CRANE, Ind. - U.S. Navy electro-optics experts needed wide-field-of-view, night-vision goggles to enable sailors, Seabees, Special Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Force personnel to see more clearly at night. They found their optimal solution at electro-optical technology company Kent Optronics Inc. in Hopewell Junction, N.Y.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind., announced a $47.6 million research contract to Kent Optronics for wide-field-of-view, night-vision systems, retrofits, and data as part of the electro-optics project.
Kent Optronics experts will provide new wide-field-of-view, night-vision devices, as well as upgrade kits for existing night-vision systems. The contract is a 5-year, phase-three small business innovation research (SBIR) agreement.
These night-vision systems will involve an optical foveal design with 80-degree field of view that does not compromise optical resolution or size, weight, and power consumption, Navy officials say.
Kent Optronics engineers will provide new wide-field-of-view, night-vision binocular goggles, as well as kits to upgrade existing AN/PVS-15 night-vision binocular goggle systems for airborne, sea, undersea, and land-based military applications.
The company will build binocular night-vision systems that weigh no more than less than 24 ounces, offer less than 4 percent distortion, and provide eye-piece output in the green light spectrum around 543 nanometers.
Kent Optronics specializes in liquid crystal devices and electro-optical components and subsystems for infrared displays, special-purpose displays, infrared imaging and sensing, lasers, and optical communications.
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Kent Optronics Inc. online at www.kentoptronics.com, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center - Crane at www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/WarfareCenters/NSWCCrane.
