With India’s armed forces still awaiting a new service rifle, it seems that Indian Special Forces are forging on ahead. Indian media outlets have reported that India’s Para (Special Forces) unit have selected the 7.62x51mm FN SCAR-H along with a number of other weapons.

For this week’s Friday Night Lights we will take a look at not just one but three dual tube setups. The RNVG, Sentinel and ANVS goggles. They are very similar to each other and actually are evolutions of each other. You can almost think of them as grandparent, parent and offspring.

The photo that Steve posted 8 years ago was of a NightStalker II mounted onto a Nikon DSLR. The NightStalker II currently in my hands is for Canon cameras. I do not have a Canon DSLR but I do have a Sony A7S mirrorless camera. I was able to mount the NightStalker II onto an adapter that allows Canon lenses to be used on my Sony.

A rather newcomer to the night vision industry, AGM Global Vision has a budget-friendly dual tube night vision goggle called the NVG-50. Actually, it looks a lot like the ARMASIGHT BNVD-51 which was brought under FLIR for a time. The NVG-50 is feature-packed and boasts a 50° FOV all for an affordable price of just around $1,000 for just the housing with glass. Sounds too good to be true. Let’s take a closer look at the NVG-50.

The US Marine Corps has recently undergone a top down doctrinal reevaluation of its future role. As part of these changes in the make up of the Corps have been planned and now a brand new initiative has also been launched – Marine Corps Systems Command’s Program Manager for Infantry Weapons has begun a large-scale modernisation program to increase the lethality of the Marine infantry squad.

Recently this photo has been circulating social media. Assumptions were made that the photo is of a Venezuelan soldier wearing night vision but upon closer inspection, they are a cheap roleplay toy for children. The Venezuelan Army actually uses night vision but these are not it. Will the real Venezuelan night vision please stand up?

At last SHOT Show 2020, SiOnyx unveiled their new Aurora Pro digital night vision camera. If you recall, I reviewed the original Aurora camera a year before that. Well, partially thanks to my mistake in further testing my Aurora, SiOnyx was gracious to replace my broken Aurora for the new Aurora Pro.

B.E. Meyers is introducing a Limited Edition MAWL-C1+ in Olive Drab Green. They are running what they call a “restricted run of a widely requested color“, and it will only be available as long as the current inventory remains.

For a specific end-user that wanted to rule the night, Surefire designed the XC2-IRC. The unit remains unnamed, but they had a requirement for a very compact IR light and IR aiming laser in combination.

The German Bundeswehr (Army) has been training in the northern parts of Norway, near the Arctic Circle.

Have you ever tried to use a laser range finder (LRF) at night? Try it with night vision. The ones made for hunting seem to have coatings that block infrared light making it harder to see through them at night. Well, the US Government had the MARK VII made by Northrop Grumman. It is a glorified laser range finder on steroids. According to sources, it can range out as far as 10,000 meters or 10 kilometers. Thanks to a friend, I got to take a closer look at one.

Recently TFB reported that Hensoldt won the tender for Thermal Sights for the German Army, with their IRV 900 A2 model.

IEA Mil-Optics is a German company supplying premium solutions for Armies and professionals. For instance, they got the order from the German Army as they ordered Night Vision Quad-Eyes. For users of the PVS14 / NT920, Mini14 / NT940 or PVS-1431 and PVS-31 BNVD they have developed Amber filters, which is to ease the use of Night Vision for your eyes.

Pulsar Night Vision recently launched a Firmware update, and now it’s time for upgraded Series 2 versions of their ACCOLADE LRF, HELION and TRAIL LRF products.

It has been a personal goal of mine to get my hands on a Thales LUCIE NVGs. However they are not that common and not normally sold to civilians. Just a couple weeks ago my friend Warren came across someone selling a SIMRAD GN1. While it is not a LUCIE, it functions the same and it looks really cool. So I bought it. Get ready for a visual feast of images.

Just like Leica, Zeiss had chosen this year’s IWA exhibition to release their brand new and company-first Thermal Imaging Cameras.

The Swiss Army has placed an order for almost 10,000 VarioRay LLM laser lights from Rheinmetall.

