Plugged into the right kind of gunsight, the ENVG-B will further superimpose cross-hairs telling the soldier exactly where his or her weapon is aimed. (The technical term here is Rapid Target Acquisition). Plugged into the Nett Warrior networking device, the ENVG-B can also display pointers showing the direction to friendly troops, reported enemies, and tactical objectives. Historically, to get all this information, a soldier would have to look at one device, then another, then another — weighing him down with gadgetry and potentially taking his eyes off potential threats as he looked down at a screen or compass.

The Army actually let reporters try on a helmet kitted out with the ENVG-B and counterbalancing battery pack. That was pretty gutsy considering (a) I’d already almost knocked a $10,000 sight off the table and (b) the ENVG-B costs even more, with the Army hoping to get its price below $23,000 a soldier.