Kauffmann-Bremin (KB) – housing manufacturer profile

Part of the housing manufacturers section of the night vision database. Compare all models in the housings database.

Company profile

Kauffmann-Bremin (KB) is a European defence-optics company that designs, builds and supports image-intensified night vision. It trades as KB Europe S.à r.l. and is based in Niederanven, Luxembourg. The company describes itself as built on a decade of hands-on night vision experience. According to its website, its activities include research and development in Luxembourg, image intensifier and lens production, and an office in Panama for the Americas.

KB’s first product, the DT-2 binocular, was released on 4 July 2025; according to KB it went through military trials with special and regular forces in Europe. Its successor, the DT-M, was announced exactly one year later, on 4 July 2026.

Founders

• Alexander Bremin – co-founder, responsible for product strategy and technology. According to his own account he started building night vision devices as a 14-year-old in 2009, and he has built and repaired night vision since his teens.
• Dean Kauffmann – co-founder, responsible for industrial design and manufacturing. He trained in Switzerland and specialises in additive manufacturing. He and Bremin are childhood friends.

Design lineage: from the DTNVG to KB

The two founders have a long design history together. In his own posts on Medium, Alexander Bremin describes how the DTNVG dual-tube binocular housing came about:

• Summer 2013: Bremin sketched the first version of a dual-tube binocular housing.
• 2014: together with Dean Kauffmann he turned the sketch into a CAD model and a first 3D print.
• 2015: they added automatic on/off using magnets and hall-effect sensors, and tensioned hinges.
• The design became the DTNVG, built at Bremin’s previous employer.

In a separate post, Dean Kauffmann describes his part of the design: an owl-inspired form, offset angled arms that let the binocular fold compactly and stow low, and a control knob styled after 1970s Sony equipment.

Bremin left his previous employer in 2023. In his own account he writes that, after a disagreement about his outside activities, “They gave me an ultimatum.” He resigned the following day. Source: Alexander Bremin’s account on Medium (June 2023). He then co-founded KB with Dean Kauffmann.

Housings

KB DT-2

Released on 4 July 2025, the DT-2 is an articulating dual-tube binocular in a high-density injection-moulded polymer housing made in Europe, with an integrated aluminium dovetail. Dealers describe it as keeping the familiar silhouette of the DTNVG while adding durability and usability changes. It deliberately has no onboard IR. According to Bremin, no unit from the production batch has been returned.

• Type: binocular (articulating)
• Introduced: Released 4 July 2025
• Tube format: 18 mm MX-10160 (dealer data)
• Weight: 557 g with standard mil-spec optics and battery (dealer data)
• Power: 1x CR123A, about 25 h (dealer data)
• Waterproofing: Immersion-rated; published figures differ between sources
• Materials: High-density injection-moulded polymer, made in Europe; aluminium dovetail (dealer data)
• Mount / interface: Integrated aluminium dovetail
• Features: Large glove-friendly on/off lever; Pods switch off when rolled out of view; unit switches off when stowed; Very low stow from the angled-arm design; Friction-lock IPD and low-battery indicator
• Status: In production
• Data: Maker + dealer data

KB DT-M (Dual Tube Modular)

Announced on 4 July 2026, the DT-M is a sealed articulating binocular. KB says it adds the three features users asked for most: manual gain, external power and onboard IR. Its central idea is the patent-pending AsymMCS magnetic control system. The switches on the outside are magnets, read by solid-state sensors inside, so no holes are needed through the housing for switches; the system also detects and corrects magnetic interference. Each function has its own control – IR on the left arm, power in the centre, a manual-gain slider on the right arm – usable with gloves, in the cold and under water. Bremin argues that dedicated controls are easier to use under stress than button sequences or a shared rotary knob.

• Type: binocular (articulating, sealed)
• Introduced: Announced 4 July 2026
• Tube format: 18 mm and 16 mm; manual gain with 3- and 4-pad tubes
• Weight: 496 g with RPO PVS-14 optics
• Power: 1x CR123 or 1x AA, 25 h at 18 °C; external power 1.5–5.5 V via a waterproof USB-compatible connector with automatic switchover; adapters for Fischer-style, ANVIS Lemo-style and USB-C packs
• Waterproofing: Immersion 20 m for 2 h; MIL-STD-810H
• Features: AsymMCS sealed magnetic controls (patent pending); Manual gain with left/right calibration; Onboard IR, external power and service port
• Status: Current model (announced July 2026)
• Data: Maker (KB press release)

Night Gear Solutions is currently putting the DT-M through its own professional testing before adding it to the range. See the DT-M at Night Gear Solutions

DT-M vs DT-2: what changed

The table compares the two KB models using KB’s figures for the DT-M and the published DT-2 figures. Weights are given with the optics stated by each source, so they are not a like-for-like comparison.

What KB highlights

• Sealed housing: the magnetic controls need no holes through the housing for switches (per KB).
• Field serviceability and reliability: KB designs for service in the field; according to Bremin, no DT-2 from the production batch has been returned.
• One port for everything external: power from common battery packs and service access through the same sealed connector (per KB).
• Design continuity: the same designers as the original DTNVG housing.

Sources

• kauffmann-bremin.com – manufacturer
• KB DT-M press release KB-PR-001 Rev A (kauffmann-bremin.com)
• defence-catalogue.luxinnovation.lu – official registry/catalogue (Luxinnovation defence catalogue)
• Introducing the KB DT-M Night Vision Binoculars (medium.com)
• DTNVG How it All Began (medium.com)
• From Sketch to Dual Tubes (medium.com)
• Alexander Bremin’s account on Medium (June 2023)
• medium.com – founder blog index (Medium)

Last checked: 9 November 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us in the forum.