Brandon's Blog

The GPNVG-18       The GPNVG-18, or Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggle, is the first panoramic night vision device ever created and issued to ground forces. Panoramic night vision does exactly what it says, that being a greater field of view in the sides at about 97 degrees for these goggles, up from the 40 degrees with conventional devices. They are manufactured by L3Harris Technologies as most night vision seems to be, at least in America. These were designed originally for use by DEVGRU, commonly known as SEAL Team Six, and the U.S. Army's Delta Force units, the former of which made these famous in their prolific use in the Osama Bin Laden raid in 2011.     The tubes for these are  18mm MX-10160 of which there are four of. They are set up as two sets of two, and cannot be independently operated, i.e. one pair cannot be flipped up with the other remaining down. They come in two different types from the factory, one being an ANVIS ball detent mount and ...

 The PVS-1531 BNVD     The PVS-1531s are binocular night vision goggles manufactures by L3Harris Technologies. They are very similar to the AN/PVS-31As that the previous post was about. They are effectively the same device with minor changes to reduce their cost as compared to the 31A devices. They were done under contract for certain military units who wished for specific changes to suite their mission needs better than the 31As.               The primary changes are the inclusion of an infrared illuminator for allowing the                user to generate their own infrared light when the ambient light is too dim to                               effectively see. This is important because these devices aren't entirely magic as they                are real...

The PVS-31 BNVD Preface: Kind of an odd blog, but I guarantee nobody else is doing one on this subject.     The AN/ PVS-31As are binocular, i.e. two image tubes, night vision goggles .  Designed by L3Harris Technologies for USSOCOM, i.e. American special forces. They represent some of the most up to date forms of individual use night vision there is, having been used for many years now, and only recently being replaced by newer designs.                      They have a minimum figure of merit, or FOM rating, of 2376 which is the measurement of the tube clarity and quality. They have a field of view of 40 degrees total, which is the upside of binocular night vision. While still inferior to the 97 degree field of view on the L3Harris GPNVG-18 quad tube night vision, the BNVD AN/PVS-31A is one of the gold standards in lightweight, reliable, and proven night vision devices. The tube used is t he  18mm MX-11...