Army wants to shift night-vision funds to new model

More than $104 million in appropriations could be reprogrammed to procure 3,609 Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular systems for the Army.

In the Defense Department's omnibus request submitted in June for fiscal year 2018, the Army is requesting a shift towards this new night-vision model as a new start. The total appropriation would be about $287 million for FY-18.

The total funding for the program over the next three years would be $278.6 million: the $104 million reprogramming, $109 million in FY-19 which has already been requested, and $64 million which will be requested in the FY-20 budget.

Currently, the Army uses a monocular-type night vision device, which was originally scheduled to be procured for about $104 million. Instead, the Army wants to use that money to buy more of the new ENVG-B system as a replacement.

The new system, which was scheduled to be fielded to soldiers soon, offers both night-vision and heat-sensing thermal vision but with a wider field of view due to the binocular design. That design change offers a better field of view and high-resolution views so looking through them is clearer and the user has improved depth perception.