In the Crosshairs
Tactical weapon sights grow in sophistication and enhance lethality. Warriors are about to get a sophisticated tactical weapon sight that will increase their deadly accuracy, and allow them to live up to their motto: ?one shot?one kill.?
By Patrick E. Clarke
In the late 1950s, Have Gun, Will Travel was a highly popular Western. Richard Boone starred as the dynamic ?Paladin,? a Renaissance man who also happened to be able to make a living with his brains, his fists and his gun. And what a gun it was. Paladin was able to use the large Colt revolver like a surgeon uses a scalpel, wounding people when he was feeling charitable and killing the really obnoxious villains with but a single shot, snapped off quickly and with deadly accuracy. Although he never seemed to use his sight much.
Over five decades later, real world warriors are about to get a sophisticated tactical weapon sight that will increase their deadly accuracy, and allow them to live up to their motto: ?one shot?one kill.? Those warriors are U.S. Marine Corps scout snipers. The Corps made an initial purchase of 575 scout sniper day scopes, manufactured by Schmidt and Bender, and assembled and distributed by Premiere Reticles of Winchester, VA, according to Major Allen Boothby, project officer, Scout Sniper Systems, Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC), Marine Corps Base, Quantico, VA.
?The three key features we look for in a scope are accuracy, durability and weight?with a balance to be struck trying to keep all three relative to each other,? explained Boothby. ?If the focus is too strong on one of these, the other two can suffer?although accuracy means confidence in the weapon system.?
The Scout Sniper Scope, a 3x12x50 rifle telescope with illuminated Generation II mil-dot reticle, will be designated the M8541 and will replace the Unertl 10X sniper telescope. ?Our intent is to place this telescope on all of our precision rifles, including the M40A3 (the M40A1 is being phased out), the M82A3 (which will be upgraded to the M107), and the DMR, eventually,? said Boothby.
The biggest advantage of the new scope is that it is variable-powered. ?At longer ranges the Marine scout sniper can go up to 12 power (an improvement on the 10X of the Unertl), and at shorter ranges, the Marine can set his optic at a much lower power, thus allowing him to increase his field of view inside the scope, and look at targets ?just across the street? more easily,? said Boothby.
?In addition, this scope features an illuminated reticle at the crosshairs allowing the sniper the option of lighting his crosshairs red during times of limited visibility, what snipers often refer to as the grey hours?dawn and dusk,? said Boothby. ?It will also feature the Generation II mil-dot reticle, which is based on suggestions made by Marine scout snipers over the years.?
The scout sniper day scope will be approximately the same weight as the Unertl Scope it?s replacing. ?Weight is crucial for a small team that already has to carry all the gear they need to survive for days on end,? said Boothby. ?We would not allow more weight, in this scope than we already were used to with a scope we had carried for 20 years,? said Boothby.
Another important factor used in evaluating scopes is eye relief. ?The distance from the shooter?s eye to the ocular lens which provides optimal viewing is called proper eye relief,? said Boothby. Eye relief should be at least two inches and preferably three inches according to Boothby. ?The proper eye position allows an entire field of view within the scope, so the sniper can see clearly from edge to edge,? explained Boothby.
During the course of the last year as Boothby was heading the search for a replacement for the Unertl Sniper telescope, he contacted over 20 optical companies worldwide. ?At the end of the day and after all the testing, I?m confident that we found one of the world?s best combat riflescope,? said Boothby.
Of course there are other companies that would take issue with that statement, such as Ann Arbor, MI-based Electro-Optics Technologies (EOTech), the maker of the HOLOgraphic Weapon Sight (HWS). ?We?ve been issued a contract that we?ll begin fulfilling in November and December, which will make the M550 HWS the standard Close Combat Optic (CCO) for all of U.S. Special Forces,? said John Bailey, a member of the technical sales support staff at EOTech.
The HWS is the first electro-optic sighting system to apply holographic technology in small- and medium-sized weapon platforms, according to a company brochure. F-14 Tomcats use holographic heads-up display technology and have proven that holographic sights are ideal for extremely fast, accurate target acquisition.
