Before night vision, darkness belonged to the enemy. After it, darkness belonged to whoever had the technology — and for two decades, that was exclusively American special operations forces. The tactical advantage it created was so significant that operators describe the first time they put on the goggles as the moment they understood what it meant to be genuinely lethal.
2026/08/12
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"The Night Vision Technology That Changed War Forever — And the Men Who Tested It With Their Lives"
The development and fielding of night vision technology to U.S. special operations forces in the 1980s produced one of the most significant tactical asymmetries in the history of modern warfare.
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The AN/PVS-7 night vision goggle — the first generation widely fielded to special operations — was heavy, had a limited field of view, and required an adjustment period during which depth perception was significantly degraded.
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