MKU NW-3000 night vision: The Indian Army will receive its first MKU NW-3000 night vision weapon sights by the end of 2026. MKU, a company based in Kanpur, will first deliver around 4,000 units. This is the first batch of a much bigger order for Indian-made night vision sights.
The total order covers 29,762 sights and was signed in October 2025. The deal is worth about ₹660 crore, or around $62.1 million. The first 4,000 sights are the opening phase, while the rest will be delivered later. MKU said the contract is one of the biggest electro-optics orders ever placed by the Indian Army.
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What the NW-3000 is made for?
The NW-3000 comes from MKU’s Netro series. It is a Generation 3 image intensifier sight, which means it can gather weak light and help a soldier see in the dark. The sight is meant for the Army’s 7.62x51mm SIG 716 assault rifle. It fits on a normal MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail, so the rifle does not need any change before the sight is fixed on it. The unit also has an infrared illuminator for very dark places where even moonlight or starlight is not enough.
MKU says the sight gives a wider field of view than older devices. That makes it easier for a soldier to keep watch over the ground ahead without moving too much. The company also says each unit is backed for 10 years or 10,000 hours, whichever comes first. Along with the hardware, the Army will also get 10 years of maintenance and training support.
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Range and Trials
The NW-3000 has different spotting ranges for people and vehicles.
- Human target: Detect up to 500 metres, recognise up to 300 metres, and identify up to 100 metres.
- Vehicle or larger target: Detect up to 600 metres, recognise up to 400 metres, and identify up to 150 metres.
- Operational advantage: These ranges give soldiers more time to spot and react to threats before they come closer.
Before the order was cleared, the sight went through nearly a year of field trials with the Ministry of Defence. It was tested in high-altitude areas, extreme heat, and sub-zero cold. That means it was checked in the same kind of tough weather Indian troops face in real deployments.
The purchase was then cleared under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category, which supports indigenously designed and manufactured defence gear.
The project has more than 51% indigenous content and is being delivered with Medbit Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
