BEL develops night vision gadget for Army

MACHILIPATNAM, DEC 17: A night vision equipment for the gunner of the T-55 battle tank has been developed indigenously by the Bharat Elec...

MACHILIPATNAM, DEC 17: A night vision equipment for the gunner of the T-55 battle tank has been developed indigenously by the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) here, and the Indian Army had approved it, general manager A R S Reddy said today.

He told UNI here that the new unit was a one to one replacement to the Russian equipment now in use. The special feature of the new equipment was its ability to detect enemies even during nights even at a distance of 600 to 800 metres.

The BEL had secured orders worth Rs 2 cr from the Defence Ministry for supplying the equipment, he said. The Army had recommended induction of another indigenously built night vision unit for the drivers of Russian made T-72 tanks. The driver, with this unit, would be able to see enemies at night even at a distance of 150 metres. Orders from the army for upgrading the T-72 tanks were expected, he added.

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The BEL also had developed periscopic day vision binoculars and had supplied to the Indian Navy for use in the 18 mm rocketlaunchers. This binocular would enable observation of 3m x 3m target at 10 kms head up display. This was similar to the opto electronics instrument used by pilots in Light Combat Aircrafts (LCA) to get the flight information superimposed on their view panel without changing line of sight enhancing weapon aiming capability.

Reddy said the unit had recently received an order worth Rs four crore from the Defence Ministry for supplying night vision binoculars, night vision goggles and other night sight equipment in the current financial year.

The unit had supplied 35 surgical microscopes to the defence department for use in its various hospitals, he added.