How ARDs Work
2020 Apr 17th
Being seen can mean being hit
Being detected because of reflections has resulted in the loss of personnel, the failure of missions... and even changed the course of battles. ARDs (Anti-Reflection Devices) use a high-tech honeycomb material and unique geometry to provide a low-cost, retrofittable and field practical way to hide reflections from optical surfaces... without loss of resolution and with minimal light loss. Tenebraex’s® ARDs are used by U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Special Forces.
Camouflage your optics!
Modern optics can be a powerful assistance in observation and targeting, but reflections from those same optics can generate a strong signature that can give away your location to even an untrained, technologically unsophisticated observer. We have become an optically-driven military.
Modern optical systems produce the highest quality images, give protection from an enemy’s offensive lasers and allow troops to see and target at night and even into the thermal range. Unfortunately these same optics also have the ability to betray their own position by reflected light.
The traditional way to shield an optic from glint is to use a long, tubular lens shade. The problem is, if a shade is long enough to effectively shield the optic from glint, it can be too long and bulky for practical use in the field.
Tenebraex® ARDs work by a clustering a large number tiny tubes into a honeycomb-like grid. The length-to-width ratio of these tubes has a certain selected relationship to the field of view of the optical system. With this unique geometry, there is no vignetting or reduction in the field-of-view, any loss in resolution is imperceptible... and glint is eliminated.
Tenebraex® ARDs also act to shield the interior of an optic from the sun's rays, thus reducing internal glare and making for a clearer view when looking up-sun.
Tenebraex® ARDs work well on visible light optics such as rifle scopes and binoculars, as well as on night vision optics and thermal sights.
Tenebraex® ARDs are currently deployed and in use by U.S. military forces, police and anti-terrorist teams, as well as by serious hunters and sports shooters.