history of night vision

1. NIGHT VISION
A SHORT HISTORY
APURVA ANAND

2. THE BEGINNING
• The history of night vision devices goes back to just before World War II, when Germany developed
primitive infrared devices, and the Allies followed suit. These “generation zero” technologies amplified
existing light about 1,000
• .By the end of World War II, the German army had equipped approximately 50 Panther tanks, which
saw combat on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. The "Vampir" man-portable system for
infantrymen was being used with Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifles.

3. THE WAR
• Historically, many armies would not fight at night because the confusion, lack of quality on-time
intelligence, and increased communication difficulty made night fighting a very dangerous and very
risky proposition. Only the most highly trained soldiers with a well rehearsed plan could take to the
battlefield at night with any clear chance of success.
• Night vision devices were first used in World War II, and came into wide use during the Vietnam War.
The technology has evolved greatly since their introduction, leading to several "generations" of night
vision equipment with performance increasing and price decreasing.

4. THE FUTURE
• In future, ENVGs may also have super-zoom facilities, allowing a small area of view to be examined in
closer detail, and be able to transfer data seamlessly with other elements of a secure battlefield
network.
• Looking even further ahead, advances in sensor technology such as the super-thin grapheme-based
infrared light sensor recently devised by researchers at the University of Michigan could ultimately see
NVGs looking more like Ray-Bans or even in the form of contact lenses. Night vision still promises to
have a long way to go.