Mankind’s desire to see in the dark has taken another step in Germany. The German Army has just ordered 368 systems with an option for a total of 402 systems. The supplier is Hensoldt and the product is called IRV 900 A2. Quickly described, it is a thermal sight attachment for sniper rifles and machine guns, and you can find a deeper explanation further down in the article.

The market for thermal imaging seems to be growing and growing, and for the first time, we can show the new products from Leica Sport Optics. Their brand new line is called Leica Calonox. There will be two versions released towards the end of this year. One version is for observation and one will have the possibility to be used as a sight, mounted on your rifle.

SIG Sauer Electro-Optics have launched their new ECHO3, a direct view thermal reflex sight. The ECHO3 will be available in either 1-6x or 2-12x magnification and has SIG Sauer’s Ballistic Data Xchange 2.0 integrated to allow the optic to interface with smartphones to allow reticles and settings to be tweaked. The new thermal sight will begin shipping this spring.

When talking about image intensification (I²) with regards to analog night vision we are talking about the heart of night vision, the Image intensifier I² tube. The I² tubes are what performs the actual magic of amplifying light so we can see in the dark without the use of flashlights.

Huge thanks to @spoonmann8 for cluing me into Netflix’s Night On Earth series. I had been procrastinating watching it. While I occasionally enjoy a nature show once in a while, like the BBC Planet Earth series, nothing about the Night On Earth series jumped out at me until @spoonmann8 told me to watch it because they use color night vision and thermal imaging in the show.

As the sun began to set in the southern Nevada desert, Industry Day at the Range came to a close. The targets were taken down, the firearms stowed and the products started making their way to the SHOT Show floor. Most would call it in, go grab a bite to eat and maybe hit the casino floor after a long day of walking, talking and shooting but the TFB writers. For us, as the sun was setting on Industry Day at the Range, the TFB “Do it In the Dark” machine gun shoot was just about to begin.

For Friday Night Lights I want to start a new ongoing series called Dual Tube Spotlight where we take a look at specific dual tube night vision goggles. I have already gone into some detail about various monocular devices and have spotlighted some interesting dual tube goggles like the PVS-21s. There are a number of dual tube designs even the Chinese BNVD-1431 but now we will spotlight these binocular NVGs and give them the attention they deserve. This week we will take a close look at the AN/PVS-15.

In recent news, the French Army is adopting the THALES O-NYX night vision goggles (NVGs). According to the recent press release they will be getting 3,179 units out of 3,519 that were ordered.

If you recall, I reviewed the SiOnyx Aurora last year. Then last Summer, SiOnyx released their Aurora Sport, a simpler version of the Aurora for a lower introductory price of $399. Well at SHOT Show 2020, We got to see the Augmented Reality SiOnyx Aurora Pro.

Looks like Midwest Industries is getting into the night vision accessories market. To make it easier for the shooter using night vision a taller mount is the best. Refresh yourself with my night vision optic riser article. Midwest Industries night vision tall mount is the right height for use with helmet worn night vision devices.

For our last Friday Night Lights of the year let’s “Focus On Your NVGs.” Pun intended. Most night vision devices have an adjustable front focus. However, for those of you who have looked through helmet-mounted or handheld night vision devices, you will know that they have a very shallow depth of field (DOF). DOF is a camera term. Basically, it means if you focus on something far, everything up close will be out of focus. If you focus on something close up, then everything far away will be out of focus. There are some add-on attachment devices that can help you refocus your NVGs without having to twist the front objective lens as well as increase DOF.

Last month I covered two movies that grossly exaggerated night vision. Hollywood has perpetuated certain myths about night vision. To some, this is as bad as guns making an actual foley noise every time the firearm is handled. We will take a look at some more movies and TV shows and rip apart the scenes in this Hollywood night vision myths part 2.

For this week’s edition of Friday Night Lights, we will take a look at some PVS-14 alternatives. The venerable PVS-14 is like the Glock of the night vision world. It is robust and there are way more out there than you think. However, some people want the Taurus or Smith & Wesson of the night vision world. Not everyone can afford them and some just don’t like Glocks or in this case the PVS-14. In this article, we will be comparing the housings of these PVS-14 Alternatives to the PVS-14. Night vision devices can be thought of like a precision bolt gun. The image intensifier tube is the barreled action. The glass on night vision is your optic on said bolt gun. The housing is the chassis.