Enhancing Indian Army's Night Capability

Daredevil

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Across its spectrum, future conflict will occur in a continuous 24 hour engagement cycle to enable a Force to maintain the tempo of operations. An essential component of progressing operations in such a manner is the ability of troops to operate by night. While the substantial increase in defence budget allocation in the past decade is heartening, capital acquisitions have been of particularly big ticket items. Little progress has however been made in equipping the army with the wherewithal to fight by night, which could impact on force effectiveness.

The Army's current night fighting capability is limited. What the Army needs is "third generation" night vision devices (NVDs) for soldiers, night sights for rifles and night vision equipment for armoured and mechanised formations. What the Army has are limited second generation devices which at times are more of a hindrance than an asset and too few third generation NVDs. Pakistan, on the other hand, has got a range of third generation devices from the US under the 'War on Terror' pact. China too has operationalised its entire tank and mechanised fleet for night fighting and possesses significantly higher night capability in the other arms too. Limited night fighting capability decreases force effectiveness and leads to reduced deterrence, thus providing a window of opportunity to hostile powers to increased chances of misadventure from either country.

The ability to design and develop or procure NVDs for the Indian Army is not as complex as other huge modernisation programmes undertaken by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Although not as complex as a fighter plane or submarine, the NVDs are crucial to India's security as they provide the ability to fight at night and other conditions of reduced visibility. Most advanced armies of the world have third generation NVDs as their core equipment complimented by earlier generation equipment. Fourth generation equipment is already in the test and field trial phases. According to Lt Gen PC Katoch (Retd), former Director-General (Information Systems), the four important performance parameters of any NVD are its sound-noise ratio (SNR), resolution/clarity, modular transfer function and lifetime. "SNR is by far the most important parameter for an image intensifier tube [II tube]," said Katoch. An II tube constitutes 70 per cent of the cost of the device. A comparative analysis between 2nd generation (Indian Army) and 3rd generation on the main four parameters of NVDs reveals the gap in our defence preparedness vis-à-vis other nations.

2nd Generation

SNR: 12 to 20
Resolution: 40 to 45 lp/mm
Life: 5000 hours
Magnification: 20,000 X

3rd Generation

SNR: 22 to 30
Resolution: 64 to 72 lp/mm
Life: 10000 hours
Magnification: 30,000 to 50,000 X

Some other advancements of third generation are the reduced halo effect visible mostly in urban environment, picture clarity particularly at the edges, enhanced images at reduced levels of available light, more panoramic view and self-contained power supply. Other add on technologies which can be used in conjunction with NVDs are thermal image intensifiers and infra-red illuminators which reduce the dependence on ambient light (starlight, moon light) and provide for a light source of its own, invisible to the human eye of the adversary.

According to reports available in the public domain, the Indian Army needs 30,000 third generation NVDs to meet its requirements as per the present war establishment (WE) authorisation. The large numbers required add substantially to cost but this could be reduced with indigenous manufacture. There is a need to further enhance these holdings as presently only one device is authorised per section. The need is to equip each man with a NVD but as a first step at least 50 per of the soldiers need to be so equipped.

A contract for manufacture and delivery was awarded to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in 2010 but not much has been delivered so far. BEL, which has invested in second generation sights and even set up a factory, has told the Ministry of Defence that all procurements should be made through the PSU. In the meantime, BEL has asked the Army to wait till it finds a foreign partner to manufacture third generation devices "indigenously". Till date BEL is nowhere near a possible tie-up. The problem is that foreign companies are not keen on sharing technology with a PSU and would rather tie up with private players for "hassle free" production. NVDs can form a strong case for private participation as the technology although advanced is not as complex as some other military platforms. This is a field which the government must open to India's private sector. It would have beneficial spin offs as the equipment has great usage in the private sector too especially in security related concerns.

Another drawback is the availability of power sources for foreign procured NVDs. Here battery chargers were procured at the rate of one for every 4 NVDs procured. As per defence analyst Brig Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), the usage pattern of NVDs dictates that each NVD must have its own charger and adequate battery supply must be catered for. Current authorisation patterns of chargers and lack of availability of batteries renders the equipment ineffective for most of its operational life. The solution could be production of batteries and power chargers in house, which is pretty much a standard technology.

NVDs are critical force multipliers which provide the ability to overwhelm the enemy when he is most prone, and that is at night. Ordnance Factory Board, Dehradun has been providing the Indian Army with high resolution binoculars of acceptable performance standards and is also working on NVDs for rifles and Infantry soldiers. Such examples of indigenous success should be promoted. The equipment being procured or produced indigenously should be subject to range of battle field conditions and tests before ascertaining their acceptability.

The night fighting capability of the Army particularly the infantry and Special Forces need to be upgraded on a war footing. The latest NVD technology on the horizon which can be looked at is the black and white picture for night scenes as compared to the classic green hued image, as studies have shown that night time scenes appear remarkably more natural and clear in black and white combination. The night fighting capability is crucial to the success of critical defence programmes such as F-INSAS, MBTs, Special Forces upgrade and indigenous FICVs. The ability to fight at night has been constrained since ancient times but in the 21st century it will be a do or die choice.

The author Raveen Janu is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS)

The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS)
 

Daredevil

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The latest NVD technology on the horizon which can be looked at is the black and white picture for night scenes as compared to the classic green hued image, as studies have shown that night time scenes appear remarkably more natural and clear in black and white combination.
Standard Night Vision equipment



White phosphor technology equipment

 

Kunal Biswas

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The most numerical fighting Unit at all fronts and spear of any army Infantry seen almost zero upgrades ..

Majority of money got wasted and washed under Arms dealers and corruption and issuing fail RFIs..

