Spanish Army Buys 17,000 NVLS 4G Night-Vision Monoculars to Strengthen Night Operations.

Exosens says Spain’s Ministry of Defense ordered 17,000 NVLS night-vision monoculars built around 16 mm 4G image intensifier tubes, with deliveries from 2025–2028. The buy supports Madrid’s push toward 2% of GDP on defense and upgrades soldiers with wider 50° field-of-view devices.

Exosens announced on September 29, 2025, that the Spanish Ministry of Defense has placed an order for 17,000 night vision monoculars from NVLS, the Spain-based company acquired by Exosens. Deliveries will run from 2025 through 2028, and the systems are built around Exosens 16 mm 4G image intensifier tubes. The award is framed by Madrid’s ongoing drive to lift defense spending toward 2 percent of GDP and to accelerate soldier modernization after years of uneven procurement cycles.
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At the center of the program is a compact monocular designed by NVLS with a 50-degree field of view, replacing the 40-degree standard that many armies still use (Picture source: Exosens)

At the center of the program is a compact monocular designed by NVLS with a 50 degree field of view, replacing the 40-degree standard that many armies still use. In plain terms it shows more of the scene at once. Exosens and NVLS state that the wider optic increases the viewed area by more than 60 percent without adding weight or bulk to the helmet mount. The optical design uses hybrid materials and aspherical lenses to control distortion and keep edge detail crisp, a common weakness in older wide-angle tubes. Troops get a larger image without feeling like they are looking through a tunnel.

The tube itself is the 4G P45 white phosphor architecture familiar to many NATO users but updated for today’s urban and mixed-light environments. An extended spectral bandwidth improves clarity in partial moonlight, starlight, or when there is spill from nearby street lamps. Fast auto-gating helps the tube adapt to sudden changes in light, for example when a door swings open or a vehicle headlight sweeps across the field, and a reduced halo around bright points makes it easier to separate a flashlight from the outline of the person holding it. High Figure of Merit and high sensitivity lengthen the usable range for recognition and shorten the time needed to make a decision, a small change that matters at squad level.

Spain’s order follows a multiyear relationship with NVLS. In 2019, the Army contracted for AN/PVS-14 monoculars, and more recently the Spanish Navy and Army received binocular systems using the same 16 mm 4G tubes. The new buy essentially completes a fleetwide refresh built on a single tube standard, both monocular and binocular. Exosens notes this makes Spain the first military to adopt 16 mm 4G intensifiers in wide 50-degree field of view devices across its forces, creating commonality in training, spares, and mounting hardware.

On the user side, the tactical impact is straightforward. Patrols move with fewer head sweeps to cover blind spots, which reduces fatigue over a long night. A driver peering through the monocular sees more of the road edge and nearby obstacles with each glance. Room entries in urban terrain benefit from the extra peripheral awareness that the 50 degree picture provides. The auto-gated tube protects itself against momentary light blasts, so the image recovers quickly. Teams transitioning between open ground and lit streets gain a smoother visual experience, which in practice means steadier pace and less radio chatter to correct for missed cues.

The equipment choices also reflect a shift in Spanish defense planning. Madrid is leaning into European industrial capacity where it can, and NVLS, now inside the Exosens group, is positioned as a domestic anchor for night vision production. That gives Spain supply-chain depth in a technology area that is chronically tight across the alliance. The announcement underscores Exosens' strategy of serving NATO members and partners with both intensifier tubes and finished optics, and doing so through a mix of French and Spanish production sites.

NVLS says the 50 degree optic does not change the device’s weight or overall dimensions compared with conventional 40 degree monoculars. That means helmets and counterweights do not need to be rebalanced, and the device can remain on the standard mounts already in service. The hybrid material lens stack is an attempt to keep resolution even at the edges. White phosphor imagery, which presents a more natural grayscale than older green phosphor, helps with contrast and target discrimination for long-duration use. The tube’s high FOM, along with low-halo performance, should make the monocular more forgiving around vehicle lighting, flares, or building windows.

The production plan aims at staged fielding from late 2025 to 2028. That timeline spreads the training burden, avoids a spike in sustainment demands, and lets the Army fold lessons from early units back into later batches. NVLS’s chief executive, Jorge de la Torre, welcomed the order, saying it validates the company’s technology and its partnership with European armed forces. The statement, carried in the release, frames the program as both an operational upgrade for soldiers and an investment in regional industrial capacity.

Operational use will tell the full story, but the design choices align with current doctrine for 24-hour operations. Infantry sections are expected to fight and maneuver in mixed lighting, and commanders want night equipment that behaves predictably when conditions change. A wider field of view, quick recovery from light spikes, and consistent image quality at the edge all contribute to faster observation-to-decision cycles. That is not glamorous, but it is the core of survivability after dark.

Exosens portrays the award as part of a broader demand surge for image intensifier tubes and night vision equipment among NATO members and partners. The company’s footprint of 12 R&D and production sites in Europe and North America, and its workforce of around 1,800, provide the scale to support multi-year orders while keeping development moving. Spain’s choice gives the firm another reference program at national level and gives the Army a path to keep soldiers’ eyes sharp when it matters most.