"Historic Night-Vision Contract" Between Exosens (Photonis) and Theon Sensors - Takeaways

*The following article is not AI generated, we are actual night vision experts with informed opinions on the industry who like to write*

Earlier in December 2025, Exosens, the parent company of Photonis, announced a "historic night vision contract" in a press release in conjunction with Theon Sensors and a consortium of defense-related entities and European governments. The primary end customer related to the deal is Germany and its armed forces. Theon will reportedly supply some 100,000 of its Mikron night vision devices using Photonis tubes over a number of years as a result, which will require a supply of at least 200,000 image intensifier tubes from Photonis/Exosens.

From the Exosens press release:

"Exosens and Theon International announce the signing of a contract with OCCAR for 100,000 night-vision MIKRON binoculars, embedding 200,000 Exosens tubes for a total value of approximately €500 million, the largest firm night-vision agreement to date and major step for European Defence capabilities.

Confirmed trust and large-scale European adoption

The signature of this agreement reflects the confidence placed in Exosens and Theon International by the German Ministry of Defence and OCCAR. This contract requires deliveries of the Mikron binocular, powered by Exosens 16 mm tubes. Theon has committed to more than 400,000 Image Intensifier Tubes (IIT) from Exosens through the latest extension of the Long-Term Commercial Agreement (LTCA) between the two companies announced on 3 December 2025.

This contract also confirms the large-scale adoption of Exosens’ 16 mm tube-based technology, which combines lightweight design with unmatched performance, by NATO forces across Europe. As early as 2015, Germany emerged as a pioneer in night-vision by identifying the potential of this technology, laying the groundwork for a new European standard that has since been adopted by several nations, including Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, and Poland.

A strategic vision: “One soldier, one goggle”

This contract meets a broad strategic objective of European armed forces. “One soldier, one goggle” is aimed at enabling each soldier to benefit from advanced night-vision capabilities, thereby enhancing operational effectiveness and situational awareness. This approach underscores a commitment to leveraging state-of-the-art technologies to support missions under evolving security conditions."

Relevance to U.S. Commercial Market

While this is maybe one of the biggest, if not the biggest, night vision related contract ever, it's relevance to the U.S. market is uncertain - mainly because the deal appears to exclusively be for 16mm image intensifier tubes. These are smaller than traditional Gen 3 18mm tubes which represent probably 99% of tubes sold in the U.S. and 100% of tubes used by the United States military in the Gen 3 architecture. 

Still, such significant numbers of what are otherwise traditional image intensification technology tubes does have some kind of global impact, everywhere. When tubes need to be produced - especially in the overall quantities involved in this deal - there inevitably are excess quantities that result, and these often are the types of things that get sold on commercial markets. It's possible that this contract alone could help push the 16mm tube more significantly onto the U.S. market. This seems a bit unlikely however given that there currently is no appetite for 16mm and that marketing effort would have to be created first for it to even make sense to try to bring in quantities of 16mm tubes.

If Photonis production for regular 18mm tubes is somehow impacted by this, there could easily be a scenario where the commercial market in the U.S. is simply taking what it can get, and that might be 16mm tubes only. Time will tell.

Image Intensification is Not Only Still Dominant, It's Growing

It's highly interesting the backdrop of this deal as well - with the mention of a strategic European vision for every soldier to be issued night vision (presumably image intensified night vision too, by the sound of it). 

Of course, nothing says this vision couldn't also be fulfilled by digital night vision systems, but making such a sizeable commitment for image intensification over a fairly lengthy period of time is telling on the state of image intensification versus digital night vision technologies in the world of infantry operations. It appears use of image intensification tech for night vision is growing thanks to building interest in defense spending across both Europe and the United States, despite purported advancements in digital from programs like Eagle Eye from Anduril announced a few months back. 

Regardless of how it plays out, things are certainly heating up in the world of night vision. Exosens currently is involved in the competition for the U.S. Army's BiNOD contract for a new binocular night vision system, and has already announced the intent to invest in a U.S. manufacturing site for 'made in America' image intensifier tubes earlier this year. All of this activity has major implications for the commercial market in the U.S. for the average individual, but as usual the impacts aren't entirely clear yet.