In holography, all the information required to reconstruct the reticle image is recorded everywhere in the heads-up display window. If the window is obstructed by mud, snow, rain, etc., the HWS remains fully operational, with point of aim/impact being maintained. Even in such extreme cases where the laminated window is shattered, the HWS is fully functional. As long as the operator can see through any portion of the window, the entire reticle pattern is visible on target, and accurate shooting is still possible.
?The rear glass is different than standard glass?the rear glass functions almost like photographic paper, recording the image,? said Bailey. ?There are hundreds of cells?and the image is recorded in every cell. When you power up, you turn on a laser diode which bounces off the back glass, allowing you to see the image everywhere,? said Bailey.
Wash out?extremely bright light such as that found in Arctic or desert conditions?can prevent a soldier from seeing the image in his weapon sight. But, that?s not a problem with the M550 HWS. The operator can use a toggle switch to go back and forth between the night vision (NV) mode and the normal day/night operations within fractions of a second. The M550 has 10 distinct night vision settings and a total of 20 normal brightness settings for normal day/night operations.
The HWS is the only military-grade close-quarter weapon optic to use the universally available AA batteries.
?We can also design any type of reticle,? said Bailey. ?We?ve made reticles specific to the needs of the weapon used by the soldier.? He continued, ?For example, we are capable of producing dual reticles?one for the M4 and one for the 203 grenade launcher that attaches to the M4.?
The HWS M550 has many other features that make it valuable to the military, but one of the main features emphasized by Bailey is that the HWS employs a true heads-up display that eliminates blind spots, constricted vision or the tunnel vision associated with tubed sights. Its 100 percent parallax free, so ?you can keep both eyes open and still maintain peripheral vision,? said Bailey. ?In urban warfare, being able to see all sides is a big advantage in the combat environment.?
Raytheon Company provides an advanced sight called the AN/PAS-13 Weapon Thermal Sight (WTS) to the U.S. Army. In June of this year, Raytheon presented the 25,000th AN/PAS-13 to Army official from Program Executive Office Soldier. In fact, Raytheon provides a family of thermal sights consisting of:
- AN/PAS-13 (V) 1 Light Weapon Thermal Sight for the M16 and M4 series rifles and carbines as well as the M136 light anti-armor weapon.
- AN/PAS-13 (V) 2 Medium Weapon Thermal Sight (MWTS) for the M249 and M240 series medium machine guns.
- AN/PAS-13 (V)3 Heavy Weapon Thermal Sight (HWTS) for the M16 and M4 series rifles and carbines squad leader?s weapon, M24 and M107 sniper rifles, M2 HB and MK19 weapons.
The thermal sight allows soldiers to see deep into the battlefield, increase surveillance and target acquisition range, and penetrate obscurants, day or night, according to a company brochure. The TWS family allows U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and special operations forces to ?own the night.?
Pius Boehn, director of soldier weapons and sensor systems for Raytheon, compares the AN/PAS-13 to the optics used by the AH-64A/D Apache attack helicopter.
?You can see at night as well as you can during the day,? said Boehn. The soldier can see heat changes and ?The signature is pretty consistent?humans and vehicles stand out very well.?
Vehicles often blow smoke to conceal themselves. That sort of ?smokescreen? won?t work against the AN/PAS-13. ?Because of is long wavelength energy, you can see through things like diesel smoke, which has been a big plus in Desert Storm and in Operation Iraqi Freedom,? explained Boehn.
The AN/PAS-13 has an eyecup with a magnetic switch that goes into standby mode when not being used, preserving batteries. ?The big challenge in man-portable equipment is power consumption,? said Boehn.
The standby mode is also a form of light security, so the soldier can?t be detected by way of the scope being lit when it?s not in use, according to Boehn.
Ruggedness is another high priority issue regarding battlefield equipment. ?When you put the AN/PAS-13 on an M4 or an M16 it?s like putting a small jackhammer on the bottom of the scope,? said Boehn. ?So, we have a weapon shock simulator that uses two air jack hammers to simulate the worst possible shock the weapon might go through.?
?These devices significantly improve the protection of our soldier and their ability to accomplish their missions,? said Major General Mike Taylor, 36th Infantry Division commanding general.
07-12-2006, 03:10 PM
In the Crosshairs
Posting Rules
Linear Mode
