The History of Night Goggles

During the Vietnam War, the battle plan was extremely new for the American soldiers that went and fought there. The Vietnamese used their terrain to get advantage over the Americans who are not yet adapted to the place. They hide from the forest and launch ambushes, the Americans really had a hard time fighting against the enemies. That tactics that the Vietnamese made was then called the Guerilla Warfare.

The Edge in Night Battles: Night Goggles

One of the strategies of the enemy was to have a sneak attack during night time. It is obvious that the Vietnamese are much more adapted since it was their country. Many lives were lost, and somehow they must find a way to have equipment suitable for night battles. And thus, the Night Goggles were invented. Though the concept of night vision started as early as the Second World War, it was not until the Vietnam War that it was fully invented. The creation of Night Goggles has made a dramatic effect when it comes to night battles. Those who do not possess this “eyes” in the night were clearly being dominated by those who have, therefore winning the battle.

The Types of Night Goggles

After the war that made way for the creation of night goggles, further development of the device has been made for other uses. There are now five generations of this night goggles. Here are list of the generations.

1.  Generation 0 – the first practical commercial night vision device intended for civilian use.
2. Generation 1 – introduced during the Vietnam War that relies on ambient light instead of infrared light source. This requires moonlight as its major light source.
3. Generation 2 – this has improved image-intensifier resulting in a highly defined image.
4. Generation 3 – has a micro –channel plate (MCP) like in Gen II but has additional upgrade that increases image resolution.
5. Omnibus-VII – differs to Gen III in two ways. First it has an automated gated power supply system allowing the Night Goggles to instantly adapt to changing light. The other one is the removal or thinning of the ion barrier resulting to reduced noise.

The Next Step for Night Goggles

There are many inventions after the making of these night goggles, and today’s technology has made it so extreme that almost any concept will be done. The United States Air Force is already experimenting with the use of Panoramic Night Goggles in which the view of the user is doubled to almost 95 degrees. This is by using four 16 mm intensifier tubes rather than the two 18 mm tubes. An innovation on the thermal and infrared scanning is also being considered so it can improve the quality and accuracy of the device.