!

I don't know, but I've been wearing them to bed under my pajamas for about the past week.

We were issued them when I was in DEU. Like a second skin they were!

These you bastages

Well, at $12,000 a copy for something in the footprint of a PVS14 it's going to be a long damned time. It took a long time to afford NVD's for our soldiers, and just about as long for our brass to understand how critical these are in modern battle. Remember that current NVD's are strapped to a soldier's ass/thigh while he jumps in and out of foxholes all day long and wipes lenses clean after a sandstorm-for as durable as they are, they are still electrooptical devices...

I suspect they will be phased in like NVD's are. High-Speed outfits get them first, then they will be handed down to regular joes (like 1 per squad), then handed down to the guard once the full timers have what they need. A lot of people don't know it, but there are Guard Units still using the PVS5 dual-tube goggle... It's probably fair to say that the new top of the line NVD's we buy as civvies are better than 90% of what the military has accumulated in the last 15 years.

Personally, if I could get a PVS14 in a thermal configuration for say, $5,000 I'd do it and sleep real well that night.

Dave

Both DRS Technologies and Kollsman have both been awarded contracts by the Marines to build Thermal Imaging Binoculars. Kollsman's contract could produce up to 5000 units and DRS has one for in excess of 3800 systems. While not as handy as a unit that mounts onto your helmet, a pair of thermal binos would still go a long way.

I can only imagine the good things that boots can use them for.  God knows they've changed the way alot of fire service tasks are preformed.

My company was given a small number of small arm thermal sights. Mount them on an M240/249/M2 or even an M-4 carbine if you want.

They are hugely expensive, increase the weight of the rifle by loads, and suck batteries. Pretty good kit though.

NTM

Quoted: My company was given a small number of small arm thermal sights. Mount them on an M240/249/M2 or even an M-4 carbine if you want. They are hugely expensive, increase the weight of the rifle by loads, and suck batteries. Pretty good kit though. NTM

How heavy are they?

Our latest helmet mounted ones weigh less than a pound (guessing) and last for hours on end with a couple of AAs.  And they're not mil-spec rugged, they do survive fires without any problems.

Quoted: How heavy are they? Our latest helmet mounted ones weigh less than a pound (guessing) and last for hours on end with a couple of AAs.  And they're not mil-spec rugged, they do survive fires without any problems.

Found 'em. PAS-13s. We had MWTSs, they clocked in at about 5lbs. There are lighter, smaller verions (3lbs) but they're not as effective. About three years old now, I guess it stands to reason smaller ones would be available. Then again, as a Guard tanker, a PAS-13 is a pretty high-speed accessory considering usually I'd consider thermals to be vehicle-borne devices.



NTM

The problem is battery power. Batteries are too heavy/big relative to their runtime. Once the battery problem is licked, you'll see them in huge numbers. Look at the cel phone biz as an example of what happens when the battery gets small/light enough.

Quoted: A lot of people don't know it, but there are Guard Units still using the PVS5 dual-tube goggle... It's probably fair to say that the new top of the line NVD's we buy as civvies are better than 90% of what the military has accumulated in the last 15 years.

True, true. We hand receipted our 7B's to a unit going overseas and we got in trade a bunch of  5's. Just had to look at those and laugh. Took them out of the boxes and shook our heads. Good thing we never had to use them, even in a training environment. Seems that stuff like that should just be DXd in favor of newer stuff ASAP.

I like Thermal. Thermal is so much fun... try tracking a target and seeing deer running across the field at the same time. lol.

We've got a few thermals, all for crew served/SAWs. I get one
Mostly it has to do with a unit's budget, they can buy as many as they want, if they can afford them.

Quoted: I suspect they will be phased in like NVD's are. High-Speed outfits get them first, then they will be handed down to regular joes (like 1 per squad), then handed down to the guard once the full timers have what they need.

And then after everyone else has had their turn with them, the Marines will get them... much like everything else. j/k

Yeah, I'd say it's always about money. Money and availability. Kind of like the new ACU's or M4's. The day they signed off on it's not like every troop in the Army magically has them the next day. Everything in the .mil is a gradual process.

Specialy equipment like NODs and Thermals take even longer. I'm sure in perfect world where everything wasn't Bush's fault there would be this monter pile of cash that would equip our troops with every possible piece of equipment that woud make them as effective as possible... of course you still have to factor in the knucklehead variable. Give a guy all this fancy equipment and he still can't shoot straight.