Business Broken Arrow firm keeps low profile for war work

By Robert Evatt Tulsa World BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- It's fitting that Tactical Electronics Corp. is based in a nondescript, out-of-the-way industrial building with its name in tiny letters. After all, the Broken Arrow company has been quietly developing and manufacturing high-tech gear designed to keep soldiers hidden and safe as they undertake dangerous tactical operations. The client base includes militaries and law enforcement agencies across the globe, including various branches of the U.S. military as well as key U.S. allies such as Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and others. Just one example of the company's mission "to preserve our world by protecting those who protect us" is the 12-year-old company's habit of putting cameras on almost anything, so the users can get a better view of their surroundings without putting themselves in danger. Tactical Electronics' first product and still an in-demand device is a flexible camera mounted on a pole that can be extended from 3 feet long to more than 20 feet, giving the user an opportunity to peek into upper floors and around corners, said Ben Kimbro, executive vice president of the company. "Anywhere you don't want to stick your noggin, you can see over buildings and around obstructions," he said. That's just the start of the surveillance devices Tactical Electronics manufactures in Broken Arrow. The extremely flat mount of the Under Door Camera allows access through a tight opening. The Video Fiberscope is a long probe that can be bent or curled remotely and stuck through holes in walls and suspicious packages. The Split Shot Scope Transmitter can be slipped onto a gun scope to let the rest of a squad see what their sniper is seeing. And then there's the cameras designed to be worn - on bodies, on helmets, even on K-9s via a collar or vest. All of which transmit to Dick Tracy-style wrist monitors that can switch effortlessly from the pole to the probe to the dog, thanks to interoperability. But Tactical Electronics has branched out beyond surveillance. Its Gyro Stabilized Firing Platform allows snipers to get stable, accurate shots even when they're in rough territory. "In an unstable environment like a helicopter or a boat, this will take all the bumpy movements out," Kimbro said. Two-thirds of the company's facility is given to offices, research and development rooms and the production floor, where all the products are made. But the remaining portion of the building is devoted to more unsettling materials - fake bombs. There are mock-ups of bombs in cans and packages with mousetrap triggers, plus suicide vests and collar bombs. The area also houses crates, microwave ovens, airline food carts and flat platforms with triggers rigged from saw blades. There's even a weaponized SUV, complete with a manual bomb trigger inside, improvised pressure triggers on the bumper and loads of repurposed artillery ammo set to blow. Or, more specifically, beep loudly if a bomb disposal technician in training makes a wrong move when defusing it. Kimbro said tactical training is a large portion of what Tactical Electronics does on a day-to-day basis, with courses offered in Broken Arrow, the company's satellite office in Virginia Beach, Va., or on-site at clients' facilities. Tactical Electronics offers a wide variety of specialized training, including covert methods of entry, vehicle entry and target reconnaissance. But training with the types of bombs terrorists are making today takes a lot of specialized equipment, since it's one thing to read about defusing a hostage situation involving bomb collars but quite another to actually do it in the mock airplane behind Tactical Electronics' building, Kimbro said. "These training exercises are designed to be as close to the real world situation as possible," he said. In fact, tactical training is what led Kimbro and Tim Thornton, president of the company, to found Tactical Electronics. The two were providing tactical training on their own when officials from U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal complained that their pole-mounted cameras were heavy, gawky and dripping with cords. Many of the company's production and in-development devices are the result of specific requests from military organizations. Kimbro said militaries often have specific ways of thinking, which gives Tactical Electronics the room to suggest solutions outside the military norm. "They appreciate what we do, since we don't stick to rank-and-file thinking," he said. Though Kimbro said Tactical Electronics now averages $15 million in revenue per year, there are clear avenues for growth. But he would rather stay cautious and grow slowly than spin into something unwieldy. "We believe in measured growth," he said. "A lot of companies would rather grow fast and get the attention of a bigger company who buys them out, but we'd rather stay local." Published: Thu, Dec 15, 2011