Coalition Correspondence – Letter dated 06/21/05 to Chairman Principi from Dr. Siva Sivananthan Page: 3 of 4
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DCN 4319
Coalition Correspondence
4
Much of this work would be significantly disrupted during relocation. However, in the
long term, the most damaging aspect of this move would be the effect on the Night
Vision Laboratory's workforce. The proposed move is all but certain to lead to significant
attrition, and possibly the vanishing altogether of the irreplaceable core of the Night
Vision Laboratory - the superior staff of experienced scientists and engineers. Long-
standing connections established over the years with outside institutions such as Army
Research Laboratory in Adelphi MD, EPIR Technologies in Bolingbrook IL, and
University of Illinois at Chicago would be lost. The Night Vision Laboratory works
closely with ITT Industries in Roanoke VA to supply the Army with equipment and
product development. Also lost would be the expertise and continuity of the staff's role in
initiating and managing research and development at US universities and industry,
especially in the small business sector. Materials development in this field primarily
resides with small companies. EPIR Technologies' and other small companies' potential
role as focal points for infrared materials research and development as well as becoming
the governments third source (together with the Night Vision Laboratory) to test and
evaluate infrared products could be threatened. Notable among the IR device
development companies are Rockwell Scientific, Raytheon, BAE Systems and DRS
Infrared Technologies. The Night Vision Laboratory played a major role in the
development, together with industry, of ENVG (Enhanced Night Vision Goggles) that
will soon be field tested by PEO Soldier. The Night Vision Laboratory also played a
major role in the development of DBFM (Dual Band Focal Planes) that are essential to
target identification and detection.
The attrition of night vision expertise from the Night Vision Laboratory will occur at a
time when the pace of investment and technology development by other nations is
accelerating. For example, the Shanghai Institute of Technology employs several
hundred scientists in the development of the semiconductor material that is at the very
heart of high performance infrared detectors. France is currently leading the world in the
production of epitaxial chambers for IR semiconductor production and Japan is now the
sole source for infrared substrates used in US high performance IR systems. In the
meantime, the US night vision industrial base has already declined substantially due to
profitability issues. I believe that the strong and uninterrupted leadership of the Night
Vision Laboratory is especially needed now to reverse these trends.
The movement of equipment from the lab will also result in lengthy delays in the
research and development endeavors of the Night Vision Laboratory due to the need to
re-optimize the facilities. The financial cost to do this would be substantial. Because the
Night Vision Laboratory is a laboratory and not an office-based operation, a new
laboratory must be built at Aberdeen. The cost of the new laboratory facilities is many
millions of dollars. These funds represent a net unrecoverable loss to the DoD. Andalthough there might seem to be synergy favoring the co-location of infrared and radio-
frequency sensor development, there is actually little fundamental overlap in theSiva Sivananthan- Director, Microphysics Laboratory
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Coalition Correspondence – Letter dated 06/21/05 to Chairman Principi from Dr. Siva Sivananthan, letter, July 12, 2005; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc17068/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.