| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
There are several generations of night vision (NV) devices (NVD) in use today. this article sheds s light on technology used and innovation on the market.
During the Cold War, as a young tank officer, I (John Antal) was trained to move and fight my tanks at night. During my first assignment to Germany in 1978, we illuminated targets at the tank firing range at Grafenwoehr, using mortar and artillery flares. We also had powerful whitelight and "pink-light" IR searchlights mounted on each tank to "turn night into day." The passive IR sights integrated into the fire control system of an M60A1 tank displayed fuzzy outlines of targets that were illuminated by the IR searchlights. As new developments in NV devices occurred, we were fielded better tanks with better NV equipment. In my four-year tour in Germany, the NV systems on my tanks evolved from IR searchlights to passive sights that did not require illumination by searchlights. By the time I commanded a tank company at the end of my tour of duty, my "newer" M60A3 tanks were equipped with the latest thermal
imaging systems and we engaged targets rapidly and accurately in total darkness. This was a remarkable transformation in fighting capability and emblematic of the rapid technological progression in the field of NV devices.
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