Company Flagship Product

The Maxa Beam searchlight, is:

• the most highly rated handheld xenon searchlight ever produced,
• boasts 7,500,000 Peak Beam CandlePower,
• has unique patented technology that
• allows an operator to change the beam from a 1° spot to a 40° flood in seconds with just one hand

Today our Maxa Beam searchlights and related technologies

• are guarding America’s borders,
• serving our military worldwide in every branch,
• enabling our Homeland Defense Department Agencies throughout America’s cities
• helping local law enforcement and fire and emergency services in their everyday effort to protect and serve our country

The Maxa Beam product line integrates the unique lightweight Xenon searchlight with a series of battery chemistries, automatic conditioning rechargers and selective band pass filtration systems from UV to IR. The Maxa Beam has been verified by the U.S. Navy’s NavSea testing center in Crane, Indiana as being the most powerful handheld searchlight available in the world.

The Maxa Beam Searchlight is the best in its field of handheld, lightweight, high-intensity lighting systems. The Maxa Beam is currently deployed on all U.S. Naval vessels and is widely used in armed and peacekeeping missions as well as long-range surveillance and covert surveillance applications. The Maxa Beam is often mounted on high-speed interceptor watercraft and off-road vehicles.

The Maxa Beam, now in its third generation, holds 72 claims on 4 U.S. patents (with more patents applied for). Today the Maxa Beam delivers up to 11 million Peak Beam CandlePower and is the most versatile and powerful handheld searchlight ever manufactured.

Company History

Peak Beam Systems, Inc. was founded in the late 1980s when Bill McManus, the founder and president of McManus Security Systems, designed and developed the original Maxa Beam searchlight. Mr. McManus realized the importance of a long-range illumination system in 1985 while working for NESEA’s “Water-side Security Evaluation” at Sub Base Bangor in Washington State. The McManus team became extremely interested in the complex problems of night imaging and perimeter security.

Mr. McManus recognized that a handheld searchlight that was both a portable illumination device and a covert infrared device could significantly aid in the surveillance and security operations that watched for otherwise undetectable terrorist attacks. As early as 1989, McManus Security Systems was busy delivering hundreds of Maxa Beam Searchlights to government customers, including the Seals, Sub-Lant, FMF-Lant, NYPD, FBI, NIS, and the British SAS.

Peak Beam Systems continues today as an innovator and manufacturer of high-tech security lighting devices for the U.S. Department of Defense, domestic security agencies, emergency response personnel and law enforcement officers.

Continuing the tradition, Jean McManus is the President of Peak Beam Systems, Inc. In a recent statement to a US Congressman, Mrs. McManus shared her view of the central purpose of her company:

“I have determined that Peak Beam will invest in the quality of our staff and our products rather than gambling our money in the arena of influence. I still believe, as I believe most Americans do, that our government, even with its enormity and complexity, remains centered on the personal freedom of its citizens and how we can, in each of our roles, work effectively together to benefit and serve our country in these challenging times…and I believe that Peak Beam will best accomplish this by focusing on the core tasks at hand.”

Peak Beam Systems is committed to continuing the development of new products and technologies that will support the defense and security of free nations throughout the world.