Curtiss-Wright, Teledyne FLIR to Offer Unmanned Solutions to Nuclear Power Market

Curtiss-Wright and Teledyne FLIR Defense have entered into an agreement to offer unmanned and integrated technologies to the U.S. government.

The partnership is specifically aimed at delivering drones, robotics, submersibles and other such systems to the Department of Energy and other nuclear power customers, Curtiss-Wright said.

Lynn Bamford, CEO and president of Curtiss-Wright, said the partnership will take advantage of Curtiss-Wright’s capabilities in nuclear power generation and Teledyne FLIR’s expertise in unmanned systems technologies.

The combination will help government customers enable autonomous operations, increase worker safety and reduce operational costs, said Bamford, a 2021 Wash100 awardee.

According to Curtiss-Wright’s website, the company’s nuclear division continuously supports plant life extension and power plant uprate programs, in addition to developing ways to address plant obsolescence issues.

Curtiss-Wright added that it also worked on large light water reactors, advanced reactors and small modular reactors in its 60 years of working in the nuclear power industry.

Teledyne FLIR, which specializes in designing thermal imaging sensors, also has direct experience in the nuclear market. The company has implemented ground robotics technologies in commercial nuclear power plants, Department of Energy sites and international projects.

Curtiss-Wright said that Teledyne FLIR has delivered more than 20,000 unmanned platforms to customers in more than 50 countries.

Teledyne FLIR also offers integrated solutions such as intelligent sensors used to detect chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear and explosive threats.

Tom Frost, vice president of unmanned ground systems at Teledyne FLIR Defense, said he expects the partnership to improve the safety of human operators and improve efficiencies in nuclear facilities.