Raytheon Co. of Dallas and ITT Industries Night Vision of Roanoke, Va., have agreed to combine their expertise in thermal imaging and image intensification to produce night-vision sensor-fusion technology. The aim is to make nighttime operations of the US military more effective.

Raytheon will lead the development of digital fusion, which has potential applications in electronic image processing, and ITT will focus on optical fusion, addressing requirements for lightweight, low-power and affordable applications. The companies have already developed a digital fusion marketing demonstrator.