SEALs used night vision contacts in bin Laden raid

Daily Mail:

They sound like something Q branch would issue to James Bond ahead of a difficult assignment.

But this gadget was used to fight a very real target - the world's most wanted terrorist.

A website has reported that the team of U.S. Navy Seals used pairs of night vision contact lenses during their mission to kill Osama Bin Laden.

The site reports that Seal Team 6 wore the 'cat vision' lenses during the attack on the Al Qaeda leader's compound on May 2nd.

A well placed source added that the lenses give the wearer night vision for a limited period without wearing the normally heavy and bulky night vision goggles.

If the rumours are true, it will end almost a decade of speculation but the U.S. military would never confirm their existence.

The rumour regarding the use of the lenses in battle adds to the array of technology the Seals used during their mission.

As well as support from Black Hawk helicopters and unmanned satellite drones, they used weapons specifically designed for the close combat they encountered.

They also wore helmet cameras that allowed images to be relayed live back to the White House, where President Obama watched it unfold in a situation room.

Examples of night vision devices have been around since World War I, but their usage became more widespread during the Vietnam War.

...

In Vietnam we had something called a Starlight Scope that gave the green vision of more modern devices, but it was a bulk telescope shaped night vision optic. I have seen stories of dying troops smashing the Starlight Scope against a tree to keep it from falling into enemy hands. Earlier devices used infra red equipment, but they sometimes could be detected by the enemy if they had their own goggles.

The contacts sound like a significant improvement, if they are effective.