French Ground Force receives new O-Nyx night vision binoculars.

Florence Parly, Minister of the Armies, welcomes the delivery of the first O-NYX night vision binoculars in the 21st regiment of Frejus. Designed by Thales, these binoculars benefit from an improved resolution and a wider field of vision. It will allow army soldiers to better progress in darkness and will replace the LUCIE binoculars that are currently used. Designed to ensure the maintenance of operational superiority of the French armies, LPM 2019-2025 focuses on improving the equipment and protection of the soldiers, sailors and pilots engaged in operations.

O-NYX night vision binoculars destined to the French Forces (Picture source: Thales)

These new night vision binoculars will equip the 21st RIMa and the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2nd REI) of Nîmes as part of the mission of the units of the 6th Light Brigade armoured early 2020 in the Sahel-Saharan band.

The objective for 2020 is to supply the French Army with 3 179 ONYX night vision binoculars on the 3,519 ONYX night vision binoculars ordered by the Directorate-General for Armaments (DGA) for the benefit of the armed forces; the rest of the order will be delivered in 2021. Several thousand Additional copies are expected to be delivered by 2025. These night-vision binoculars will eventually equip all three armies.

Hereunder the main features of O-NYX night vision binoculars:

- Length: 112 mm / Width: 75 mm / Height: 79 mm
- Weight: 340 g
- Technology: light intensification
- Autonomy: more than 40 hours with battery or 25h with AA batteries 1.5 V.
- Extra flat and close to the face profile, ultra-compact and very lightweight, for increased comfort for prolonged use
- Wide field of view of 51° (compared to the usual 40°, +70% of the field of view) that improves the perception of the environment and the mobility of the soldier

According to Florence Parly, the protection of the combatant is one of the priorities of the policy. Indeed, the goal for 2025 is to deliver 96,800 pieces of "light equipment" within the French Forces such as Semi-automatic pistols Glock 17 GEN5, HK416 assault rifle, sniper rifles SCAR, new composite splinter protection helmets and bulletproof vests.