===================

It just not NV :

-1. Better clothing with inserted elbow and knee pads
0. Camo..
1. Helmet..
2. Boots
3. Rifles..
4. Carbine..
5. Universal MG..
6. Modern BP jackets and Plates
7. Truma plates
8. A better design back pack

Many More
 

ssunil

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I am impressed with the details mentioned but what about GENIV ? there is nothing called GEN IV it is Gen III filmless but with that also ruggedness is a issue
 

Twinblade

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A few days back, DRDO head made this statement:-
He pointed out that the country has now stopped importing night vision systems.

India aims at 75 percent indigenisation in defence in 2020-2025 | Business Standard

Which is weird because we are significantly lacking in optronics technology and are dependent on other countries for II tubes for NVGs. A few google searches later I stumbled upon this:-

India imported the Gen-II tubes with a FOM of 464, which improved to 969 in 2009 with DRDO participation. In 2011, XD4 technology was transferred from Photonis with FOM of 1250 while the transfer of technology for XR5 is under consideration for 2014.
FOM of XR-5 ranges from 1400-2100 and the Indian Army has asked for tubes with FOM of 1700. Improvement in range and other factors has to be weighed against the cost factor for optimum benefit. Future technological advancements include-
ï‚·Use of processors and software to improve the FOM.
ï‚·Auto gate facility to reduce blooming.
ï‚·Increasing the dynamic range of the tube and improving high-light imaging resolution.
ï‚·Improved reliability, photo response, reduced signal to noise ratio and halo diameter.
ï‚·Fusion of II and uncooled TI images in weapon sights.
ï‚·Digitisation of image externally and silicon-based technology for lower costs
http://www.claws.in/administrator/uploaded_files/Night_Vision_Report_Edited.pdf

The 2011 order to BEL for 30,000+ NVGs stipulated making II tubes in India which were to be manufactured at BELOPS (BEL-ELOP JV) facility. This is what was supposed to happen:-
In terms of deliveries, BEL's performance in II based NVDs, BEL has delivered 25,916 devices and is in the process of delivering 30,634 more NVDs which are II based to the Indian Army. BEL has taken baby steps as far as uncooled TI sights are concerned which are also totally indigenously developed. BEL has also delivered around sixty weapon sights for snipers, INSAS and hand held devices. As far as cooled TI sights are concerned, under license manufactured through ToT, BEL has manufactured a total of 7,593, of which 554 indigenous TI camera/devices are being delivered and a quantity of 10,000 based on indigenous TI sights whether it is DRDO based or BEL's in-house development is the future projection. Covering II based NVDs, what is manufactured at Belop "Multi Alkali (under production) where the typical figure of merit is 1400 where BEL provides the tube with normal and autogated power supply. What is scheduled is "Multi Alkali (scheduled)" which provides minimum figures of merit of 1600 and a typical 1700 with autogated tubes. One can see that what BEL is manufacturing at Belop is comparable to Omni VI and Omni VII which have figure of merit of 1600 and 1792 respectively.

What is permitted to export to India is 1250 as the maximum figure of merit. Devices with 1400 figure of merit fitted with non-autogated
power supply can be exported to India but under induced monitoring. However, even though, the Photocathode response of Gen 3 is higher than XD-4, due to Ion Barrier Film on MCP, the Gen 3 tube which is exportable to India has lower Signal to Noise Ratio than XD
-4 tube which is manufactured at Belop. What BEL and DRDO are doing for the future is trying to come up a fusion technology
by fusing II and TI based NVDs which will not only enable better night sight but also enable sharing among soldiers. However,
the challenge on areas such as power, size and weight remains. The fusion of both technologies would merge the strengths of
image intensification which will be clear, sharp green-tinted picture with an advantage of infra-red which in turn will enable to see practically under any environmental conditions resulting in enhanced NVD.
http://www.claws.in/administrator/uploaded_files/135883265116%20jan%20report.pdf

But here's what actually happened.

BEL's apparent inability to supply NVDs with FOM 1700 plus comes despite the MoD having twice splashed taxpayer money on foreign night vision technology for the Bangalore-headquartered defence public sector undertaking (DPSU). In the 1990s, Dutch company Delft provided "second generation" technology, setting up a joint venture with BEL before walking out of the JV. As recently as 2010-11, the MoD handed more than Rs 100 crore to French company, Photonis, to give BEL "supergen" technology rated at FOM 1250 plus. Once again BEL failed to absorb this technology; it did not enhance its own technological capabilities in night vision; and it did not evolve the received technology into more advanced versions.
Broadsword: None so blind as those who will not see

Now I am not sure if IRDE and BEL have managed to make II tubes with 1700 FOM or are we lying through the teeth again.
 

Hari Sud

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Somebody is always inventing a better mouse trap. That will happen every year. That does not mean that last equipment is thrown away.

Kunal Biswas is right that a limited amount of money for third generation hardware got wasted in RFI and paperwork without any sucess in last few years. There is new Sherrif in town since May 2014, things are different now. If there is an urgent need, it will be approved and purchased. We the keyboard warriors, shedding tears is not worth a penny. If army needs it, the new Defence Minister is going to get it.
 

Chris Jude

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Nowhere near, Fourth! Its better than wasting our money on cheap foreign stuff!
 

tharikiran

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There is something I noticed in all these snaps of 2nd generation, 3rd generation and 4th generation images.
May be it helps to have a 4th generation device, but not necessary in real war. Because in a real situation, I may just need to see if anything is moving which is better than not seeing anything. Like we see in a FLIR image. Kill anything that moves beyond your line of operation.Don't need to see their face features. My opinion is, good to have...but not necessary.
 

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