Features
- Blue-green, infra-red secure output: the lamp lights in cyan, the blue-green colour that MIL-PRF-32215 sets for an infra-red secure blackout front driving lamp, with its emission held to the visible band.
- Low signature to night vision: very little near-infrared output, so the lamp is much less conspicuous to image intensifier night vision devices than a filament blackout drive lamp.
- Forward light under light discipline: gives the driver just enough light ahead to keep moving when the service headlamps are off and blackout drive is selected.
- Tan or green, one lamp: two part numbers that differ only in housing colour, so the lamp suits desert tan and green vehicle paint schemes without a change in light output or wiring.
- Two sizes in one blackout family: the 117 mm round lamp sits alongside a more compact blackout driving light (model 0550), so the integrator can choose the size that suits the front of the vehicle.
- No filament to fail: solid-state LED construction, with no filament to break under the shock and vibration of cross-country driving.
What is a 117 mm blackout driving light?
A blackout driving light is the forward lamp a military vehicle uses when it must move at night without its service headlamps. On US military vehicles the BO DRIVE position of the main light switch turns on all blackout lights, including the drive lamp, while the vehicle stays dark to anyone further away. It is one part of the vehicle’s blackout lighting, together with the blackout markers and the blackout stop light.
Traditional blackout drive lamps used a filament bulb, which turns less than 5% of its power into visible light and radiates most of the rest as infrared that night vision devices pick up. MIL-PRF-32215 therefore specifies an LED infra-red secure blackout front driving lamp with blue-green light, limited to the visible spectrum. This lamp is built to that principle in a round housing 117 mm across. It is one of our military blackout lights.
Part Numbers
| Part No. | Description |
|---|---|
| 0556132 | Blackout Driving Light, Tan, Cyan |
| 0556142 | Blackout Driving Light, Green, Cyan |
State the part number, or the housing colour and the quantity, in your enquiry.
Installation and Integration
The lamp surface mounts on the front of the vehicle and needs only a two-wire supply, positive and ground, from the blackout drive circuit. Because it takes 12 V and 24 V supplies, the same part number can be fitted across a mixed fleet of light and heavy vehicles. Check the connector against your harness at the enquiry stage.
Specifications
| Description | 117mm Cyan blackout driving light |
| Input Voltage | 12-24 V DC |
| Current Draw | 0.098A @ 12V DC, 0.057A @ 24V DC |
| Outer Lens Material | Polycarbonate |
| Outer Lens Colour | Clear |
| Housing Material | Polycarbonate |
| Housing Colour | Tan or Green |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Operating Temperature | -40°C to 85°C |
| Connector | Deutsch DT04-2P – DT06-2S |
| Wiring | Red: Positive, Black: Ground |
| Standards | IP67, MIL-PRF-32212A, MIL-PRF-32214, MIL-PRF-32215A, MIL-STD-461F |
A Low Infrared Signature in Blackout Drive
Blackout driving is about moving without being seen, and today the observer often looks through night vision. Third generation image intensifier tubes respond from about 600 nm to a little over 900 nm, a band that reaches well beyond what the human eye can see. A lamp that leaks light in that band can stand out through night vision even where it is hardly visible to the eye. MIL-PRF-32215 limits the emission of an infra-red secure blackout driving lamp to the visible spectrum and caps any peak between 700 and 1050 nm at 15% of the visible peak.
The lamp also has to live on a military vehicle. Radios and sensitive electronics share the vehicle’s power system, and MIL-STD-461 is the US standard that controls electromagnetic interference between equipment; this lamp is listed to revision F. The IP67 sealing keeps out dust and water during temporary immersion, which matters for a lamp on the front of a vehicle that fords and drives through mud.
Complete the Blackout Set
Where space on the front of the vehicle is tight, the compact cyan blackout driving light (model 0550) does the same job in left-hand and right-hand versions. For the blackout front marker, tail and stop functions, see our 60 mm blackout tail, stop and marker lights.
No exterior lights operate
Blackout marker lights operate
All blackout lights operate, including the blackout driving light
All service drive lights operate
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are infra-red secure blackout driving lights with blue-green output. The 117 mm lamp takes 12 V and 24 V supplies, has a polycarbonate housing in tan or green and is surface mounted. The compact model 0550 is a 24 V lamp with a black nylon housing, flange mounted and sold in left-hand and right-hand versions. Choose the 117 mm lamp for mixed 12 V and 24 V fleets or to match tan or green paint; choose model 0550 where space is tight on a 24 V vehicle.
No. It is a visible lamp, and blackout lighting still depends on light discipline: switch it on only when blackout drive is needed. Its infra-red secure design keeps emission out of the near infrared, where third generation tubes are most sensitive (from about 600 nm). Older second generation tubes respond from about 400 nm, which takes in blue-green light, so treat the lamp as visible to any observer close enough to see it.
MIL-PRF-32215A is the US performance specification for LED infra-red secure blackout front driving lamps, this lamp type. MIL-PRF-32212A and MIL-PRF-32214 are companion specifications of the same 2009 family, for LED rear composite lamps and front park and turn lamps with blackout functions. MIL-STD-461F covers electromagnetic interference; revision G (2015) is now current, so if your programme calls up a later revision of MIL-STD-461, raise it at the enquiry stage.
