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30 Sep 2025
US-based provider of optical components and imaging systems cites border control and drone defense as key applications.
LightPath Technologies, the Nasdaq-listed firm specializing in infrared optics and cameras, has posted sales revenues of $37.6 million in its latest fiscal year - up more than 17 per cent on the previous 12 months.
The Orlando, Florida, company, which says it is benefiting from a surge of interest in its “BlackDiamond” germanium-free technology, has made a move up the value chain in the past couple of years - and within the past month has agreed a camera supply deal worth $40 million through 2027.
Figures for Lightpath’s most recent business quarter ending June 30 backed up that trend, with sales of $12.2 million up more than 40 per cent year-on-year.
And while the firm’s losses have widened significantly since last year, LightPath CEO Sam Rubin says that recent months showed a “clear validation” of the new business strategy.
“Supply chain risk and Chinese critical mineral export restrictions are accelerating customer demand for germanium alternatives, pushing them to our in-house BlackDiamond solution,” he told an investor conference call of the chalcogenide material technology originally developed at the US Naval Research Laboratory and licensed by LightPath.
Border security and airport attacks
Thermal cameras featuring the germanium-free optics now look set to play a major role in border security and counter-drone applications, with Rubin adding:
“Our backlog today is around $90 million. That is more than four times what the backlog was just a few months ago.”
Rubin also told investors that a big increase in funding for US Border Patrol meant that instead of around 300 new surveillance towers being built along the border with Mexico, that figure will rise to 1000 or perhaps even 1200 towers - including some along the Canadian border.
“Now take the large increase in expected deployment, add to it supply chain constraints companies are facing, and you get a scramble to ensure supplies of cameras,” the CEO said.
LightPath was already supplying infrared cameras to one of three companies selected to provide the surveillance towers, and its recent $40 million contract is with another of the prime contractors, Rubin added.
For counter-drone applications, he highlighted LightPath’s development of powerful zoom cameras that can passively detect, classify, and track drones.
“Drones that are as small as ten inches in size, for example,” he told investors. “These cameras not only integrate systems for detecting drones but also integrate onto almost any weapon system that is used to [disable] drones.”
As well as battlefield applications, that technology is now in demand for protecting critical infrastructure - with Rubin saying that the very recent drone attacks on airports in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway would likely further accelerate that demand.
$8M investment
Shortly before announcing the latest financial results, LightPath revealed that it had received investment of $8 million from customers Ondas Holdings and Unusual Machines, providers of drones and drone components.
Unusual Machines CEO Allan Evans said of the reasoning behind that support: "We expect demand for drones to continue to grow across all industries, with a particular focus on defense following the learnings of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“While drone infrared camera use is expanding, the use of germanium in these systems has created challenges for manufacturing and supply chains.”
Export restrictions on germanium imposed by China, which provides around two-thirds of the world's supply of the material, has prompted a shift away from germanium and towards US manufacturing, with BlackDiamond glass providing a suitable alternative.
The equity purchase, priced at $5 per share, will boost LightPath’s balance sheet, which as of June 30 showed cash and equivalent assets standing at $4.9 million.
• Following the latest update LightPath’s stock price rose in value to trade at around $8 - its highest valuation in more than a decade, and up sharply from $1.50 a year ago.
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