Formation at night

[F-16GUY]

Cralis,

To add to what BV said, night formation, both with and without NVG's, requires a very vigilant lookout, as depth perception is greatly reduced at night. Furthermore the pilot needs to have a good instrument scan going on at the same time, using all available systems to ensure safe separation of the aircraft. The exception is when flying close formation. Here the pilot will use the other aircraft as reference by looking at the different lights or by looking at the entire aircraft through the NVG's.

Some aircraft like the F-16 have both external and cockpit lights that are NVIS/NVG friendly. On the F-16 the external light can be selected to normal, covert and off. In covert mode, there are no lights showing from underneath the aircraft and the lights that are showing are only visible through NVG's. In the cockpit, most instruments, panels and screens are capable of either normal or NVIS mode. The pilot can switch between normal and NVIS lightning in the cockpit by pressing the Hands On Black Out (HOBO) switch on the throttle. The benefits of NVIS light in the cockpit is that the glare in the canopy is greatly reduced, which in turn gives the pilot much improved vision outside the aircraft through the NVG's. Furthermore, selecting NVIS mode will make the aircraft less visible from the outside. in my air-force NVG's are only allowed in VMC conditions as the risk of Spatial-D is very high if the horizon is not visible or if the aircraft lights cast shadows on the clouds surrounding the aircraft. If the pilot enters IMC conditions he is to select goggles up or to degoggle completely and revert to instrument flying.
The pilot will look underneath the NVG's when looking inside the cockpit (ie. when cross checking instruments or looking at the screens. In the F-16 community, T/O and LDG with NVG's is not allowed as NVG's deprives the pilot from depth perception completely (it is already greatly reduced at night without NVG's).

In the F-16 community NVG's are considered the biggest killer, as the risk of midairs and Spatial-D is very high if sound procedures and technics are not followed. One great improvement that we have got a while ago is the NVCD's, which enables the same features as the Helmet Mounted Cueing System (HMCS) through the NVG's. NVCD's along with Link 16 will greatly enhance the pilots situational awareness on other formation members/opponents/ground tracks, making both close and tactical formation flight at night almost as easy as in daytime.