Peak Beam Systems, Inc. is the foremost designer and manufacturer of handheld high-intensity illumination devices in the world.

Peak Beam’s flagship product, the Maxa Beam Searchlight, has been field-tested for twenty years and has several unique characteristics that make the Maxa Beam the best choice for applications that require long-range, focusable white light and infrared illumination.

Today our Maxa Beam searchlights are:

• Serving every U.S. Military branch worldwide
• Guarding America’s borders
• Enabling our Homeland Defense Department Agencies throughout American 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 ultraviolet (UV) to infrared (IR). The U.S. Navy’s NAVSEA testing center in Crane, Indiana has verified that the Maxa Beam is the most powerful handheld searchlight available in the world.

The Maxa Beam is currently deployed on U.S. Naval surface and subsurface 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, U.S. Military vehicles, and at check points and guard stations. Peak Beam has been awarded a U.S. Army R&D contract to mount a remote-controlled version of the searchlight on an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).

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 12 million Peak Beam CandlePower and is the most versatile and powerful compact searchlight system ever manufactured.

Company History

Peak Beam Systems, Inc. was founded in 1987 after 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 he consulting 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 illuminator and a covert infrared device could significantly aid in the surveillance and security operations that watch 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 interview Mrs. McManus shared her view of the central purpose of her company:

We have spent many years perfecting our unique technology to maintain the Maxa Beam’s status as the world’s premier Xenon searchlight. As we continue to develop and improve the Maxa Beam, 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 political influence. Serving the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security and their respective agencies is the heart of our business and we will continue to strive to meet the needs of the men and women who are so bravely serving our country both at home and around the world.

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.