and supply chain, and own the customer. Suppliers must feel that you are the company they should bet on. Everything else is unimportant. By outsourcing the manufacturing process and controlling prices, we can offer competitive rates and still make a 50% gross margin in this business,” Lakshmikumar says. The company has set up a contract manufacturing facility in Kochi and manages to offer products 50% cheaper than its foreign competitors. About 80% of its revenue comes from exports to the US, Europe and Singapore, where it competes with Thales and Sagem, two of the biggest players in this space. “The team at Tonbo Imaging has strong domain expertise, which it has successfully leveraged to build best-in-class products at competitive prices,” says Ramesh Radhakrishnan, partner, Artiman Ventures, which invested in the firm in 2012. “The company is able to leverage innovative designs in micro-optics, low-power electronics and real-time imaging processing to design imaging systems for real-world applications.”

Thomas Strat Former assistant director of DARPA
If you are starting a company, there is nothing better than to have top-notch talent working for you. This has been one of the primary reasons for Tonbo’s success
- Thomas Strat
Former assistant director of DARPA
But for the start-up to gets its footing in the Indian defence space, the validation had to come from outside. “Defence is a complex business for a start-up to get into in India. Customers here started adopting our products only after we sold them outside. For us, the objective was to get cracking on a few international sales; the local attitude would change thereafter,” explains Lakshmikumar. He says that traditionally, all military programmes used to either buy global or buy and then make in India, where PSUs such as Bharat Electronics would manufacture products after technology transfers. But all that is now changing, with the defence ministry updating the defence procurement procedures and introducing a new category for locally made products, called indigenously designed developed and manufactured (IDDM) items; these will be a priority during procurement. There are two subcategories within this segment: one that calls for 40% of the content to be sourced locally when the product is designed in India and the second that calls for 60% of the content to be sourced locally when the product is not designed in India.

Anand Ladsariya, Angel investor
A lot of start-ups fail when they make the transition from concept to commercialisation, but Tonbo had it all figured out
- Anand Ladsariya
Angel investor
“So, if there is an Indian manufacturer who indigenously designs, develops and manufactures for a programme, he will be the highest in the food chain. Our products are 95% indigenously built, since the only thing we source from outside are detectors; optics, electronics, software and IP are all built by us. This allows us to sit with the big boys at the table,” he says. Apart from being prime bidders, Tonbo also works with larger players such as L&T, Bharat Electronics, Norway’s Kongsberg (which makes the largest remote-controlled weapons platform) and Greece’s Hellenic Systems (which supplies Howitzer guns to Indian defence). IDDM allows Tonbo to move from smaller projects to building for larger, $500-million contracts. But winning contracts is one thing — execution is a whole another deal. So, the company is now looking to raise its next round of funding of around $30 million-50 million and is in talks with several investors.

Its first infusion had come in the form of angel funding from Mumbai Angels in 2011. “We were the first investors in the company. What impressed me back then was the fact even at that early stage, the team was very professional,” says Anand Ladsariya, angel investor and a member of the Mumbai Angels. “They had domain expertise and innovation was their strength, but the key was that they were able to articulate their vision about how they would leverage that innovation to build a successful commercial business. A lot of start-ups fail when they make the transition from concept to commercialisation, but Tonbo had it all figured out.” Ladsariya rates Tonbo as one of the top three investments of the 80-odd he has made so far. Tonbo followed the angel round of funding with its first institutional round of funding from Artiman Ventures in 2012. “We met in 2011 and were very impressed by the team at Tonbo and the products they were building. We waited for a year to see some traction before we invested. We are excited to be a part of the growth story of a world-class company like Tonbo,” says Radhakrishnan.

Aided by a strong supply chain, Tonbo is churning out products which are 50% cheaper than competition
Night vision, by day
Among the other ideas the founders were sure about was the conviction that the company wouldn’t make India-centric products but those that would find a place in the global market. Tonbo builds advanced imaging and sensor systems that allow soldiers to see during night and day and through dense smoke, dust, fog and foliage. This is possible through the use of fusion technology that combines thermal and visual images into a single video feed, giving soldiers a real-time interpretation of the battlefield. For instance, its enhanced vehicle imaging platform provides a comprehensive 360-degree view of the landscape to the driver and his crew during all weather conditions. “The imaging systems that go on top of guns, UAVs or into weapons systems are actually cameras in some form or the other. For years, the design process for cameras has not changed: it still includes a single sensor, a single lens and an electronics package. But in nature, be it humans or insects, all creatures have multiple eyes that help us see the environment better. So, we decided to incorporate multiple apertures while designing our imaging systems,” he explains. In fact, Tonbo means dragonfly in Japanese, and dragonflies are known to have 40,000 eyes, the compound structure of which allows them to sense things in really low-light conditions even at lightning speeds.

