United States of America

This page details all information about night vision specific to the U.S.A..

Manufacturers

• Elbit Systems of America
• L3Harris
• ITT Industries

Image Intensifiers

The U.S. military has an ongoing line of procurement contracts for image intensifiers called Omnibus (or Omni for short).

Devices

Over the decades, the U.S. military has issued many different night vision devices for different roles.

Night vision devices are designated by the prefix AN/PVS (which translates to Army/Navy Portable Visual Search) followed by a dash and a number.

A list of the most noteworthy devices includes:

• AN/PVS-5
• AN/PVS-7
• AN/PVS-14
• AN/PVS-15
• AN/PVS-18
• AN/PVS-21
• AN/PVS-23
• AN/PVS-24
• AN/PVS-27
• AN/PVS-31

Export

The export of night vision equipment is controlled in accordance with the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regime, which is defined in Title 22 in the Code of Federal Regulations Part 120-130.

ITAR defines the United States Munitions List (USML) of controlled items grouped by category.

Among others, category XII contains devices and weapon sights using image intensifiers with a sensitivity over 350 μA/lm and Gen. 3 image intensifiers (or later).

Exporting ITAR controlled equipment & information without adequate permission is a punishable crime.

Notes

• Restricted devices and image intensifiers still regularly find their way into the international market through
  • rare occurrences of companies exporting legally
  • illegal smuggling
• In most countries, trading and owning ITAR controlled equipment is legal.
• Equipment imported to the U.S. might not be able to be exported again if it falls under ITAR.
• Some items are easier to obtain an exporting license for, while others (like non-limited FOM image intensifiers) are unobtainable for civilian use.
• International government agencies and search and rescue organizations are known to legally obtain otherwise restricted equipment from the U.S.
• It seems like exceptions have been made for Gen. 3 image intensifiers with low FOM.