Marines looking for new NVG's...

Attachment 32222

Marines hunt for new thermal and night vision goggles for grunts

The Marine Corps is looking to equip infantry Marines with binocular goggles capable of both night vision and thermal imaging.

It’s the latest development of the Marine Corps revamping the infantry with new equipment as it begins to operate in environments once in the purview of elite special operations forces.

In late December, Marine Corps Systems Command submitted a request for information, “to gain a better understanding” of the available systems, wanted for “observation, target acquisition and target engagement in low light and limited visibility conditions.”

“We’re seeking a combined image intensification and thermal capability that can be helmet-mounted and/o‎r hand-held,” Barbara Hamby, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Systems Command, told Marine Corps Times.

The devices will be fielded to Marine fire teams, and while the Corps wants a helmet-mounted device, it also is looking at a hand-held system and other configurations that meet the Corps’ requirement.

The Marine Corps already fields a similar device, called the BNVG II, to its explosive ordnance disposal and reconnaissance Marines, Hamby explained.

Sometimes dreams do come true.

I used NVG-7s during Desert Storm. Pretty much state of the art at the time. Beat the hell out of what was available in Vietnam. But now, the 7s are junk compared to what they have in Iraq/Afghan now. I would have loved to have a NV/Thermal combo in the Storm. We did have thermals, but they were separate units and meant to be in fixed positions (and we only had two of them). Hope they can get them.

The only imaging I can remember in Nam was when Artillery shot flares for us.....only thing was it lit us up too.

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Originally Posted by Mongoose

The only imaging I can remember in Nam was when Artillery shot flares for us.....only thing was it lit us up too.

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I never used NVGs in Nam. I know some of the perimeter towers had them, the big ones mounted on machine guns. Mostly, 81mm mortars fired flares periodically throughout the night.

One nice thing about the 7s we had in the Storm was the IR light mounted on it. You could use it as a flashlight or a reading light in a really dark location. The trick was to make sure you turned it off when not needed. We called them, "insert bullet here" lights. I'm pretty sure the current models have the IR lights too.

Unfortunately for me, I worked nights almost the whole time I was in the sandbox, so I wore NVGs a lot to drive and used them to read a lot (with and without the IR light). So when I got back to the world, I had to get reading glasses almost immediately. The eye doc said I might have been able to get away with no reading glasses for a few more years had I not used the NVGs so much.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that there were NVG's in Vietnam, there were only Starlight Scopes.

That was a heavy 6 pound Piece of crap, it was good only for a defensive perimiter not patrols, I got stuck with one for a couple of days and passed it off rather quickly...

There were also NOD's, Night Observation Device that was mounted on tripods and about twice the size of starlight..

We got the first individual grunt wearable NVG's around 1976-7.. They also had the ir built into them for lack of ambient light.

One of my sons once asked me what my experience would have been like if we had had night vision in the Nam. I thought for a few minutes and then I remember telling him, with that dependency, how would I have "FELT" what was behind me.

I'm sure with night vision I would never have developed my senses to such a high degree. You play the cards you're dealt.

True Russ....we relied on guts, common sense, and experience.

New Fancy thermoScope on“STONER 63A”