CILAS

CILAS is a French engineering and manufacturing company focused on laser technology, precision optics, and optical systems. Established in 1966 by Compagnie Générale d'Électricité and Saint-Gobain, the company was created to turn laboratory research on laser sources and laser equipment into industrial and commercial products. Its work has since covered defense, security, scientific instrumentation, industrial optics, adaptive optics, and technologies supplied to major national research facilities. The company is associated with several areas of French laser and optronics development. It was an early developer of particle-size analysis equipment and became known for laser granulometers used to measure the size distribution of particles in gases, liquids, and solids. That activity was later sold in 2017. CILAS has also contributed optical components and laser technologies to the Laser Mégajoule facility operated by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, as well as to adaptive-optics applications and other demanding scientific and industrial programs. CILAS has undergone several ownership and organizational changes. It adopted the name CILAS-Alcatel in 1983, absorbed the optical companies SORO Electro-Optics and BBT in 1985, and underwent a change in ownership after Alcatel withdrew from laser activities in 1989. During the early 1990s, its shareholders included CEA Industries, SAT, and Unilaser Holding. Unilaser also controlled Laserdot, an optronics research and development business that worked alongside CILAS. In 1995, CILAS and Laserdot merged under the CILAS name. The company’s defense and security portfolio includes laser designators, rangefinders, optical systems for detecting or countering snipers, airborne laser sources, shipborne and helicopter landing aids, and high-power laser systems. Its HELMA-P system is associated with counter-drone missions, while other products support target designation, fire control, and guided-munitions applications. CILAS also develops directed-energy laser weapon technologies. CILAS combines research, engineering, industrialization, and production. Its commercial activity remains rooted in France, while international markets account for a substantial share of business. The reference material describes revenue as approximately evenly divided between military and civilian activities and indicates that about 45% of revenue is generated in France and 55% internationally. CILAS is currently described as a subsidiary of MBDA and Safran Electronics & Defense, placing the company within a major French and European defense-technology ecosystem.

CILAS was founded in 1966 by Compagnie Générale d'Électricité and Saint-Gobain. The purpose of the new company was to industrialize and commercialize research conducted in laboratories working on laser sources and laser equipment. From its beginning, CILAS therefore occupied a position between scientific research and industrial production, a role that later shaped its activities in both defense and civilian markets. In 1983, the company became CILAS-Alcatel. Two years later, in 1985, it absorbed the optical companies SORO Electro-Optics and BBT, whose name referred to Barbier, Bernard and Turenne. Alcatel subsequently withdrew from its laser activities in 1989, prompting a restructuring of ownership. At the beginning of the 1990s, the capital was divided among CEA Industries, later associated with the Areva group, SAT, and Unilaser Holding, an aerospace-related group. The early 1990s also brought a closer relationship with Laserdot. From late 1989, Unilaser had acquired the optronics division of the Alcatel laboratories in Marcoussis and operated it under the Laserdot name. Unilaser’s activities brought together Quantel, LISA, CILAS, and Laserdot. CILAS and Laserdot collaborated on joint programs while maintaining different operational emphases: Laserdot was more strongly oriented toward research and development, whereas CILAS concentrated on industrialization and manufacturing. SAT left CILAS’s capital in 1994. The remaining ownership was then divided between Unilaser, with 57 percent, and CEA Industries, with 43 percent. On 1 September 1995, CILAS and Laserdot merged into one entity that retained the CILAS name. This merger consolidated research, engineering, and production capabilities in laser and optronics. Over time, CILAS developed a broad technical portfolio. In civilian markets, its work included optical thin-film coatings, adaptive-optics systems, scientific laser equipment, and particle-size analyzers, also known as laser granulometers. The granulometry activity served applications involving gases, liquids, and solids and was sold in 2017. CILAS has also supplied components and technologies for the Laser Mégajoule facility of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, one of France’s major high-energy laser infrastructure programs. Defense and security have become central to the company’s identity. CILAS develops laser designators for guided-munitions applications, rangefinders for armored vehicles and helicopters, systems for naval fire control, optical equipment intended to detect or counter snipers, airborne laser sources, and landing aids for ships and helicopters. More recently, its portfolio has included high-power laser systems for counter-drone operations, including HELMA-P, together with directed-energy laser weapon technologies. The company operates from a French industrial base while selling into international markets. The available reference material characterizes its business as approximately balanced between military and civilian revenue and reports that France contributes about 45 percent of revenue, with international markets contributing approximately 55 percent. CILAS is described as a subsidiary of MBDA and Safran Electronics & Defense, connecting its specialist capabilities to major European defense and aerospace organizations. Its history is consequently one of sustained movement between laboratory research, specialized optical engineering, industrial production, and defense-system integration.

