Teledyne FLIR Defense Captures $7.8 Million Contract to Provide Mobile Surveillance Systems for Key Military Entity in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 24, 2025--

Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY), has won a contract valued at $7.8 million with Middle East Task Company (METCO) to provide its next-generation LVSS (Lightweight Vehicle Surveillance System) to a high-profile military entity in Saudi Arabia. The agreement also includes mission support equipment and training. Quantities were not disclosed.

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The FLIR Defense LVSS™ delivers some of the most advanced, integrated mobile surveillance technology available, all fitted within the bed of a light pickup truck. It features the company’s TacFLIR ® 380HD long-range thermal imaging system and its Ranger ® R20SS radar that can track up to 500 objects at once at ranges greater than 10 miles (16 km). A single operator can deploy and operate the system’s 16-foot mast from the cab of a pickup in less than 30 seconds.

LVSS is designed for missions that call for speed, mobility and flexibility, and ideally suited to protecting infrastructure, bases, and personnel from both air- and ground-based threats.

“We’re honored to work with METCO in supporting a key military entity in its critical mission of safeguarding the nation,” said Stan Crawford, senior director of business development for the Middle East at Teledyne FLIR Defense. “The LVSS platform combines technologies FLIR Defense has pioneered for decades. It has been deployed successfully worldwide, helping customers secure their borders, critical installations, and shorelines from threats day or night.”

METCO, in coordination with Teledyne FLIR Defense and the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), have an approved localization plan for this effort. The LVSS systems are expected to be delivered by the end of 2025.

To learn more about Teledyne FLIR Defense integrated surveillance solutions, visit us online.

About Teledyne FLIR Defense

Teledyne FLIR Defense has been providing advanced, mission-critical technology and systems for more than 45 years. Our products are on the frontlines of the world’s most pressing military, security and public safety challenges. As a global leader in thermal imaging, we design and build sophisticated surveillance sensors for air, land and maritime domains. We develop the most rugged, trusted unmanned air and ground platforms, as well as intelligent sensing devices used to detect chemicals, biological agents, radiation and explosives. At FLIR Defense we bring together this expertise to deliver solutions that enable critical decisions and keep our world safe – from any threat, anywhere. To learn more, visit us online or follow @flir and @flir_defense.

About Teledyne Technologies

Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated digital imaging products and software, instrumentation, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems. Teledyne's operations are primarily located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Western and Northern Europe. For more information, visit Teledyne's website at www.teledyne.com.

About Middle East Tasks Company (METCO)

METCO is a leading provider of advanced security, defense, and aviation solutions, specializing in X-ray screening, custom-tailored integration solutions, and EPC services. Operating across major Saudi cities with global presence in Egypt, Dubai, Bahrain & North Africa, METCO partners with global leaders to enhance regional safety and infrastructure. FLIR is proud to have METCO as a strong regional partner, working together to deliver advanced security solutions. For more information, visit METCO’s website at www.metco-sa.com

Teledyne FLIR Defense has won a contract valued at $7.8 million with Middle East Task Company (METCO) to provide its next-generation LVSS (Lightweight Vehicle Surveillance System) to a high-profile military entity in Saudi Arabia. The LVSS™ delivers some of the most advanced, integrated mobile surveillance technology available, all fitted within the bed of a light pickup truck. It features the company’s TacFLIR® 380HD long-range thermal imaging system and its Ranger® R20SS radar that can track up to 500 objects at once at ranges greater than 10 miles (16 km). A single operator can deploy and operate the system’s 16-foot mast from the cab of a pickup in less than 30 seconds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press is returning to a federal courtroom on Thursday to ask a judge to restore its full access to presidential events, after the White House retaliated against the news outlet last month for not following President Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

In a hearing last month, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden refused the AP’s request for an injunction to stop the White House from barring reporters and photographers from events in the Oval Office and Air Force One. He urged the Trump administration to reconsider its ban before Thursday’s hearing. It hasn't.

“It seems pretty clearly viewpoint discrimination,” McFadden told the government's attorney at the time.

The AP has sued Trump’s team for punishing a news organization for using speech that it doesn’t like. The news outlet said it would still refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its style guidance to clients around the world, while also noting that Trump has ordered it renamed the Gulf of America.

“For anyone who thinks the Associated Press’s lawsuit against President Trump’s White House is about the name of a body of water, think bigger,” Julie Pace, the AP’s executive editor, wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “It’s really about whether the government can control what you say.”

The White House said it has the right to decide who gets to question the president, and has taken steps to take over a duty that has been handled by journalists for decades.

The president has dismissed the AP as a group of “radical left lunatics” and said that “we’re going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it’s the Gulf of America.”

The AP has still covered the president, and has been permitted in White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press briefings, but the ban has cost the organization time in reporting and impeded its efforts to get still images. Even if McFadden rules in favor of the news organization, it’s unclear how the White House will respond to the judge’s order.

The White House Correspondents' Association has asked its members to show solidarity with the AP on Thursday, perhaps by showing up at the courtroom or wearing a pin that signifies the importance of the First Amendment.

The case is one of several aggressive moves the second Trump administration has taken against the press since his return to office, including FCC investigations against ABC, CBS and NBC News, dismantling the government-run Voice of America and threatening funding for public broadcasters PBS and NPR.

A Trump executive order to change the name of the United States’ largest mountain back to Mount McKinley from Denali is being recognized by the AP. Trump has the authority to do so because the mountain is completely within the country he oversees, AP has said.

Writing in the Journal, Pace said the AP didn’t ask for the fight and made efforts to resolve the issue before going to court, but needed to stand on principle.

“If we don’t step up to defend Americans’ right to speak freely," she wrote, "who will?”

David Bauder covers media for The Associated Press.

FILE - The Associated Press logo is shown at the entrance to the news organization's office in New York on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Aaron Jackson, File