Future soldier Night-vision quest
Nato members and partners across Europe are looking to improve their night-vision capabilities to enhance situational awareness during night- time operations. Andrea Valentino
chats with Major Jari Tiilikka from the Finnish Defence Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Rune Nesland-Steinor of the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency, to understand why their location and environment means the Nordics have long relied on night vision, how new developments are improving operations – and what the rise of radical new augmented reality technology means for the discipline as a whole.
F
or the Finns, night-time was a friend. With skis on their feet and Mosin Nagant rifles at their backs, they stalked the invaders across those endless December nights, their shots ricocheting off the bark of the birch trees and into the bodies of their foes. The Russians, unable to see their tormentors, wasted time and bullets, firing aimlessly into the mire, even as their opponents slipped away unharmed before returning for yet another raid. Within the space of a single month, from December 1940, these tactics helped destroy an entire Soviet division, its political commissars tearing their insignia from their uniforms as they fled. The Winter War, the Soviet Union’s agonising invasion of Finland, was an object lesson in how the hours of darkness can be as valuable to a soldier as artillery or tanks. It’s a lesson officers and men have remembered ever since, from the Japanese in the
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Pacific to the Taliban in Afghanistan. And since the 1940s, of course, fighting by moonlight has become even more effective – thanks largely to the awesome power of night-vision goggles. First popularised in the 1960s, these devices are now commonly used by sophisticated Nato armies and ragtag militias alike. Yet, even as night vision has transformed global warfare – and will soon represent a market worth over $9bn – there’s plenty of space for improvement. From tiring users to the difficulty of using them in certain weather conditions, goggles can sometimes be inappropriate for some operations. However, if the Finns proved themselves to be consummate night-time fighters in the past century, they’re now developing the kit to flourish in this one too. Dovetailing new goggles with other technologies, helping troops keep in touch with their weapons
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
Finnish Defence Forces
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