Night Vision Goggles Are Evolving

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] In 2013, a meaningful export was achieved by a domestic small and medium-sized defense company. The monocular night vision device independently developed was exported to Malaysia for the first time. Since it was the first export after being certified with the DQ mark awarded by the Defense Technology Quality Institute for excellent defense products, it was the beginning of K-defense. At that time, the industry paid attention to the fact that a small and medium-sized company entered the export market, which was centered on large corporations. Recently, I visited the headquarters in Incheon to see the evolution of optical equipment by EOSYSTEM, the export protagonist.

Upon entering the first floor of the headquarters, advanced optical equipment was displayed from the entrance, allowing a glance at the development history. Optical equipment refers to night vision devices that enable viewing targets at night. In movies, special forces infiltrate enemy lines and use lenses mounted on helmets to see the dark front, which appear with a green background.

Night vision devices are broadly divided into thermal imaging devices and night vision goggles. Thermal imaging devices use thermal detectors to convert the temperature difference between objects and the background into images. On the other hand, night vision goggles amplify the brightness of faint light reflected from objects to a level visible to the human eye using an image intensifier tube. Each has its pros and cons. Thermal imaging devices only show black and white images, making it difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. They also cannot penetrate glass windows. Night vision goggles can distinguish friend from foe but are practically useless in pitch darkness.

To see the lenses used in the equipment, I went up to the production room on the second floor of the main building. Entry to the production room required wearing white gowns and changing shoes. A company official explained that dust is the most dangerous enemy in the lens processing area.

To complete the lenses inserted into the equipment, nine steps must be followed. First, when raw materials arrive, they are processed into lens molds. The lens is placed on a flat marble surface and ground by spinning it around. The lens, which looked like plastic, revealed its transparent form only after the polishing process was completed.

Factory Manager Ha Sang-seon said, "For lenses used during the day and in thermal imaging devices at night, the polishing process usually takes 15 days."

In the corridor where I moved to see the coating process, an air shower room was installed to remove dust from clothing. The claim that all process lines have low dust was evident. The coating process was delicate. Even ordinary glass does not transmit 100% of light. Coating is essential. This process reduces reflectivity and increases transmittance.

The completed lenses were moved to the inspection room. The lenses were placed inside a machine about 4 meters long, and the flatness was measured using laser wavelengths. If there were any bumps or distorted angles, the focal length would change, meaning the lens would fail to function properly.

A company official explained that night vision goggles have evolved significantly compared to the past. Our military has used monocular night vision goggles that allow soldiers to see forward with only one eye. There are drawbacks. Just as ordinary people’s pupils shrink when suddenly exposed to bright light after watching a movie in a theater, soldiers relying only on thermal imaging devices could not see ahead when they took their eyes off the device.

However, binocular night vision goggles with automatic brightness adjustment have been developed. Soldiers can now observe using both eyes with binocular night vision goggles. The forward field of view has also widened. When wearing binocular night vision goggles, the forward field of view expands from 12° to 40°. Additionally, terrain features such as undulations, height, and elevation differences are seen as they are in reality. This allows accurate assessment of the forward environment.

EOSYSTEM’s binocular goggles are lighter and have significantly improved battery operation time compared to American products. This was the reason they attracted worldwide attention at the Army-Industry Exhibition (AUSA) held in the U.S. mainland in October 2021.

EOSYSTEM plans to develop an augmented composite night vision device (ANVG) that integrates infrared equipment with binocular goggles. ANVG will complement the weaknesses of thermal imaging devices and night vision goggles, enabling distinction between friend and foe in any environment.

A company official said, "Although the export of ANVG assets is banned in the U.S., if developed domestically, it can play a key role in defense exports," adding, "It will also be supplied to our military to maximize combat power."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.