Tank Tech: PNW-57A
In one of my early Cursed by Design video (here) I talked about the first generation of night vision used in WW2. Referred to as Gen 0 these early systems were far more limited than the more modern types available today. The ability to have even slight increases in vision during the night was, and still is, a massive advantage. That brings us to our topic today, one of these early examples of Gen 0 night vision used by the Soviets.
Originally adopted in the 1960s the PNW-57 (also referred to as PNV-57) saw widespread use across the USSR. These were initially used by Tankers for night driving. As will all Gen 0 systems these required the assistance of an IR illuminator whether that be on the tank/vehicle itself or a handheld one. Even with these illuminators the visibility was limited with only a 35 degree field of view as well as being limited by the range of the illumination. The weight is also quite high at around 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) for the headset. This may not seem like much but when I weighed the entire helmet with night vision attached it came to around 5 pounds (2.2 Kgs). Later versions of the PNW-57 would see various changes and improvements with at least one version being used in the Soviet-Afghan war. When exactly production stopped is hard to say but I’ve seen examples online from as late as 1977 and one site claims the Russian military still had them in limited use in the early 2000s.
There seem to be around 4 variants of the PNW-57.
PNW-57: Original Soviet production tanker NVD
PNW-57A: Polish Production tanker NVD
PNW-57A example I purchased
PNW-57E: Later version with Gen 1 cascade tubes allowing better passive IR performance. As far as I can tell these are the ones used by Helicopter pilots during the Soviet-Afghan war.
PNW-57H: Czech clone of the PNW-57 with IR spotlight mounted on top, rear housing is slightly different as well
Photo source: https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-cold-war-soviet-czech-pnv-57h-night-vision-goggles-with-case-in-excellent-condition?variant=32001175322693
Depending on the year and place of manufacture these would come in either a metal or wooden box along with various components. These include cables for connecting the IR light to the vehicles power system and various spare parts.
You can find PNW-57As for sale online regularly on places like eBay or military surplus sites. The prices range from around 100 dollars for non-working examples to around 400 USD for working examples. I have yet to try PNW-57Es myself so I cannot say how much of an improvement they offer over the originals, but without the illuminator the 57As barely provide more visibility than the naked eye. Below you will find several more photos of my set and the things it came with. If you happen to know more about these please do let me know in the comments as I would like to cover these in a video, but as of now don’t really have enough information to go on.
Infrared torch
Storage box without the helmet and night vision inside
On the left is a list of what is inside along with a stamp. The right paper I am not as sure about as it is in Polish.
