Night Vision Report page 7 of 7

Future Scope

The Army is pushing night-vision technologies into the digital realm. Future night-vision goggles are being designed not just to see better at night but also to allow soldiers to share images of what they see with other soldiers who may be miles away.
Technologists agree that the goal is feasible, but contractors currently working on these next-generation goggles are encountering challenges in meeting the Army’s requirements for power, size and weight.
The technical difficulties may delay Army plans to award a production contract next year. 
Soldiers currently use image intensification. They also employ infrared thermal sensors, which sense temperature differences. Warmer items appear brighter on a display.
The fusion of both technologies would result in night-vision goggles that merge the strengths of image intensification — a clear, sharp green-tinted picture — with the advantages of infrared — the ability to see practically under any environmental condition. Green is the color that the human eye sees most easily.
The combination of the two systems into a single optical device resulted in what the Army calls an “enhanced night vision goggle,” or ENVG.
The current ENVG, however, is analog, and does not pipe data into the soldier’s radio, as the Army wanted.
The Army has awarded several contracts for the development of digital ENVGs. It plans to evaluate the designs in July to see how the technologies have matured from the previous test last year.
Soldiers will test the goggles in a variety of environments, including in urban training facilities and on woodland patrols.
The largest provider of night-vision technology to the military, Roanoke, Va.-based ITT Night Vision, manufactures the ENVG for the Army. Engineers there are developing a digital version.
For the digital ENVG, the company has replaced the standard image intensifier tube with a new digital sensor, the MicroChannel Plate Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor, or MCP-CMOS. The microchannel plate sits inside a vacuum package between the photocathode and the electron-collecting semiconductor array.
The Army believes that by 2014, the digital ENVG-D will be ready for production, says Kang.
The Army’s program executive officer for soldier equipment, Brig. Gen. Peter N. Fuller, says he is confident that contractors can overcome the technical difficulties. But he says he is not surprised by the troubles experienced by ENVG because the technology is such a huge leap from the current systems.
A request for proposals is expected this fall.
According to Fuller, the Army estimates that ENVGs will cost $18,000 apiece.   

References

1. Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate - Fort Belvoir, Virginia
2. Night Vision by Ronald Munson
3. Electronics technology handbook by By Neil Sclater
4. Themal Night Vision Technology by John Eargle
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_vision
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_vision_device
7. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/nightvision3.html
8. http://www.nightvision.com/military/militaryhome.html
9. http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilki...index.html
10. http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilki...index.html
11. http://www.atncorp.com/HowNightVisionWorks
12. http://www.morovision.com/hownightvisionworks.htm
13. http://www.alanaecology.com/acatalog/Introduction_to_ Nightvision.html
14. www.hownightvisionworks.com
15. http://www.morovision.com/hownightvisionworks.htm
16. http://www.photonis.com/nightvision/technology/image_intensifier_glossary
17. http://www.yachtingmagazine.com/article/Heated-Discussions
18. http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2009/October/Pages/FutureNightVisionDevicesMoreThanJustGoggles.aspx