FLIR Systems, Inc. and DroneSense , Inc. have announced that FLIR has completed a strategic investment in DroneSense, makers of a software platform that serves the growing needs of public safety organizations in utilizing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to better perform their missions.

The minority investment by FLIR in DroneSense will create opportunities for the companies to collaborate and share their respective expertise and customer relationships to develop and bring to market advanced UAS operating, management, and reporting systems. FLIR’s advanced thermal imaging payloads for UAS platforms provide first responders a new sense of awareness by imaging heat, seeing through smoke, and seeing at night. DroneSense’s comprehensive solution will enable first responders to build and scale their UAS programs with full accountability and transparency. Together, the FLIR and DroneSense offerings will enhance situational awareness, act as a force multiplier, and ultimately save more lives as organizations continue to integrate UAS into daily missions.

“This alliance with DroneSense will help bring to market a truly mission-critical solution needed by first responders to effectively deploy a complete UAS program across their organizations,” said James Cannon, president and CEO of FLIR. “We believe this platform is scalable geographically, across multiple markets, and across multiple FLIR Business Units. While focused today on UAS’s, we see longer term opportunity for the solution to be extendable to other forms of sensing devices.”