Generation 0

The original night vision system was used by the U.S. in World War II, and the Korean War. It used active infrared. It projected a beam of near infrared light.The beam bounced off objects and bounced back to the Lens of the night vision device.

 They were introduced during  the Vietnam war and were an adaptation of the earlier generation 0

 Generation 2 & 3 Feature an improved image intensifier tube and did not need infrared light. They were called starlight scopes and intensified light.

Generation 2 & 3

The History of Night Vision

Generation 1