Amazing how far we have come!
What is even more interesting is that military flashlights had not changed much at all since WWII until recently! Of course SF came in during the 1980's "Laser Products" era, but that was a due to the needs of police agencies rather than the military.
Typically, you see high-technology being driven by an initial military need that is later developed for civilian applications. (i.e. microwaves, transistors, computers, etc). I suppose that it is possible that military needs emphasized operations in a LACK of light. And it is due to this understanding that there had been developments in night vision and large-scale illumination (flares).
Until recently, close-quarters battles were not a big part of military doctrine for the USA, and hence the need for compact illumination was not a .mil need. I do think that SF has done a great job with coming up with really great and beneficial products from the military such as the small helmet-mounted lights and the Nitrolon series of lights (which I believe were developed to lower costs for defense-contract bidding). Today, you can see the benefit of SF gaining military contracts as they have introduced IR LEDs and increasingly powerful weapon mounted lights. As the military continues to contract with SF, one can only expect more developments. One area that you DO see right now is the use of IR LED beacons on "good guys" so that soldiers in firefights at night, don't accidentally shoot one of their buddies. This is a neat "IFF" feature that is going to save lives
What I would only expect to replace the old anglehead lights of the past would probably be something along the lines of a G2L with maybe 3 output settings, a fixed reflector optimized for flood and throw, with an LED that emits in the IR range. Specifically, I would expect it to be a development of the new nitrolon lights aimed at firefighters. The next development that I would expect, would be employment of the new multi-color LEDs to offer switching from white, to red, to IR only.
I have to toot my own horn on my predictions as when asked "what is the future of LEDs" thread last year, I was the first, and maybe only person to predict the development of multiple color LEDs on one die.
I was pretty stoked to see them come out with the Quark RGB a few months back.
Additionally, I believe that investment and development of "green" technologies will drive LED tech even further. Right now, it is the demand for flat TV's that is driving the core technology behind the bulbs.
