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Precision glass machining under coolant at IRD Glass

Aerospace & defense
optical components

Aerospace and defense buyers are qualifying more than a dimension. They are qualifying repeatability, traceability, domestic control, inspection evidence, and the supplier that must still be there when the program reaches production.

IRD manufactures optical, technical glass, sapphire, ceramic, and IR components across two Minnesota facilities for long-running aerospace and defense supply relationships.

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Long-runningHoneywell program experience
98%+IRD-reported on-time delivery, past decade
100%Veteran-owned domestic manufacturer

Aerospace and defense programs IRD supplies

IRD has supplied precision components to aerospace and defense organizations including Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, and SpaceX. IRD has supported a long-running Honeywell program.

Long tenure matters because the difficult work begins after first article: revision control, repeat inspection, schedule recovery, packaging, and the hundreds of small process decisions that keep the production part aligned with the approved part. Honeywell Aerospace has recognized that work with an Exceptional Quality Performance award at zero PPM.

The manufacturing route, inspection plan, and evidence package are agreed against your program before production, not assumed from a logo.

Honeywell
Collins Aerospace
L3Harris
Lockheed Martin
SpaceX
01Navigation02Gyro bodies03EO / IR04Laser systems05Production
Ring laser gyro blocks manufactured by IRD Glass

Technical glass faces have been produced to .000004″ flatness on established programs.

Inertial Navigation & Air Data

Geometry that becomes a reference inside the aircraft.

Ring-laser gyro blocks, accelerometer components, pressure tubes, pedestals, and super-flat interfaces depend on concentricity, parallelism, flatness, and material stability. IRD builds the glass and ceramic parts that sit inside altitude, airspeed, pressure, position, and inertial systems, then verifies the controlling geometry before it leaves the cell.

What IRD builds

Ring-laser gyro blocksAccelerometer componentsPressure tubesSensor pedestalsOptical flatsCeramic substrates

Typical applications

  • Inertial navigation
  • Air-data sensing
  • Altitude and airspeed
  • Positioning gyros

Materials

  • ZERODUR®
  • Fused silica
  • Borosilicate
  • Alumina
  • Zirconia
An IRD Glass inspector examining a finished optic under light

Final capability is quoted to the drawing. Achievable tolerance depends on material, feature size, geometry, coating, and production volume.

Ring Laser Gyro Bodies

IRD manufactures precision ring laser gyro blocks and technical glass components for aerospace, defense, and navigation systems.

Our gyro components are engineered for dimensional stability, thermal performance, and reliability in demanding operating environments. IRD gyro blocks are used in navigation, guidance, and inertial sensing systems operating in harsh environmental and high-reliability applications.

When aerospace and defense systems require stable, repeatable precision, IRD delivers components built for mission-critical performance.

What IRD builds

Precision fabrication of technical glass and ceramic materialsTight-tolerance machining and polishingFlatness and parallelism control for alignment-critical systemsAdvanced surface finishing for aerospace and defense applicationsPrototype through production manufacturing

Typical applications

  • Navigation
  • Guidance
  • Inertial sensing

Materials

  • Technical glass
  • Ceramic materials
Optical wedges and gyro blocks for defense programs

IR material, coating, mount, and inspection are reviewed as one component route.

Electro-Optical & Infrared Systems

Windows and filters that protect the sensor without becoming the signal.

Detection systems need transmission, reflection, environmental durability, mounting, and coating to work together. IRD fabricates windows, filters, mirrors, and lenses in sapphire, silicon, germanium, chalcogenide, fused silica, and related materials for visible, UV, and infrared systems.

What IRD builds

IR windowsProtective domesCoated filtersDetection lensesLaser mirrorsSight windows

Typical applications

  • Thermal imaging
  • Night vision
  • Detection systems
  • Screening and perimeter systems

Materials

  • Sapphire
  • Silicon
  • Germanium
  • Chalcogenides
  • Fused silica
Precision optical components manufactured by IRD Glass

Angular capability reaches 3 arc sec, with flatness below 1/20 wave.

Laser & Directed Optical Systems

Arc-second geometry and high-energy surfaces in the same supply chain.

Prisms, wedges, mirrors, beamsplitters, filters, cavity components, and tooling combine surface figure, angular control, roughness, coating, and damage-threshold requirements. IRD connects fabrication, coating, and metrology so one supplier owns the finished optical behavior.

What IRD builds

HLDT mirrorsPrisms and wedgesBeamsplittersCavity reflectorsFiltersPrecision tooling

Typical applications

  • Rangefinding
  • Beam steering
  • Sighting
  • Laser designation
  • Alignment and reference

Materials

  • Fused silica
  • N-BK7
  • Sapphire
  • Filter glass
  • ZERODUR®
A precision polishing cell running at IRD Glass

More than 98% on-time delivery, sustained across the past decade.

Platform Integration & Production

The component still has to arrive, documented, after the prototype succeeds.

Cell-based manufacturing assigns dedicated people, equipment, and floor space to repeat programs. That makes revision control, capacity, packaging, documentation, and root-cause work part of the same process that produced the approved article.

What IRD builds

Repeat-production opticsKitted componentsCustom packagingInspection reportsCustomer-specific cells

Typical applications

  • Production programs
  • Sustainment
  • Spare components
  • Platform upgrades

Materials

  • Optical glass
  • Technical glass
  • Sapphire
  • Technical ceramics
  • IR substrates

The requirement.The measured range.

Every row controls a different failure mode. State the wavelength, aperture, datum scheme, inspection method, environment, and production quantity with the drawing.

AttributeTypicalBest caseWhere it matters
PolishingRa < 1 µinRa < 2 ÅScatter- and energy-sensitive optical surfaces
Flatness1 wave< 1/20 waveWindows, mirrors, filters, and reference faces
Parallelism30 arc sec< 2 arc secBeam steering and plane-parallel components
Angle5 arc min3 arc secPrisms, wedges, and alignment geometry
Machining±.005″±.0001″Mounting features and custom profiles
Grinding±.002″±.0002″ flatnessHard materials and structural geometry

Inspection and documentation

Dimensional, surface, and angular requirements are verified with the method appropriate to the print. The acceptance data and handling package are agreed before production rather than assembled after inspection.

OGP vision systems

Non-contact dimensional measurement for small and complex geometry.

Zygo NewView

White-light interferometry for surface roughness and micro-form verification.

Laser interferometers

Transmitted and reflected wavefront checks on flats, windows, and mirrors.

Nikon autocollimators

Angular and parallelism verification for arc-second requirements.

Interferometric surface measurement at IRD Glass

How the program is supported

Supplier qualification is program-specific. IRD brings a certified quality system, ITAR registration, domestic facilities, veteran ownership, and cell-based process control into that review.

ISO 9001:2015

Certified quality management system for ultra-high precision glass, optical, and ceramic components.

ITAR registered

Registered with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls; controlled work stays domestic across both plants.

Veteran-owned

100% owned by two United States veterans representing the Navy and the Army. Current registration documentation is available during supplier qualification.

Cell-based manufacturing

Dedicated people, equipment, and process ownership from material through inspection.

Send your controlled print

Talk to an applications engineer

An applications engineer will review material, tolerance, inspection, handling, and volume together.

Precision glass machining under coolant at IRD GlassCapabilitiesPrecision optical components manufactured by IRD GlassProducts