| ELCAN Optical Technologies is
a fully integrated firm specializing in the design and manufacture
of complex, precision optical systems and subsystems for defense,
security, commercial, entertainment, medical and telecommunications
applications. ELCAN operates facilities in Richardson, Texas; Midland,
Ontario, Canada; and Malaga, Spain.
Originating from the birthplace of optics - Germany - the roots
of ELCAN trace back to a company named Leitz Works, founded in 1849,
in Wetzler, Germany. The company manufactured high-end Leica cameras,
noted by professional photographers as the best and most innovative
cameras of their time, being the first camera to use 35mm film.
In 1952, descendants of Ernst Leitz came to Canada to start a new
Optics company still making optics for Leica cameras, but also manufacturing
optical systems for other industries, most notably optics for IMAX,
Panavision and defense companies. In the late 1970s ELCAN began
designing and building the Specter™ line of riflescopes for defense
customers of the free world. Hundreds of thousands of rugged ELCAN
riflescopes are deployed in militaries around the globe.
Meanwhile, also in the 1950s in a different part of the world, Texas
Instruments bought the W. I. Mann Optics Company of Monrovia, California,
and moved it to Dallas, Texas, to design and build optics for TI's
high performance defense products. This company has a rich legacy
of optical innovation including co-developing the world's first
Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) system, designing and building the
optics system used in the world's first space intercept, spectrometers
for the Mariner and Voyager space missions, components and optical
systems for TI's Digital Light Projection™ systems, as well
as tens of thousands of prototype and production optical systems
for military systems from the 1960s through the present. Many of
the precision optically guided missiles used by free world militaries
employ optics designed and built by ELCAN.
In 1997, Raytheon blended the capabilities and capacities of these
two companies and created the optical powerhouse ELCAN is today.
Their 1100 employees worldwide bring innovative and precision optical
products to the defense, law enforcement, security, entertainment,
medical and industrial markets. In DigitalHunter™, ELCAN builds
on the legacy of rugged riflescopes and optical systems to bring
the benefits of modern technology to discerning hunters worldwide!
ELCAN combines cutting edge design engineering with innovative advanced
manufacturing processes and the lessons learned in more than 50
years of successfully competing in world markets to bring optical
system solutions to the end user.
To learn more about ELCAN, please visit our website at www.elcan.com!
View the ELCAN Time Line
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