Night Optics to provide 2,000 monocular military night-vision viewing devices for Jordanian military
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., 26 March 2015. U.S. Army night-vision experts needed low-light vision equipment for the Jordanian armed forces. They found their solution from Night Optics Inc. in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., awarded an $8.8 million contract to Night Optics last week to provide 2,000 PVS-14 night-vision monoculars for the Jordanian military under foreign military sales.
Internally, Night Optics refers to the PVS-14 military night-vision device as the Sentry 14 night-vision monocular, which is designed to help infantry warfighters navigate in difficult terrain in extremely low-light conditions.
Infantry warfighters can use the Sentry 14 electro-optical device as a hand-held or hands-free single eye goggle, or as a night-vision weapon system when coupled to a daytime close quarters battle sight.
User controls include a three-position switch consisting of off/on, momentary, and constant infrared viewing. The system’s Generation 3 or Generation 2 image tube has automatic brightness control and is protected by automated sensors that shut off the unit within seconds if accidentally exposed to bright light.
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Electronics turn off the Sentry 14 when removed from the head or helmet mount or when shifted into to the up position. The night-vision device is suited for confined as and open spaces.
The Sentry 14 comes standard with 1X magnification, and has options for 3X, 4X, or 5X magnification. It's 26-millimeter lens offers a 40-degree field of view at 1,000 yards, and can focus as closely as 10 inches.
Users can detect targets at 1,148 feet, and recognize different targets at 984 feet. The unit is waterproof to 66 feet, can be adapted to cameras, has an infrared illuminator, and runs for as long as 40 hours on one AA battery. The Sentry 14 measures 4.5 by 2.25 by 2 inches, weighs 13.8 ounces, and operates in temperatures from -40 to 50 degrees Celsius.
On this contract Night Optics will do the work in Huntington Beach, Calif., and should be finished by this August. For more information contact Night Optics online at www.nightoptics.com, or the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground at www.acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-apg.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
