Example of a thermal camera: the Modular Thermal System (SMT)
Passive optronic systems - Thermal cameras

The modular thermal system was developed in the late 70s and early 80s at the request and with the help of the French government. Two companies were involved from the outset: Société Anonyme de Télécommunications (SAT) and TRT, now Thomson-CSF Optronique. The idea was to design a set of modules from which, by adding specific sub-assemblies, it was possible to cover most of the applications of the three armed forces.

This approach reproduced, a few years later, a similar approach taken in the USA in the early 1970s.