Night vision technology in military equipment.

December 7, 2021

 

Night vision technology has made a real breakthrough in the art of military affairs, giving undoubted advantages over the enemy. For a long time, the victory belonged to those who had a monopoly on this technology. But, brilliant ideas cannot remain in isolation for a long time. They require improvement and new areas of application. In the modern world, technology has approached fantastic boundaries that scientists of the past could only dream of. This article will look at the history of the origin, development, and prospects of night vision technology in military equipment.

The history of the use of technology on military vehicles.

Back in 1929, the Hungarian physicist Kalman Tihanyi invented in Great Britain an infrared-sensitive electronic television camera for air defense. The first to use night vision devices were the Germans in 1939. They installed them on tanks, and by 1945 their number had reached 50. In parallel, a more compact device was developed for installation on assault rifles. By the end of the war, there were 44 weapons with night vision devices. An experienced Russian device called PAU-2 was field-tested in 1942. And in the 1960s, its multiple modifications appeared. The first American night vision devices, the so-called 1st generation, were used during the Vietnam War. They were more advanced than Gen 0, but required bright moonlit nights and were very cumbersome. The Gen 2 generation appeared in the 1970s. It could work in low starlight and improved the peripheral image by eliminating the fisheye effect. The Gen3 night vision systems, developed in the late 1980s, retained the Generation II MCP but used a photocathode made of gallium arsenide, further improving image resolution. Its significant disadvantage was its sensitivity to artificial light sources. Generation 3+ was developed in 2000 and featured instant adaptation to changes in light levels and very high sensitivity, which allows you to work in the feeble light. Despite the improvement in the picture quality, the device became more energy-consuming, and the operating time without recharging decreased.

Night vision technology brief.

Night vision technology is based on the ability of sensitive lens alloys to absorb the faint reflections of light reflected from the surfaces of objects and transmit them to the photocathode. The photocathode releases electrons that are directed towards the microchannel plate. Each electron provokes the release of additional electrons from the microchannel plate. The higher voltage phosphor screen attracts them. When electrons hit the surface of the phosphor, they start the release of photons of light, which we can observe on the screen of a night vision device.

Modern application of technology.

In the modern world, all efforts are aimed at reducing the size of the pixel image. By shrinking the screen, we can reduce the weight and size of the device itself and lower power consumption. In addition, this gives an increase in sensor resolution and an increase in the detection range. Thanks to this technology, it has become possible to install night vision devices on uncrewed aerial vehicles and drones. Night vision technology is used not only by the military but has proven itself well in navigation and astronomy. It has found wide application in developing systems for the safe movement of vehicles, including uncrewed robotic cars. Night vision is ubiquitous in the navigation system of aircraft, helicopters, and ships. To ensure safety, night vision devices are used by both security agencies and the public. The dimensions of the devices are such that they can be installed in surveillance cameras and mobile phones. The technology is used in medicine to process information during a person's sleep. Night vision optics are loved by wildlife enthusiasts, photographers, rangers, hunters, and airsoft players. But the most significant number of users still comes from the rescue services, the police, and the army.

Prospects for the application of technology.

The prospect of improvement is aimed at the symbiosis of night vision devices with thermal imaging systems. This new equipment will be combined with authentic images and supplemented with data from the Internet. Augmented reality will be superimposed on the data of the thermal imager, night vision device and will not be tied directly to the object of study. For example, let's take a situation where the camera is mounted on the sight of a weapon. The data can be fed into a helmet with a fighter's mask and projected onto an internal screen in front of the eyes. This will allow you to shoot from around the corner without direct aiming. The screen displays data from the thermal imager, night vision device, and data from the command post, plus data from the Internet. In front of the fighter, a picture of the battle can be deployed, with the exchange of data between drones, command, and reconnaissance groups. Note that night vision devices have lost half of their volume and mass in recent years of improvement. But the size reduction is impossible ad infinitum. Scientists insist on a 10-pixel boundary line, after which the technology becomes meaningless. Technology change is just around the corner, and research is in full swing. The University of Michigan is working on contact lenses containing a layer of graphene sensitive to light. In the future, they should replace bulky night-vision goggles. While the prototype absorbs 2.3 percent of the morning, the military shows great interest in the project. Graphene technology has a very bright future and could spread to ordinary citizens, for example, in the form of coating the windshields of cars for safe movement.

There is no doubt that we will have exciting prospects for the development of night vision technology. Progress is so fast that the future technologies, which we read in childhood, will become our daily routine tomorrow. It looks like we'll be seeing some more great new developments soon.