Can't seem to find it now but I believe I've read in previous posts here on this thread that stuff like the panoramic night vision goggles are exclusive to US Tier-1 units...I'm posting a collection of images here in an attempt to dispel that misconception:
An incomplete list of users of the L-3 Communications' GPNVG-18 panoramic quad-tube NOD, outside of the US:
German KSK
German GSG-9
Italian "Colonel Moschin" Paras
South Korean KNP-SOU (Police special action unit)
Turkish SAS (Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal)
Turkish Gendarmerie (Armed/Military Police) SOF
Ukrainian SSO
French RAID counter-terrorism unit
Note: this is not a complete list. There are many more users from more countries.
The crux of the matter however is...are these panoramic NODs the cutting edge? Nope - 10 years ago they were. Not anymore. Today it's a listed product - available for international export (subject to ITAR limitations of course, just like all other weapon systems are, to varying levels).
Even Bangalore-based Tonbo Imaging offers a panoramic NOD now:
These aren't really as much of a holy grail as people might think. Sure, these were cutting-edge stuff only accessible to JSOC Tier-1 perhaps 10-12 years ago, back when no non-essential person even had an inkling of their existence. But the tech is way past that period. Typically, Tier-1 has access to military tech that the rest of the world simply does not get to know about for the next ~10 years at least.
So what is the absolute cutting-edge in Tier-1 armory Today? -
We don't hold the slightest clue.