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Optex Systems Holdings, Inc.
Optex Systems makes precision optical sighting systems and periscopes for military vehicles and defense customers.
Optex Systems builds the optics that soldiers look through. Its main products are periscopes and sighting systems for armored vehicles — the prisms, lenses, and precision assemblies that let a crew see outside and aim weapons while buttoned up inside a tank or fighting vehicle. It also makes optical components for lasers and other defense gear.
The company sells almost entirely to the U.S. government and to the big defense contractors that supply it, like General Dynamics and RTX (formerly Raytheon). Customers pay for rugged, precise optics that must survive mud, shock, and combat. Optex competes on being a reliable, qualified supplier of parts that are often sole-sourced — meaning it's the only approved maker of a given component, which gives it steady, sticky work once a part is designed into a vehicle. Optex is a small company, headquartered in Richardson, Texas, and it runs two segments: its Applied Optics Center, which makes the periscopes and sight assemblies, and a contract optics business that does custom precision optical work. Its fortunes ride on U.S. military spending and on how many vehicles the Pentagon builds or upgrades. That makes revenue lumpy and dependent on defense budgets and program timing.
The honest picture: this is a tiny, thinly traded microcap with a concentrated customer base and little pricing power, so a single large contract or its loss can swing results hard. But that same niche focus — making hard-to-source optical parts for vehicles the military needs — is what keeps it in business.
Saved answer · last researched 8 Nov 2026
BIG PICTURE
Optex makes the periscopes for 75% of America's armored vehicles
- 75% U.S. armored vehicle periscope market held by Optex
- 25% All other periscope suppliers
When a soldier looks out of an Abrams tank or a Bradley fighting vehicle, there is a strong chance the glass and optics in front of their eyes came from Optex. The company says it holds 75% of the U.S. armored vehicle periscope market. That grip on a narrow, hard-to-enter defense niche is how a small Texas firm turns a few dozen million dollars of sales into a steady business. Source: Quartr corporate presentation summary, data from 2026
Timeline
Optex Starts in Texas
Optex began in 1987 in Richardson, Texas, making optical sighting systems and assemblies — the glass-and-metal eyes that military equipment uses to aim and see. Its main customer was the Department of Defense, which gave it a steady, demanding business from the start.
Irvine Sensors Buys Optex
For nearly two decades Optex stayed privately held, until publicly traded Irvine Sensors bought it at the end of 2005. Optex became a wholly owned subsidiary, a small piece inside a bigger public company.
Longview Fund Takes Control
That arrangement did not last. In 2008, an Optex entity majority-owned by the Longview Fund acquired the business, and control passed from Irvine Sensors to Longview. Optex was now in the hands of an investment fund.
Optex Goes Public
Longview's next move, in early 2009, was to make Optex public — not by a traditional IPO, but by swapping shares with an already-public shell company called Sustut Exploration. The company took the name Optex Systems Holdings, started trading under its own ticker, and had one line of business: Optex Systems.
Officers Take the Reins
Just before the public listing, Longview handed its ownership interests to Sileas Corp., an entity owned by three of the company's own officers. In plain terms, the people running the business became the people controlling it.
Chad George Becomes CEO
In late 2025 the company changed who sits in the top chair: Danny Schoening stepped down as CEO and Chad George took over. Schoening did not leave entirely — he stayed on the board as Chairman and kept his role as Facility Security Officer, and the board grew from four seats to five with George's appointment.
A Strong Year with One Wobble
The year 2025 showed the business in good health: revenue rose about a fifth to roughly $41 million, and net income reached about $5 million. The core Richardson segment grew strongly, with periscope production jumping over half. One sour note: the company wrote down about $800,000 on its SpeedTracker product line, bought in early 2024 — a reminder that not every new bet pays off.