Searchlight

A searchlight was an apparatus that combines an extremely luminous source (such as a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector that projects a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so it could be swiveled around. It was generally used within the military as a security device to detect enemy aircraft and/or any potential intruders during times where visibility was very low, such as during the night time.

Usage
On the night of September 1, 1964, GRU personnel stationed at Groznyj Grad utilized searchlights, which Naked Snake had to evade while infiltrating the massive fortress so he could neutralize and impersonate the base's second-in-command, Major Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov. He later had to evade the searchlights while escaping the prison upon being caught.

While infiltrating the United States Naval Prison Facility in Cuba to rescue Paz Ortega Andrade and Chico on March 15, 1975, Big Boss had to evade various searchlights near the refugee camps as well as the Admin Building.

Floodlights served a similar purpose for various outposts and guard posts in both Africa and Afghanistan, as well as for various vehicles.

Solid Snake, when infiltrating Shadow Moses Island during the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005, had to evade various searchlights that were present at the heliport near the Tank Hangar of the island.

Behind the scenes
Searchlights were a recurring concept in the

Although searchlights themselves don't appear in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, they were considered to be used near the Zanzibar Building, and were cut late enough in development to retain a radio conversation from Roy Campbell dealing with the matter in the dummied data. In addition, their presence in the game was implied by the screen gradually growing brighter as the player traverses toward the Zanzibar Building.

Searchlights first appeared in Metal Gear Solid.

According to Hideo Kojima in his commentary for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the presence of searchlights during the first trek into Groznyj Grad was meant to be an homage to the opening for Metal Gear Solid.

Searchlights also appear in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, where they frequently acted as a potential hazard for the player, although the player can shut them off or use them to stun an enemy long enough to take them out. In addition, in Jamais Vu and Deja Vu, the player can utilize special searchlights to "create" the logos for Kojima Productions and the then-in-development Kojima Productions Los Angeles. The latter also required that the player grab a box to recreate a scene. The former had the onboard floodlight for the MSF chopper be used to help Raiden identify swarming Body-Snatchers.