AUSA 2011: DRS unveils upgrade for Driver Vision Enhancer system

source dve.drs.com - DVE

October 12, 2011 Beth Stevenson, SHEPARD GROUP

Washington DC –  DRS Technologies has demonstrated an upgrade for its Driver's Vision Enhancer (DVE), the DVE Wide.

This 'new and simple upgrade' has three ports for extra cameras, adding an extended view to the drivers of vehicles such as the Bradley and HMMWV, James Cassella, VP of business development for DRS Technologies told Shephard at the AUSA conference in Washington, DC on 10 October.

The upgrade was developed based on feedback from the user that said the 40 degree fov that the original system provides is not enough.

The Wide variant leads to the 'path to 360 degree view for a good all round solution', and the company has been working on the upgrade for two years, with it soon entering production.

The US Army is 'working on its requirement' with regards to the upgrade, but Cassella said there is 'interest in upgrading', although no decisions have yet been made.

With the first DVE delivered in 2005, the system displays thermal contrast among objects, and still works through dust, smoke, fog, and darkness.

Cassella believed that one of the appealing factors is that the army can reuse legacy systems, including transferring it to the back of a vehicle and using it as a rear view mirror, and it only takes some five hours to change over to the new system.

This 'very effective field upgrade effectively provides side and rear view mirrors' for the vehicle, and the sighting screen sits in front of the driver, and allows multiple views that the user can pan in to while also being able to see the whole FOV in the same picture.

Some 50,000 of the original variant have been delivered, and the new DVE will be tested by the army in the next Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE).