As the Commander in a tank or armoured vehicle, the ability to make quick, accurate decisions is vital, but to perform in such a way, an intimate knowledge of the surrounding environment is necessary. It is for this reason that armoured vehicles used for reconnaissance or battle situations these days typically boast a variety of externally mounted cameras - near-infrared, night-vision, thermal-imaging among them - to relay as much outside information as possible to those inside the cabin. For today's military, the trend is increasingly to gain situational awareness and fire from within the comparative safety of the vehicle, which means there are more remotely operated cameras and weapons stations on every type of military vehicle, and a commensurate increase in the information displayed inside.
