[¤[4thPHiL]¤ Machalnik]

[quote="Sgt Stryker":ee2fe]
The first US night scope was developed by Vietnam, so I guess either the Germans lied or they did a good job destroying all traces of this scope so that neither the Americans nor the Russians copied them by the Korean War.[/quote:ee2fe]

To be more accurate.. The US did develop and field an infra-red "night scope" during WW2. Designated the "T3" and the later "M3" infra-red sighting devices. The M3 model was the design that would find use in Korea (again in limited numbers).
[url:ee2fe]http://www.ugca.org/ugca0101/ugca0101main.htm[/url:ee2fe] you'll find a photo of each mounted to M1 Carbines about half way down the page. The caption list the range at "about 135 yards". I think they we're most commonly used by paratrooper commando units, tho there use was very limited.

It's german counterpart.. ZG 1229 "Vampir Nachtjaeger" was a "portable" (and I use that term loosely) version of the infra-red devices that were deployed on a limited number of "Night Panther" tanks and "Uhu" observation vehicles. These also found only limited use.
[url:ee2fe]http://www.achtungpanzer.com/ir.htm[/url:ee2fe]

Now these scopes were not the same "night vision" as is in use today, rather they consisted of an infra-red illumination beam that would light the target with infra-red light. The shooter then could see the lighted target through the coupled infra-red spectrum scope. "Starlight" night vision, the method of collecting all available light and amplifying it to a useful amount (the technology used in modern night vision) was not really in use until Nam... but there were infra-red night vision devices in limited use in WW2 and Korea.