US-manufactured Gen 3 night vision tubes. Every tube comes with a spec sheet and bench test.
Gen 3 image intensifier tubes are ITAR-controlled components manufactured exclusively in the United States by two companies: L3 Harris (Rochester, NY) and Elbit Systems of America (Roanoke, VA). There is no third source. Any tube offered as "Gen 3" that cannot be traced to one of these two manufacturers is not Gen 3. If you're buying a tube, you should know exactly who made it and what test data backs it up.
Adams Industries has sourced tubes directly from both manufacturers since 1994. We don't buy on the gray market, and we don't sell tubes we haven't verified. Every tube comes with documentation: manufacturer, date code, figure of merit (FOM), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and key specifications measured at our bench before shipment.
The baseline Gen 3 tube. Meets original AN/PVS-14 mil-spec. Thin-film MCP, autogated, available in white and green phosphor. Most common tube in the US military inventory. L3 Harris or Elbit manufactured.
FOM range: 1400–1800 typical. Spec sheet included.
Filmless microchannel plate removes the ion barrier film, increasing photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. Reduced halo, improved low-light resolution. White phosphor standard. Primarily Elbit Systems manufactured.
FOM range: 1600–2000 typical. Spec sheet included.
Top-tier commercially available Gen 3. Selected for peak FOM from production runs. Issued to tier-1 units and available to qualified civilian purchasers. White phosphor. L3 Harris or Elbit per availability.
FOM range: 1900–2400+ typical. Spec sheet included.
| Figure of Merit (FOM) | Signal-to-noise ratio × resolution (lp/mm). Higher is better. 1800+ is excellent for civilian use; 2000+ is what tier-1 units request. |
|---|---|
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) | Measures the tube's ability to produce a clean image in low-light conditions. 25+ is good; 28+ is excellent. |
| Center Resolution | Line pairs per millimeter at the center of the image. 64+ lp/mm is standard; 72+ is top-tier. |
| Halo Diameter | How large the bright ring around a point light source appears. Smaller is better. Filmless tubes have significantly reduced halo vs. filmed. |
| EBI (Equivalent Background Illumination) | Tube's self-generated noise level. Lower is better. <2.0 μlux is excellent. |
| Photocathode Sensitivity | Measured in µA/lm. Higher = more efficient conversion of photons to electrons. 1800+ is solid; 2200+ is exceptional. |
Every tube Adams Industries sells ships with the manufacturer test data so you can verify these numbers yourself. We don't make claims we can't back up with paper.