Tonbo Imaging accounted for 94% of India’s thermal-imaging exports

Tonbo Imaging accounted for 94% of India’s thermal-imaging export volumes by units between April 2024 and March 2026, according to Frost & Sullivan’s analysis of customs data. Other Indian exporters accounted for 6%, creating an 88-percentage-point gap in the defined India-origin thermal-imaging export measure.

What does Tonbo’s 94% thermal-imaging export figure measure?

Tonbo’s 94% figure measures its share of thermal-imaging systems exported from India by units, not by sales value, from April 2024 to March 2026. Figure 46, sourced to Frost & Sullivan and customs data, divides the market into Tonbo at 94% and all other Indian exporters at 6%.

Export volume means the number of units shipped, whereas export revenue can differ by system configuration, contract terms and product complexity. The source calls Tonbo India’s largest exporter of thermal-imaging systems by units shipped between FY24 and FY26, while the figure itself defines the observed period as April 2024 to March 2026.

The 94% share is a concentrated position within a narrow definition: India-origin thermal-imaging exports measured by units. It does not establish Tonbo’s share of global thermal-imaging sales, its share of India’s thermal-imaging export revenue, or its share of all electro-optical and infrared exports from India.

How did Tonbo reach 94% of thermal-imaging export units?

Tonbo’s disclosed model combines in-house design and intellectual-property ownership with outsourced manufacturing, which Frost & Sullivan describes as horizontally integrated. Since FY24, the source says Tonbo has owned 100% of its electro-optical and infrared intellectual property, including optics, embedded software, electronics, a proprietary video engine, artificial-intelligence-accelerated image processing and sub-5 microradian multi-axis gimbal stabilisation.

Electro-optical and infrared, or EO/IR, systems use visible-light and infrared sensing for surveillance, targeting and night operations. Tonbo’s disclosed portfolio includes compact EO/IR payloads, soldier-borne sights, artificial-intelligence-enabled targeting systems and low-size, weight and power gimbals for unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles, armoured vehicles and soldier systems.

The source also identifies the absence of International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, restrictions as part of Tonbo’s international model. ITAR is a United States export-control framework governing defence-related technology, data and services; Tonbo says its products are designed and developed in India and are free from ITAR restrictions.

Tonbo also supplies completely knocked down kits and electro-optic cores and allows local defence original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to white-label products. The disclosure says local assembly and branding can help a product qualify as domestically manufactured and can bypass barriers involving defence offsets, import duties or foreign-procurement caps, although it does not quantify how much these mechanisms contributed to the 94% unit share.

How does Tonbo’s export position compare with Indian government supply?

Tonbo’s 94% share of thermal-imaging export units was higher than its 51% share of thermal-imaging systems supplied to Indian government customers by units during April 2024 to March 2026. Frost & Sullivan and India Government e-Marketplace data assign Tata Advanced Systems 16% of the domestic government-supply measure and other suppliers 33%.

The two measures cover different markets. Figure 45 covers thermal-imaging systems supplied to India’s government, while Figure 46 covers thermal-imaging systems exported from India. Tonbo’s export share was 43 percentage points above its domestic government-supply share, indicating that the disclosed unit concentration was greater in exports.

The domestic measure shows a less concentrated supplier mix than the export measure, because 49% of domestic government units were supplied by companies other than Tonbo. The source separately states that Tonbo was the largest manufacturer by sales value for thermal-imaging systems supplied to Indian government and defence agencies in the April 2024 to March 2026 period, but it does not disclose a percentage sales-value share.

What supports or could change Tonbo’s export share?

Tonbo’s export position depends on continued demand for its EO/IR systems, access to export markets and the availability of outsourced manufacturing. The source reports more than 28,000 Tonbo systems deployed across 24 countries as of June 30, 2026, while the 94% customs-data figure remains a historical unit-volume result rather than a forecast.

Tonbo’s FY25 export revenue represented 65.52% of revenue, according to the Indian peer comparison. The comparable disclosed ratios were 37.97% for Zen Technologies, 15.00% for Data Patterns, 14.59% for Paras Defence, 10.00% for Astra Microwave and 3.86% for Bharat Electronics; these are revenue ratios, not shares of thermal-imaging export units.

India’s Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap 2025 identifies potential programme requirements relevant to Tonbo’s product categories. These include 55,000 to 60,000 thermal-imaging sights, 20,000 to 50,000 anti-tank guided missiles and 3,000 to 3,200 driver night sights, but the quantities are programme opportunities rather than orders awarded to Tonbo.

Tonbo had five patent registrations granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, four patent applications before the Indian Patent Office dated May 31, 2025, and four patent applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office dated May 12, 2026. A comparable export share would require those product, intellectual-property, manufacturing and market-access conditions to continue producing shipments, while the disclosed 6% share held by other Indian exporters changes only if their unit shipments change relative to Tonbo’s.

Conclusion

Tonbo’s 94% share of India’s thermal-imaging export volumes by units for April 2024 to March 2026 is the clearest disclosed measure of its export-market position. The share exceeded its 51% unit share of thermal-imaging systems supplied to Indian government customers, while the source links its model to proprietary EO/IR intellectual property, outsourced manufacturing, local-assembly options and products free from ITAR restrictions.

The next evidence to watch is later customs-data reporting and whether the Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap 2025 opportunities result in awarded programmes. The source identifies substantial prospective requirements for thermal sights, anti-tank guided missiles and night-vision equipment, but it does not disclose future export volumes, export revenue or contracts for Tonbo from those programmes.