I don’t believe the minimums are public information at the moment, so I don’t believe we can share. IIRC, tubes are pretty standard F9415s, thin filmed WP with manual gain extension, performance pretty much within what you could get with a YH, though I’m not sure if they’re using a different P/N / suffix.
Beyond that, the F5032s are fine, nothing really special to write home about.
Kind of expensive for the performance level and only available as finished goods (complete systems) from Elbit, but cheaper per system than the BNVD, hence why it was selected. No one is attempting to claim that the SBNVG is superior in performance (at least in terms of the I2 component) than the L3Harris BNVD and other UF WP systems, but it’s still a significant upgrade from aging legacy AN/PVS-14 green filmed monocular systems.
The AN/PVS-31A UF WP BNVD remains the standard USSOCOM goggle and to my knowledge will continue to be issued to/within MARSOC, the SBNVG will be a conventional Marine Corps infantry system.
The housing design is Greek, designed by Theon who is somewhat of a player in Euro markets, proprietary battery pack design.
The real “news” as far as the SBNVG goes is less about the F5032 specifically and more about the continued movement/momentum towards:
-Binocular systems for ground combat operations
- I2/Thermal Fusion
- Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities
~Augee