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Army boosts buy of new night-vision goggle

The Army recently awarded a $43 million contract to ITT Corporation for another 3,600 of the service’s new Enhanced Night Vision Goggle.

Program Executive Office Soldier began fielding the new AN/PSQ-20 ENVG at the beginning of the year. It does the jobs of both the current issue PVS14 NVG and the AN/PAS13 Light Weapon Thermal Sight, and weighs about a pound less than the two systems combined.

The device allows soldiers to see in any environment, including places without starlight, such as inside caves or in the middle of a dust storm, PEO Soldier officials have said.

It does this by allowing the soldier to use the image intensification of an NVG and the heat-sensing, forward-looking infrared of a thermal imager at the same time, Army officials said.

The thermal portion of the ENVG has three modes that show the outline of a person, only the exposed heat sources such as the face, or the entire heat signature. It can also be operated in white thermal for nighttime or black thermal for daytime use.

The ENVG, which includes a new helmet mount and four AA batteries in a separate pack, weighs about 2 pounds.

The PVS14, which runs on one AA battery, weighs 1.25 pounds. Selected soldiers also carry the AN/PAS13, which runs on four lithium AAs and weighs 1.9 pounds.

The ENVG mounts on the front of the helmet and the separate battery pack mounts on the back, making it more ergonomic, Army officials said. The battery pack provides 15 hours of use time — that’s 7.5 hours of image-intensifying technology combined with the thermal capability and 7.5 hours of straight image intensification.

Despite the advancement in technology, the ENVG won’t replace every PVS14, which is still “state-of-the-art” night vision, Army officials said. Instead, the ENVG will go to soldiers in leadership positions in brigade combat teams.

So far, the Army has fielded 1,178 ENVGs, PEO Soldier spokesman Adam Warfield said.

Army officials have been tight-lipped about how many ENVGs the service intends to buy. The Army awarded a contract to ITT Industries Night Vision in April 2005, potentially worth $560 million.

In addition to the 3,600 ENVGs, this follow-on contract, for $43 million, will include spare parts, system warranty, and other logistical support such as technical manuals and training support, Army spokesman Maj. Jimmie Cummings said.