By Getmilitaryphotos @Adobestock.com
The U.S. Army’s new all-weather night vision goggles will help soldiers see at night, through vegetation, smoke, and even help distinguish friend from foe. The US Army placed two orders totaling $97 million for BAE Systems’ ENVGIII/FWS-I integrated thermal/night vision goggles and weapons sight system.
The U.S. Army currently uses two systems, night vision goggles for situational awareness, and a thermal weapons sight for targeting. Soldiers need to switch between the two which greatly impacts engagement time.
With BAE’s new state-of-the-art ENVGIII/FWS-I, the two features are integrated, eliminating the need to switch between night vision and thermal sights. This advancement greatly improves a soldier’s engagement time. The new weapon sight system also allows soldiers to target enemies in new ways, such as; without shouldering the rifle, around corners, and without detection.
The U.S. Army has placed two orders totaling $97 million for BAE Systems to provide new night vision goggles and thermal weapon sights, which together will enable soldiers to rapidly and covertly acquire targets in all weather and lighting conditions. The orders are part of a previously announced five-year contract for the Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle III and Family of Weapon Sight-Individual (ENVG III/FWS-I) program.
“Aiming to provide the most technically advanced and lightweight solution possible, our goggles allow soldiers to quickly detect and engage targets for a tactical edge,” said Marc Casseres, director of Precision Guidance and Sensing Solutions at BAE Systems. “When fully integrated with the FWS-I weapon sight, the combined solution provides superior imagery and a target acquisition capability that can greatly increase mission success and survivability.”
The BAE Systems-developed ENVG III/FWS-I solution features a Rapid Target Acquisition (RTA) Module to greatly reduce target engagement time. The innovative RTA solution uses a wireless connection to transmit the weapon sight’s aim point and surrounding imagery directly into the soldier’s goggle. This enables soldiers to quickly locate and engage targets from any carry position, without needing to shoulder the weapon. This capability also allows soldiers to accurately engage targets while still maintaining full cover for increased survivability.
Work on ENVG III/FWS-I program will be conducted at BAE Systems’ facilities in Lexington, Massachusetts, and Austin, Texas.
Source: B.A.E Systems
Steve Schneider
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