APRIL 23, 2019 – Soldiers from Fort Drum, New York, are conducting the final Soldier Touchpoint of the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular (ENVG-B) April 22nd-May 3rd at Fort Drum, New York.
Soldiers and Marines will get the chance to put the ENVG-B, which is the first product incorporated with the SL-CFT and AFC, to the ultimate test during the two week LUE through a series of physically and technically rigorous tests leading up to a 36 hour platoon situation training exercise (STX) that includes convoy and range operations, land navigation, and individual movement techniques, among others.
“Throughout the past year and a half, Soldier and Marine feedback from these Touchpoints provided several improvements to the ENVG-B system” says Cpt. Joshua Redmond, ENVG-B Assistant Product Manager, Program Executive Office Soldier (PEO Soldier). “The Soldiers developed the system into what it is today and these goggles have overwhelming user acceptance.” After this LUE, the ENVG-B’s initial fielding will begin as early as September 2019.
Providing Soldiers with enhanced situational awareness and lethality are essential in enabling combat overmatch. Soldier feedback being incorporated into the ENVG-B product helps the Army integrate the current needs of Soldiers with the Army’s future multi-domain battlefield.
The ENVG-B increases the Warfighter’s lethality, mobility, and situational awareness through innovative and state of the art capabilities, such as:
- A dual tubed binocular system for improved situational awareness and depth perception.
- Higher resolution, white phosphor tubes instead of the traditional green providing better contrast.
- A fused thermal imager for better target recognition in degraded visual environments (dust, smoke, zero illumination, subterranean, etc.)
- Inclusion of augmented reality aspects from the Nett Warrior display.
- Wireless interconnectivity with the Family of Weapon Sight-Individual, (FWS-I) displaying the weapon site reticule in the ENVG-B allowing Soldiers to accurately engage without shouldering the weapon.
The creation of these goggles and other Army advancements signify an evolution in technology that would not be possible without Soldier feedback. Soldier Touchpoints such as these ensure Soldiers’ voices are heard when considering the equipment they will utilize on the battlefield in the future.
-The upcoming Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular (ENVG-B) Limited User Event (LUE) is the culmination of nine previous Soldier Touchpoints on the system.
– The ENVG-B goes into full rate production and qualification after this LUE; begins fielding in Fall 2019.
– The ENVG-B is the first Army product incorporated in the Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team (SL-CFT) and Army Futures Command (AFC).
Story by Patrick Ferraris
PEO Soldier