Cloaking an army in darkness

Technology stacks odds in U.S. favor during nighttime warfare

10/28/2001

By ED TIMMS / The Dallas Morning News

Goggles worn by U.S. soldiers turn back the darkness. Lasers mounted on their rifles, invisible to the naked eye, target their opponents.

Overhead, infrared sensors and low-light television cameras help the crews of AC-130 gunships find and destroy the enemy. And helicopter pilots, taking advantage of night-vision technology, fly low and fast as they transport troops or attack enemy vehicles.

Always seeking an edge in combat, the United States' armed forces have honed their night-fighting skills in recent decades. Tactics and training prepare service members to fight round the clock. And in America's latest war, such technology and training will be a crucial tool for commandos who are trying to probe and wear down Afghan defenses – as well as hunt for suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

"We know where we are, we have great communications, and we can see where we're going. That allows us to operate at a much faster pace than the other guys. I can't emphasize to you what that does for you," said retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, former commander of U.S. forces in Bosnia. "In many ways ... it overcomes the home-court advantage."

With night-vision technology, U.S. soldiers may be able to shoot at enemy troops, direct lethal artillery barrages upon their positions, and approach Mr. bin Laden's likely hiding places without being seen.

Members of the armed forces boast that "We own the night," and a recent raid in Afghanistan backs that up. Elite U.S. troops seized an airfield and assaulted a Taliban compound.

The attacking force included soldiers and helicopters from the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the "Night Stalkers," whose forte is night operations.

"These guys can do a lot. ... Just look what they did for their first mission," Maj. Gen. Nash said. "That was pretty comprehensive action the other night. I don't think we've seen the good stuff yet."

Payoff vs. risk

During the Vietnam War, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces often operated at night. One cliché from the war was that "Charlie owned the night."

U.S. forces in Vietnam employed early night-vision technology to counter the threat. "Starlight scopes" often were used to spot enemy soldiers trying to infiltrate the defensive perimeter of fire bases.

Night-vision technology continued to improve, as did the U.S. armed forces' ability to fight at night.

In a night attack, ground units and air crews typically rely on a variety of high-tech devices.

On the ground, soldiers use night-vision goggles, called NVGs, or a monocular device that can be used as a rifle scope.

Both are produced by ITT Industries Inc., a New York company that manufactures much of the military's night-vision equipment.

Soldiers wearing the goggles, which work by greatly amplifying what light is available, direct their fire with infrared weapon-aiming lights. The laser beam can only be seen through night-vision equipment.

Shooting a weapon while using the goggles and the aiming device takes some practice.

The normal sights on an M-16 rifle, for example, aren't much use at night. Instead of shoulder-firing the weapon, a standing soldier often will shoot from the hip.

Also available to U.S. forces are thermal-imaging devices that detect heat.

These can locate enemy soldiers and vehicles whether it's day or night – even if they are hidden behind foliage or obscured by smoke.

Helicopter pilots receive extensive training for night fighting. The crews of transport helicopters, such as the UH-60 Blackhawk, wear night-vision goggles.

Flight crews on AH-64 Apache helicopters use the Honeywell "Integrated Helmet and Display Sight System," which enables them to fly at night and control the movement of sensors and weapons by moving their heads.

Pilots of fixed-wing attack aircraft also use night-vision goggles.

At night, the so-called fog of war – the confusion, uncertainty, chance, and blunders that have always accompanied warriors into battle – is even more of an issue.

To avoid casualties to friendly forces, soldiers and equipment can carry small beacons that emit infrared flashes.

Or infrared reflective tape, which looks like black duct tape, can be affixed.

U.S. forces seek a substantial edge from night-vision technology and training, but its use is not without risks.

The night-vision technology used in goggles cannot help soldiers see through the smoke that is often on a battlefield. The eerie green image seen through the devices decidedly is not the same as a daytime view.

"A lot of people say night vision is not that great if you compare it to daylight vision," said Gene Adcock, a retired Air Force chief master sergeant who served four special operations tours in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

"But you're making the wrong comparison. Get out there at night, and see what you can see."

Some drawbacks

And night-vision equipment limits depth perception and the field of view, which makes flying low, called "nap-of-the-earth" flying, more hazardous.

Military helicopters typically fly low and with their navigation lights turned off on night missions over hostile territory to avoid detection and reduce their exposure to enemy fire.

"It's the equivalent of putting toilet paper tissue rolls to your eyes and putting green film over the ends," said Kevin O'Brien, an Army veteran of the Persian Gulf War who has flown attack and utility helicopters.

Still, there's good reason to use the goggles and fly low.

"It's a lot riskier to fly lower to the ground using the NVGs than in daytime," said Mr. O'Brien, who co-founded a website for Army helicopter pilots called Friends of Army Aviation. "But the converse of that is the protection that it gives you ... at night is 10 times better."

Col. Daniel Smith, an analyst with the Center for Defense Information in Washington, said that Taliban soldiers may have to rely more on their hearing to detect an approaching U.S. air assault if they have don't have much night-vision equipment.

And in a mountainous region such as Afghanistan, Mr. O'Brien said, it may be difficult to gauge where the sound is coming from.

Military analysts suspect that Taliban forces probably have obtained some night-vision devices of inferior quality to U.S. equipment, although the number may be relatively small.

Trying to navigate on the ground while wearing night-vision goggles can also be troublesome.

"The biggest problem most of these guys have when wearing goggles is they tend to run into trees because of peripheral-vision problems," said Mr. Adcock, an executive with the Night Vision Equipment Co., a Pennsylvania company that has been involved in the development of night-vision devices for more than 20 years. "Or, they step in holes that they don't see – just minor depressions that you would pick up with your eyeball during the day."

Another problem is that infrared devices used by U.S. service members to aim their weapons, or to identify themselves as "friendlies," also can be detected by enemy soldiers equipped with night-vision technology.

A military adage warns that tracers – bullets whose flight can be tracked at night because of a chemical that ignites in the base – "work both ways." The same can be true of infrared pointers and aiming devices.

Better-equipped

But retired Army Maj. Andy Messing Jr., executive director of the National Defense Council Foundation, a nonprofit think tank in Virginia, warned that technology has its limits.

"You should know how to fight without night-vision goggles, and you should be able to fly, using your instruments, without night-vision goggles," said Mr. Messing, who spent most of his career in special operations or special forces.

"You should not get so over-dependent on technology that it renders you helpless when you don't have it, or can't use it, or it breaks down."

Staff writer David Tarrant contributed to this report.