“We develop the product according to the application. For instance, if a solider wants to see long-range in a battlefield or you have to put a camera on a UAV, you have to correct for turbulence. Then, we change the lens design, use consumer electronics for processing and thus create a powerful imaging system. We are the only ones to build night-vision platforms of this sort and this allows us to build very low-cost night-vision equipment,” says the proud founder. No wonder, then, that it is the only Indian company on every electro-optics and night-vision programme of the Indian MoD. Apart from being part of the Indian navy’s modernisation program, Tonbo, which has an order book of $50 million executable over the next 18 months, is also the electro-optics supplier of choice in the Indian army’s $10-billion future infantry combat vehicle programme.

“We started working with Tonbo in 2011. We supply thermal sensors to OEMs, who then system integrate it into the cameras or imaging systems and supply that to their military clients. In India, we have worked with eight to 10 OEMs and found Tonbo to be the best. The company is very quick when it comes to product development,” says Mridul Sharma, national manager, special product group, AIMIL, which develops Indian OEMs for French company ULIS, the second largest manufacturer of uncooled infrared detectors in the world. “The company has been able to successfully compete with global players with lesser resources in terms of capital in an intensely competitive market. You have to be extremely smart to do that.” Customers vouch for those smarts, too. “I have worked with Arvind in the past, when I was serving as a commander with NATO, and later as a customer for Tonbo’s surveillance systems. He has built an enviable repertoire of imaging systems addressing guns, tanks and missiles,” says General Lucas Arnold, chairman of US security firm Chevronstar.

The company has 85 engineers on its core technology team and another 15 in sales and marketing. While Tonbo has thus far managed to retain most of its talent, it couldn’t hold back one of its earliest recruits Binny Bansal, who joined the company straight out of IIT and went on to start Flipkart with his college mate. “He was a regular nerd who did coding before he left us. We wonder if he was the smart one: look at where he is and where we are,” laughs Lakshmikumar. He adds that the only way to scale a business is by hiring people smarter than yourself, and to his credit, he does seem to have an eye for spotting good talent. “Leadership is critically important to keep a start-up going because starting a business is tough. Arvind has the right balance of technical chops and leadership abilities. He has lined up investments and landed contracts while retaining top-notch talent,” says Strat. Apart from building cutting-edge products and platforms for the defence sector, the company is also looking at sectors such as transportation and consumer IoT, where its products can be leveraged.

Tonbo is also working on technologies that it can leverage in the coming decade. “We are working on a pilot project with Tesla to see how night-vision technology can be integrated seamlessly with display,” reveals Lakshmikumar. Little wonder, he has big plans for Tonbo Imaging. “We want to make Tonbo the single largest electro-optics firm in the world. We want to control the algorithms, the platforms and the customers.” In doing so, Tonbo is looking at a multifold increase in revenue, in turn, giving the start-up a pop in its valuation. Lakshmikumar, though, sounds modest. “Valuation is in the eye of the beholder. All we want to create is a business with intrinsic value,” he smiles.
https://www.outlookbusiness.com/specials/power-of-i_2016/tonbo-imaging-a-strong-defence-2797

I read US companies usually had export control on NVG and related devices.
Tonbo did bag $100mn Peruvian army order to arm around 10k rifles(out of 3 lakh rifles to be supplied by US company) for with Thermal Imaging sights(Arjun sight ). Some luli South American country adopting Indian product on large scale and here we are .
But $100million divided by 10k pieces gives around ₹6 lakh per sight. Pretty high price. Might be the salary of a jawan for a year or two :/

But pretty amazed with the founder. Shows the tremendous potential of Indians with an MS from amriki universities who return to India. Only if trump makes amrika great again and starts a reverse brain drain to India and out govt doesn't fuck up

 

[Tanmay]

View attachment 23029 View attachment 23030 View attachment 23031 View attachment 23032

Soldiers deploying tonbo imaging long range observation system at a border post.

T Rex. Is it for trials or purchased
sight

 

[ezsasa]

T Rex. Is it for trials or purchased
sight

Tenders came out more than 6 months back for both long range and medium range surveillance equipment, purchase would have been completed by now.

Probably even BSF has these, in the pak intruders night vision video last month, image was clear and stable. Videos couple of years old were shaky.

 

[cyclops]

I read US companies usually had export control on NVG and related devices.
Tonbo did bag $100mn Peruvian army order to arm around 10k rifles(out of 3 lakh rifles to be supplied by US company) for with Thermal Imaging sights(Arjun sight ). Some luli South American country adopting Indian product on large scale and here we are .
But $100million divided by 10k pieces gives around ₹6 lakh per sight. Pretty high price. Might be the salary of a jawan for a year or two :/

But pretty amazed with the founder. Shows the tremendous potential of Indians with an MS from amriki universities who return to India. Only if trump makes amrika great again and starts a reverse brain drain to India and out govt doesn't fuck up

Arre yaar, you don't know the half of it.

I read an article last year where it said Tonbo had approached IA to sell their NVGs but IA rejected them, fast forward some time after.
IA had excercises with US SFs and low and behold, they saw the goras using Tonbo products and suddenly IA wants their stuff now.
We have become addicted to phoren maal.

Tonbo is among only a few companies in the world(like you can count those companies on the fingers of your one hand) that can make sensor fused NVGs.

