In a homeland security setting, the ability to detect explosives at a distance is a top security priority. Consequently, the development of remote, noncontact detection systems continues to represent a path forward. In this vein, a remote detection system for excitation of infrared emissions using a CO₂ laser for generating laser-induced thermal emission (LITE) is a possible solution. However, a LITE system using a CO₂ laser has certain limitations, such as the requirement of careful alignment, interference by the CO₂ signal during detection, and the power density loss due to the increase of the laser image at the sample plane with the detection distance. A remote chopped-laser induction system for LITE detection using a CO₂ laser source coupled to a focusing telescope was built to solve some of these limitations. Samples of fixed surface concentration (500  μg  /  cm²) of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) were used for the remote detection experiments at distances ranging between 4 and 8 m. This system was capable of thermally exciting and capturing the thermal emissions (TEs) at different times in a cyclic manner by a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer coupled to a gold-coated reflection optics telescope (FTIR-GT). This was done using a wheel blocking the capture of TE by the FTIR-GT chopper while heating the sample with the CO₂ laser. As the wheel moved, it blocked the CO₂ laser and allowed the spectroscopic system to capture the TEs of RDX. Different periods (or frequencies) of wheel spin and FTIR-GT integration times were evaluated to find dependence with observation distance of the maximum intensity detection, minimum signal-to-noise ratio, CO₂ laser spot size increase, and the induced temperature increment (ΔT).