Celebrating 100 Years of Innovation: A History of Aerial Observation

Born in the crucible of the world’s Great War, aerial observation provides a 100-year case study on how human ingenuity and innovation were brought to bear to overcome the fog of war, unveiling the unknown.

Simply put: you can’t fight what you can’t see. This makes the history of aerial observation a story of the warfighter’s ongoing struggle to push back the veil of the unknown, and how solutions were imagined, created and re-imagined, until the dream of providing real-time, mission-critical information to commanders in the field became a tangible reality.

This video, featured at the 2017 Paris Airshow, highlights 100 years of advancement and innovation in aerial observation. It’s a story FLIR is proud to have been a part of, and one that FLIR will continue to lead well into the future.

FLIR’s cutting-edge surveillance solutions provide real-time intelligence from the air to militaries and first responders around the world.

While the future of aerial surveillance has yet to be written, we do know that imaging technology will continue to advance. At FLIR, we are committed to serving our ultimate role as The World’s Sixth Sense for as long as lives need saving, and our military and law enforcement need eyes to see — in the air, from the ground, or on the water, FLIR brings the invisible to light.