United States of America

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

Retailers

• TNVC
• Nightvisionguys
• Steele Industries

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 using the Joint Electronics Type Designation Automated System (JETDAS) as defined by the Department of Defense.

Accordingly, devices developed for ground forces use the prefix AN/PVS (Army/Navy Portable Visual Search), while devices developed for aviation use the prefix AN/AVS (Army/Navy Piloted Aircraft Visual Search).

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
• AN/AVS-6
• AN/AVS-9

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

• ITAR only applies in the United States, which means ITAR controlled items that are already outside of the U.S.A. are not subject to any additional restrictions.
• Items imported to the U.S. might not be able to be exported again if they fall under ITAR.
• ITAR is not absolute.
  • For some items that fall under ITAR it is possible to obtain export permission as a civilian (e.g. housings not used by the military)
  • Government agencies and search and rescue organizations can obtain export permissions for otherwise strictly controlled items