Military Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)
The military often purchases commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
products either as is or adapted from products offered commercially.
Bridge's COTS customers use thermal imaging products to provide
night vision capability for perimeter monitoring, on-ship uses such
as compartment and perimeter monitoring, and thermal imaging
functionality on riflescopes.
These applications are significantly different than the traditional,
high-end military systems used on tanks, aircraft, and missile
guidance systems. For certain military IR applications low costs
are very important, such as when large volumes are needed or the
thermal imaging device is part of an expendable sensor. In these
types of applications, cost can be more important than maximum
performance.