• 2017

  Particle-size analysis activity is sold

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  CILAS divests its laser granulometer and particle-size analysis activity.

• 1995

  CILAS and Laserdot merge

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  CILAS and Laserdot merge on 1 September under the CILAS name, combining research, development, industrialization, and production capabilities.

• 1994

  SAT exits the capital

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  SAT withdraws from CILAS ownership, leaving Unilaser and CEA Industries as the remaining shareholders.

• 1989

  Alcatel withdraws from laser activities

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  Alcatel exits its laser activities, leading to a change in CILAS ownership.

• 1985

  Optical companies are absorbed

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  CILAS-Alcatel absorbs SORO Electro-Optics and BBT, expanding its optical and electro-optical capabilities.

• 1983

  The company becomes CILAS-Alcatel

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  CILAS adopts the CILAS-Alcatel name during the period when Alcatel was involved in its laser activities.

• 1966

  CILAS is founded

  [1]CILASen.wikipedia.org

  Compagnie Générale d'Électricité and Saint-Gobain establish CILAS to industrialize and commercialize research into laser sources and laser equipment.

A French specialist in laser engineering and precision optics serving defense, security, scientific, and industrial customers.

• Counter-drone laser system

  HELMA-P

  HELMA-P is a high-power laser system associated with counter-drone operations. It represents CILAS’s work in directed-energy defense, where laser energy is used to detect, track, and engage small unmanned aerial threats. The system forms part of the company’s broader portfolio of high-energy laser technologies for defense and security applications.

• Laser designator

  DHY 208

  DHY 208 is a CILAS laser-designation product intended for defense applications. Laser designators illuminate or mark targets so that compatible observation, fire-control, or guided-weapon systems can identify them. The product is part of CILAS’s family of compact and specialized laser systems for military targeting missions.

• Laser designator

  DHY 308

  DHY 308 is a CILAS laser-designation system for defense and security use. It belongs to the company’s targeting and electro-optical product range, supporting applications in which a laser is used to designate or identify a target for surveillance, fire control, or guided munitions.

• Laser designator and detection system

  ALADEM-80

  ALADEM-80 is identified as a CILAS system used for laser designation and the detection of snipers. It illustrates the company’s combination of laser sources, precision optics, and detection functions in defense equipment designed for demanding battlefield and security environments.

• Defense electro-optics

  Laser rangefinders

  CILAS develops laser rangefinders for applications including tanks, helicopters, and naval fire-control systems. These systems use the measured return of a laser signal to determine distance, supporting targeting, navigation, and fire-control functions in military platforms.

• Precision optics

  Optical thin-film coatings

  CILAS produces optical thin-film coatings for specialized optical components. Such coatings are used to control transmission, reflection, and other optical properties, making them important in laser assemblies, scientific instruments, defense optics, and industrial systems.

• Scientific and precision optics

  Adaptive-optics systems

  CILAS develops systems and components for adaptive optics, a field concerned with correcting optical distortion and improving image or beam quality. The company’s work includes technologies for demanding scientific and astronomical applications, including an adaptive unit associated with the European Extremely Large Telescope program.

• Scientific instrumentation

  Laser granulometers

  CILAS was an inventor and producer of particle-size analyzers based on laser measurement. Its granulometers were used to characterize particle-size distributions in gases, liquids, and solids. This civilian activity was sold by the company in 2017.

• High-energy laser components

  Laser Mégajoule technologies

  CILAS supplies components and technologies for the Laser Mégajoule facility of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. The work connects the company’s precision-optics and laser-manufacturing capabilities with a large-scale national research and high-energy laser infrastructure.

• 2017

  Sale of particle-size analysis activityStrategy

  Background

  Particle-size analysis and laser granulometry had been part of CILAS’s civilian technology portfolio.

  Action taken

  CILAS sold its particle-size analysis activity.

  Aftermath

  The divestment narrowed the civilian portfolio while leaving CILAS focused on lasers, precision optics, adaptive optics, and defense-related systems.

  Source

• 1995

  Merger with LaserdotM&A

  Background

  CILAS and Laserdot had worked together within the Unilaser group, with Laserdot emphasizing research and development and CILAS emphasizing industrialization and production.

  Action taken

  The two companies merged on 1 September 1995 and continued under the CILAS name.

  Aftermath

  The merger consolidated complementary research and manufacturing capabilities in laser and optronics.

  Source

1. 1CILASen.wikipedia.org