No more fuzzy green night vision!
I wonder if this would really take off in the military, though. Can’t think of a reason why not.
I want affordable night vision for coyote eradication. Where to buy?
I wonder how much effective intensification they sacrifice by doing that. If a NVG can amplify light 100 000 times, that using normal colors costs the equivalent of 50 000 times and you need less than 50 000 amplification to see adequately, it could be worth it.
Electro-optics is going to get interesting in the next few decades. Soldiers will be bragging about their iHelmets and iScopes more than their guns.
The night vision goggles used in the bin laden raid cost over $60,000 each.
How much does a gun cost? $1000?
Acme.
Their version uses ultrabright LEDS to light up the surroundings while closing shutters over your eyes, blocking your view of the approaching boulder previously launched into orbit from the Acme Boulder Catapult.
Some of it depends on how they achieve the effect and what else they give up. More lifelike isn’t necessarily better either. At least by the manual the primary channel on the Abrams, even during daylight, was the thermal sight. It’s just harder to camouflage small differences in temperature than it is color. That advantage might go away once AI systems with strong image recognition get implemented.
For infantry, there’s a real issue with how the system works with optics mounted on small arms. Presumably, the new system makes infrard lasers for pointing, targeting, and aiming obsolete. Typically NVGs interfere with normal hold and cheek weld so the form factor might interfere with aiming even if the optics still work with the new system. Optics that mount on crew served weapons, like the M240B, lead back to the same potential trade off of losing thermal target recognition advanatges to see more natural images.
The devil is in the details.