INFRARED NIGHT VISION WEAPON SIGHT

The purpose of this project was to evaluate employment of the Polan P-155 infrared night vision weapon sight by Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF) in counterinsurgency operations in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). During the evaluation, Vietnamese soldiers were instructed in the use of weapon sights. Following this, use of the sights by selected RVNAF units was observed and analyzed. The evaluation was conducted under actual combat conditions. Although well-trained RVNAF units were capable of using IR weapon sights, most units did not use them enough to justify issue. Reasons given for not using the sights were: (1) RVNAF units did not often operate at night; (2) the sights were too heavy and bulky for the average Vietnamese soldier; (3) RVNAF unit commanders feared loss of the sights to the Viet Cong (VC). No RVNAF unit had electrical facilities for charging batteries. It is recommended that infrared night vision weapon sights not be issued to RVNAF.