Comments on: Army Optic Combines Heat, Light for Better Sight

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:43:12 +0000

Comparing the new night vision tech to the M60 era tech is like comparing RayBan’s to whale bone snow goggles. Just since I have come into the military (1979) we have greatly improved our technology. We just had the Infantry Confrence here at Ft. Benning and the stuff that is coming down the pike is pretty exciting. Yes there are answers to the battery problem like field rechargers and longer life batteries. But, having said that we are still carrying 100 lbs of lightweight/highspeed army equipment. How about a robotic mule for each soldier ;)

By: rick

rick — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:59:47 +0000

When I was on active duty, our M60’s were equipped with the tank thermal site (TTS), and I remember on more than one occasion not being able to shoot down range because we couldn’t see 20 ft in the fog. The laser range finder would display all eights, and the site would show nothing — couldn’t even see our other tanks that were forty to a 100 meters away. So, unless they’ve done something that allows light to travel around or through particles, a dense particle environment (dust/sand storm included, I would guess) will still render you sightless.

By: j house

j house — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:28:52 +0000

Agree is it about time thermal was combined with an intensifier to provide the soldier with better image resolution.It has taken a while to figure out how to put this in a small, lightweight package (if you consider wearing a kilo on your head is lw).
Pretty soon, they will begin to need an extra grunt just to carry around all of those batteries. Someone needs to come up with a better energy supply unit that can re-charge all of these batteries they have to carry in the field.

By: BT

BT — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:42:15 +0000

All I have to say is about time. Lightweight thermal goggles/scopes have been on the market for quite a while. These are not cheap though, but everyone else, even the enemy, now has low light goggles. No excuse for US soldiers to get ambushed by insurgents hiding in the brush, day or night.

By: Takeo

Takeo — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:54:06 +0000

Let the Borg jokes begin.…

By: Foreign.Boy

Foreign.Boy — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:07:29 +0000

Hey…
So they are giving the new nightvision to the FCS guys? So they can turn around and say how effective FCS is… but they’ve already upgraded the soldiers optics!
I’m just saying.. if you guys interview a soldier using FCS… ask him how much of the system was helped by his new heat-night vision.

By: alex

alex — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:57:50 +0000

That headline is pretty idiotic you realize? Thermal optics use “light” just like any other optics. Their sensors just absorb at a different frequency.