Meopta Klára

The Meopta Klára is a mid-1990s Czech army biocular night vision device (NVD). It was designed by a French company and licensed to Meopta (a historic Czech optics manufacturer) for mass military deployment. It served as a vital, budget-friendly observation tool for the Czech military.

The Klára was created as a standard-issue night vision goggle (NVG) for infantry soldiers as the Czech military integrated into NATO. It is a biocular device, meaning it has a single objective lens that splits the image into two eyepieces. This reduces cost and weight while providing comfortable two-eye viewing. The Meopta Klára uses military-grade 43mm Gen 2 image intensifier tubes (typically XD4) with a Figure of Merit (FOM) between 1120 and 1400. It provides a wide 50-degree field of view and is powered by a single AA battery, giving the soldier about 20 hours of use. Featuring a built-in infrared (IR) illuminator for seeing in pitch darkness, the Klára was often issued with a bulky 4x afocal magnifier for long-distance scouting and a special mount to connect it to a Leica Vector device for nighttime distance and azimuth measuring. While superseded by newer, lighter technology, the Klára remains popular as a budget-friendly or surplus entry-level NVG. A related monocular version, the monoKlára, was later developed specifically for elite Czech scouting units.