BAE wins Army night goggles contract

LEXINGTON, Mass., Aug. 31 (UPI) -- BAE Systems said this week it has won a contract to design and develop new night-vision goggles for the U.S. Army.

The company said it won the contract to create new digitally enhanced night-vision goggle for the U.S. Army’s Enhanced Night Vision Goggle program.

"This next-generation goggle will use digital imagery to improve soldier mobility and situational awareness under all lighting conditions and in the presence of battlefield obscurants," BAE Systems said in a statement Monday.

"The helmet-mounted goggle will digitally combine video imagery from a low-light-level visible sensor and an uncooled long-wave infrared sensor on a single color display located in front of the soldier's eye. This digital technology will provide improved image quality and will enable imagery to be shared among soldiers, improving platoon effectiveness," the company said.

“This program will demonstrate the maturity and effectiveness of digital fusion technology and its benefit to the war fighter,” said Margaret Kohin, Advanced Systems program director for BAE Systems in Lexington, Mass. “Applying innovative technology to help our soldiers complete their missions is an objective BAE Systems stands behind every day.”

BAE Systems said the contract would be administered by the Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Va.

"BAE Systems will incorporate its uncooled MicroIR microbolometer sensor technology in the enhanced goggle. This technology also is used in the thermal weapon sights the company supplies to the Army. BAE Systems has two microbolometer foundries and has delivered more than 50,000 microbolometer-based imagers to date," the company said.