Bright Sight: the BİTES see-through-armor system
Quick answer: Bright Sight is the electro-optical see-through-armor system developed by BİTES, a subsidiary of Turkish defense electronics manufacturer ASELSAN. The system transfers 360-degree camera imagery from an armored vehicle to smart glasses worn by the crew inside, allowing personnel to see their surroundings as if the vehicle’s armor were not there. Tactical symbols from the command and control system and vehicle data such as speed and fuel level are overlaid on the image. The company presents the system as a cost-effective solution to the loss of situational awareness that occurs when hatches are closed.
What is see-through-armor vision?
The crew of an armored vehicle largely loses its view of the surroundings as protection levels rise, because window areas shrink and hatches stay closed. See-through-armor systems combine imagery from electro-optical and thermal cameras placed on the vehicle and pass it to a head-mounted display, calculated according to the direction the wearer is looking. Personnel can therefore see the ground behind the armor without interruption while looking out from inside the vehicle.
How does Bright Sight work?
According to the official product page, the system displays video streams from the Enhanced 360-Degree Close-Range Surveillance System according to the user’s viewing angle. The head and viewing angle of the crew inside the vehicle is continuously calculated; geo-referenced data and tactical symbols from the command and control information system (C2IS) are overlaid at their true coordinates on the image in the direction of view. The system can also display data from the vehicle control system such as speed, fuel level and engine temperature, and can present external video sources and raster and vector maps taken from geographic information systems.
| Component | Function |
|---|---|
| Augmented reality module | Overlaying symbols and data on the image |
| Image processing | Merging of camera streams |
| Head and viewing angle detection | Image selection according to the crew member’s direction of view |
| C2IS integration | Display of operational data at true coordinates |
| In-vehicle system integration | Platform data such as speed, fuel and engine temperature |
Its relationship with the Video Management System
Bright Sight works in the same architectural chain as the company’s Video Management System. The Video Management System takes the streams of the electro-optical and thermal cameras on the vehicle and shows them to personnel in merged, sectored or single format; it offers moving object detection and picture-in-picture (PiP), and supports UDP, RTP and RTSP streams and the H264 and MJPEG formats. According to the official page, if the cameras provide 360-degree coverage of the vehicle, the merged stream is passed to augmented reality glasses to deliver the capability of seeing beyond the armor. The data infrastructure on the vehicle side is completed by the ALTAY Data Management System, based on the NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture; that product was integrated onto the ALTAY main battle tank, Turkey’s domestically developed tank, in 2023 and is described in detail in the product guide.
Operational value
Driving with hatches closed has become standard in urban operations and under sniper and improvised explosive device threat. In these conditions the driver’s and commander’s view of the surroundings is limited to periscopes and small windows. See-through-armor vision gives the vehicle commander a scan of the surroundings before engagement, the driver support in maneuvering and the gunner a common picture for target handover. On the Video Management System side, recording on demand and image distribution according to authorization level also answer the need for post-mission analysis and evidence. In which operating environments the systems have been tested has not been officially disclosed.
Which vehicles can it be used on?
The company states that the system can exchange data with all systems on armored vehicles, but does not disclose the platforms it has been integrated onto. In Turkey, the ALTAY tank and new-generation armored vehicle programs are assessed as natural candidate platforms for this class of system; there is no official integration announcement. On the crew training side, virtual maintenance and mission simulator solutions sit in the same portfolio; the counterpart worn by the soldier is the augmented reality glasses of ATOK.
Frequently asked questions
What is Bright Sight for?
It gives armored vehicle crews 360-degree situational vision and a tactical data overlay while hatches are closed.
What data does the system display?
Camera imagery, C2IS tactical symbols, vehicle data such as speed, fuel and engine temperature, external video and maps.
Which vehicles use Bright Sight?
Not officially disclosed; the company states that it is suitable for integration independent of vehicle type.
Are thermal cameras supported?
Yes; the system processes electro-optical and thermal camera imagery together.
How does it differ from the Video Management System?
The Video Management System gathers streams and distributes them to displays; Bright Sight carries that stream to the glasses according to the viewing angle and enriches it with augmented reality.
Sources and verification note
- https://bites.com.tr/tr/products — Bright Sight official product page: working principle, components (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- https://bites.com.tr/tr/products — Video Management System official product page: format and stream support (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- https://bites.com.tr/tr/products — ALTAY Data Management System page: NGVA architecture, 2023 ALTAY integration (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- SSB 2026 Product Catalog — see-through-armor vision and image management system entries
The platforms the system has been integrated onto, its procurement status and its price have not been disclosed, so no estimates have been made in this file; the “candidate platform” assessment is the author’s inference.
