1:04
>> My name is Philip Menicon. I'm the Chief
1:07
Business Development Officer and the
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Deputy CEO of the company.
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The facility is founded as a result of a
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contract that we have for [snorts] the
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Irish Sea, which is the system that we
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assemble and produce here in Zaventem in
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our new facilities. And this contract is
1:23
for the German and Belgian Army who
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procure this product together. As part
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of this contract, we have set up this
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facility here at the heart of Europe
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as a sign as well to strengthen European
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and to support the integration of the
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defense industry, but as well to support
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the idea of joint procurements that
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soldiers have similar or the same
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equipment all over Europe so that they
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with each other and that they can
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communicate with each other much much
1:56
better. Theon Sensors is the world
1:58
leader in night vision goggles
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where we have more than 60% of the
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global market including the US. In the
2:06
US for example, we deliver our equipment
2:08
to the US Marine Corps,
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but all over Europe, in Asia, in the
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Middle East in more than 70 countries
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around the world. What we produce here,
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and this is a new product, is a thermal
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clip-on which provides a fused imagery,
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but not only this, it provides as well
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augmented reality data to the soldier
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that the soldier can see for example in
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the battlefield where my friends, where
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my comrades, where is the enemy, GPS
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data, and a variety of other data that
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are displayed directly into the eye of
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the soldier. That is the future. That is
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basically bringing the soldier into the
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new age of being interconnected, having
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a better situational awareness of what's
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what's going on. And this is something
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where we're investing a lot of money and
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a lot of time. So for a soldier to
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he needs a night vision goggle. And
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every soldier needs to have a night
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vision goggle so that he can actually he
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or she can actually see and operate
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during the night. What we're providing
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now with the Irish Sea is additional
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capability. It's fusion. It provides a
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soldier not only with night vision
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imagery, but as well with thermal
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imagery. Basically, the fusion provides
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the best of both technologies. That's
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number one. Number two is as I said that
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the soldier gets all these augmented
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reality data and that he can actually
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operate better and is more aware of
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threats, is more aware of
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what's going on around in in the
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battlefield. That makes the soldier more
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secure basically and more efficient. We
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opened this plant here as well to give
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something back to Belgium. Belgium is
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one of the two customers for this
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particular project and we decided to set
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something up here in in Belgium to give
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something back to the society. A lot of
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money is spent in Belgium and in many
3:50
many other countries around the world on
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defense and it's always important that
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some of this money flows back into the
3:56
society, into the community. And we came
3:58
here basically opened the field in
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Belgium two months ago. We already
4:02
employed 12 people here. We have plans
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of course with ramping up production to
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employ further people and to make this
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really a hub for our new digital fused
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products for our European customers.
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The opening of this plant marks
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something important and that is
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a Greek company sets up
4:22
production all over Europe. Now in
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Belgium, it's our third plant after
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Germany, we set up production in
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Denmark, we set up production and of
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course in Greece. And this is a sign of
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that it's important that Europe grows
4:38
up. It's important that we set up
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production facilities in Europe, that we
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get autonomy and that more and more
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countries start procuring jointly
4:48
equipment so that all the soldiers have
4:51
the same equipment and are thus more
4:53
efficient in operations.
