ELCAN wins Major Optic Sight Contract for US Military

Posted: 04-Jul-2007
International Defence Review - September 01, 2007
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Andrew White

Ernst Leitz Canada (ELCAN) Optical Technologies, a subsidiary of Raytheon, has been awarded a contract to supply the US armed forces with around 50,000 optical sights as part of a flexible toolkit for their small-arms inventory.

In a contract worth an undisclosed amount, ELCAN will supply the US Army with an additional tranche of 35,000 M145 weapon sights for use with the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M60 and M240B machine guns and 81 mm mortar system. The Canadian-based company has already supplied the army with 50,000 M145 sights. The M145 gives 3.4X magnification and 8º field-of-view (FoV), weighs 683 g and is also in use with Canadian forces.

ELCAN has also been contracted to supply 14,500 SpecterDR (Dual Role) optical sights for the US special forces' Special Operations Peculiar Modifications (SOPMOD) kit.

Destined to make up part of the SOPMOD 'pick and choose' toolkit for special forces operators, the 'Quick Targeting' SpecterDR has been designated as the SU-230/PVS Articulated Telescope and has already seen active service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also satisfying US Navy Crane's requirement for a close-quarter battle (CQB) sight, SpecterDR can switch from 4X magnification (with 6.5º FoV) to 1X CQB 'both eyes open' magnification (26º FoV) by means of a simple throw lever on the side of the sight.

Also capable of housing a clip-on 'red dot' sight, SpecterDR has a fixed emergency battlesight on the side of the optic, giving an operator an immediate choice of four sighting systems. The illuminated red dot and ballistic reticle can be turned on and off as well as having their intensity reduced or increased.

ELCAN's business development manager for weapon sights, Peter Cheshire, told Jane's: "In Afghanistan and Iraq, troops are complaining of headaches because of [optics'] lights and pipes.

"The benefit of this new technology is that it allows the infantryman to approach an unknown building using the sight in 4X to closely ascertain and identify any potential threats, then switch the sight to 1X as the building is entered for fast, close combat, both-eyes-open mode," Cheshire said.

However, weighing in at 630 g, ELCAN's SpecterDR sight is more than twice as heavy as the Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG) as used by the US military and the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) FIST (Future Infantry Soldier Technology) evaluation team.

The sight is being further evaluated by special forces in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, according to ELCAN, and the UK MoD has allocated SpecterDR as NSN 1240-99-362-4729 as part of its trials for the FIST programme.

ELCAN also revealed that it was looking into developing its sporting sight, known as Digital Hunter, for the military market.

"Now you're looking at the digital solution of putting a video camera on top of a rifle and calling it a rifle sight," Chesire explained.

Soldiers have shown solid interest in using such a system, with its varying magnifications of between 2.5X and 13.5X, according to ELCAN.

A digital reticle within the sight would mean it could be downloaded on to a computer and altered to suit various rifle and ballistic requirements for different missions. Similarly, the sight will be able to automatically compensate for targets at distances beyond 100 m, where a rifleman must aim above his desired point of impact to counter the 'bullet drop' of a round.

Similarly, the digital optic will be able to record what it sees on a continuous feed and any recoil will automatically trigger an immediate burst recording of the system's view over the previous five to 10 seconds back to an operations room or headquarters.

"Because it's digital, [Digital Hunter] can record data on a memory card and send it back to base. A headquarters can also see what four or five people are looking at at any one time with a squad out on patrol or a counterterrorist team surrounding a hostage, for example," Cheshire concluded.

© 2007 Jane's Information Group