Brain drain is not the only reason.
We need to make India very private company friendly and kick all the vestiges of socialist practices that still haunt us today, thank you Nehru.
Unfortunately we have to depend on our DPSUs for now coz even if we liberalise the defence sector we don't have the environment where our companies can earn the envisioned profits.

Reduce taxes, remove red tape and let start ups form easily, a person shouldn't have to wait more than a month or 2 to get the necessary licenses, give land, water, electricity easily to companies, but most importantly MOD has to hand hold and support private companies and promise them that if they compete with everyone else their products WILL BE BOUGHT.

The American DOD and Military themselves have nurtured Silicon valley and tech companies in Texas, etc since the 50s hence enabling them to churn out next gen stuff for america which leads them to always be ahead of the curve and MOD needs to do the same.

You won't need Trump to make America great, we get our shit together and people will come back of their own volition, or better yet maybe we'll even attract the best talent from all over the world.

 

[porky_kicker]

@porky_kicker @Steven Rogers


Our products are 95% indigenously built, since the only thing we source from outside are detectors; optics, electronics, software and IP are all built by us. This allows us to sit with the big boys at the table,” he says.

and this is what I had said previously, only very companies across the world manufactures the core which is imported and the entire optics / imager etc is built around it.

Same goes for tonbo , but they have already made inroads into the core development , same as DRDO/IIT , hope they both collaborate to develop indegenous detectors.

Also tonbo is the propertiary owner of several niche technologies (ipr) relating to optics/sensors.

And thanks for the link.

 

[Steven Rogers]

and this is what I had said previously, only very companies across the world manufactures the core which is imported and the entire optics / imager etc is built around it.

Same goes for tonbo , but they have already made inroads into the core development , same as DRDO/IIT , hope they both collaborate to develop indegenous detectors.

Also tonbo is the propertiary owner of several niche technologies (ipr) relating to optics/sensors.

And thanks for the link.

Bro they make core. The detectors aren't core, and only they are imported. Check Maya core, the powerhouse of their devices.

Sent from my Aqua Ace II using Tapatalk

 

[porky_kicker]

Bro they make core. The detectors aren't core, and only they are imported. Check Maya core, the powerhouse of their devices.

Sent from my Aqua Ace II using Tapatalk

Bro by core I meant the detectors like microbolometer , QWIP , MCT , insb photodetectors etc which are the building blocks of FPA ( Focal plane array) . The core is the FPA which is shipped to other companies who want to build imagers etc.

and I am zero in all this , but without the photodetectors / FPA how are you going to build a thermal imaging device, , so for me detectors (photodetectors/ FPA ) r the core.

From tonbo websites
' MAYA is an OEM multi-spectral imaging system that can be configured for handheld ground, marine and unmanned aerial vehicles to enhance situational awareness for drivers and pilots in darkness, smoke, haze, rain, fog and other hazardous situations. '

' Traditional imaging systems for navigation have a single display that is only capable of showing data from one camera at a time, so the user must choose which image to concentrate on, or must cycle through the different imaging outputs. Maya is a multi-sensor imaging system that combines complementary information from both its constituent sensors into a single, superior image that can be displayed to the operator. '

What is the imaging sensor here - photodetectors ( Focal plane array )

So judge your self and come to your own conclusion bro.

 

[Armand2REP]

and this is what I had said previously, only very companies across the world manufactures the core which is imported and the entire optics / imager etc is built around it.

Same goes for tonbo , but they have already made inroads into the core development , same as DRDO/IIT , hope they both collaborate to develop indegenous detectors.

Also tonbo is the propertiary owner of several niche technologies (ipr) relating to optics/sensors.

And thanks for the link.

Tonbo beating DRDO at its own game. Do you think they will actually cooperate?

 

[porky_kicker]

Tonbo beating DRDO at its own game. Do you think they will actually cooperate?

Well allow me to slide the question back at you, do you think they will actually cooperate ? :biggrin2:

 

[Steven Rogers]

Bro by core I meant the detectors like microbolometer , QWIP , MCT , insb photodetectors etc which are the building blocks of FPA ( Focal plane array) . The core is the FPA which is shipped to other companies who want to build imagers etc.

and I am zero in all this , but without the photodetectors / FPA how are you going to build a thermal imaging device, , so for me detectors (photodetectors/ FPA ) r the core.

From tonbo websites
' MAYA is an OEM multi-spectral imaging system that can be configured for handheld ground, marine and unmanned aerial vehicles to enhance situational awareness for drivers and pilots in darkness, smoke, haze, rain, fog and other hazardous situations. '

' Traditional imaging systems for navigation have a single display that is only capable of showing data from one camera at a time, so the user must choose which image to concentrate on, or must cycle through the different imaging outputs. Maya is a multi-sensor imaging system that combines complementary information from both its constituent sensors into a single, superior image that can be displayed to the operator. '

What is the imaging sensor here - photodetectors ( Focal plane array )

So judge your self and come to your own conclusion bro.

They can borrow technology from SSPL, they have been working on the above since decades.

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[Prashant12]

Future missile corvette of Indian Navy

DRDO's Products Range Official Video, DRDO Patterns, DRDO's Development