FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Aug. 21, 2025) — Army aircrews face challenging conditions to remain lethal and safe during night missions. To deliver solutions, the Army is leveraging researchers’ technical and operational expertise to maintain superior aviation performance.
The Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center recognized a need from aviation crew chiefs, flight medics, door gunners and flight engineers for better night-vision goggles to improve situational awareness.
Locating friendly and adversary personnel on the ground, avoiding obstacles in landing zones, and conducting medical evacuation operations are demanding tasks during night missions. C5ISR Center subject-matter experts have the experience and assets to solve the challenge as the R&D organization behind Army night-vision and thermal imaging technologies, according to branch chief Nick Andreyko.
The Army started by collaborating with an industry partner to adapt the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular (ENVG-B), currently fielded to ground Soldiers, into a prototype suitable for aviation. Aviation specific engineering modifications were made to create the Binocular Night Vision Device-Fused (BNVD-F) that integrates both image intensifiers and a thermal imaging sensor. Combining the power of thermal imaging with traditional night vision goggles, BNVD-F provides much greater situational awareness for Army aircrews, Andreyko said.
“The Center is uniquely positioned with the necessary pieces — including S&T workforce, night vision technology expertise, test pilots, and aircraft — to address these challenges,” said Josh Moore, a deputy assistant director. “The team understands when there’s an additional capability the Army can provide quickly at a low cost to provide a significant increase in capability.”
From the inception of the concept, engineers worked with Army active-duty aviation units for direct feedback. They gained insights about what improvements Soldiers would like to see, what jobs they perform and how they use the equipment in the field.
“Our in-house capabilities and experience are critical to complete the R&D cycle following work with the units,” Andreyko said. “C5ISR Center has test pilots who are former Army chief warrant officers, and owns a Black Hawk helicopter for test flights. Fort Belvoir’s Davison Army Airfield is in the perfect area where we can get urban and rural feedback on a single flight by doing a loop. These factors allow us to rapidly iterate for a quick turnaround time.”
In addition, the C5ISR Center team traveled with a deploying Combat Aviation Brigade to conduct an operational assessment.
“It’s very helpful for engineers to meet users in their environment to get feedback,” Andreyko said. “It's also valuable for us to issue the goggles and do on-site training with Soldiers.”
As the Air Force and Navy use a similar variant of the Black Hawk, C5ISR Center shares test reports and data, and vice versa, to save time and money as joint R&D efforts across rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.
“Crews equipped with BNVD-F can offer a better set of ‘eyes’ to enhance Army aviation and MEDEVAC mission effectiveness as well as increase aircraft survivability by assisting pilots in obstacle and threat detection,” Moore said. “This is a prime example of how C5ISR Center can rapidly innovate a new capability for the Warfighter.”
——————————
The U.S. Army Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center is the Army’s applied research and advanced technology development center for C5ISR capabilities. As the Army’s primary integrator of C5ISR technologies and systems, DEVCOM C5ISR Center supports our networked Warfighters by identifying, developing, maturing, and rapidly integrating innovative technologies to drive continuous transformation.
DEVCOM C5ISR Center is an asset of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. DEVCOM is Army Futures Command’s leader and integrator within a global ecosystem of scientific exploration and technological innovation. DEVCOM expertise spans eight major competency areas to provide integrated research, development, analysis and engineering support to the Army and DOD. From rockets to robots, drones to dozers, and aviation to artillery – DEVCOM innovation is at the core of the combat capabilities American Warfighters need to win on the battlefield of the future. For more information, visit c5isrcenter.devcom.army.mil.
Social Sharing