Dual-capable Long And Short Range Optical Sights
The current trend toward light weight equipment has been driven by combat operations in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan. This has been driven by the difficulty of resupply due to remote locations, rugged tarrain and a shortage of helicopters. This drive to get weight down and get short and long range performance into the same package without the need to swap sights over, has resulted in some inovative solutions in sight design. Not all of these sights were created with military purposes in mind, but the military is quick to leverage civilian technology as never before.
The US military’s first general issue optical sight was the Aimpoint CompM2, which it adopted as the M68 Collimating Combat Optic (the first ‘C’ was subsequently changed to ‘Combat’). This was a great success and lead to the adoption of its successor, the CompM4 which was also designated the M68 CCO. The CompM4s had a much greater battery life getting 80,000 hours from a single AA alkaline battery and featured a mount which kept the sight aligned vertically and a more rugged adjustment knob. Even the CompM4, however, came in at 11.8 ounces with its integrated mount. Aimpoint were aware of a market for a much lighter unit and designed their Micro series with hunters, target shooters and police armed response teams as the potential customers. This was never intended for military use, but the NV capable Aimpoint T-1 Micro soon found its way into use with US forces. The T-1, inclusive of mount, weighs a mere 3.7 ounces. The price paid for this is the use of a 3.8 MoA dot, a less abundant CR2032 battery and a mere(!) 50,000 hour battery life. The T-1 is most often seen with the Aimpoint 3XMag 3X detachable magnifier wich results in a very versatile and lightweight package capable of utilizing the entire engagement envelope of the M4 carbine and M16A4 rifle. The main downside is that there is no facility to adjust for range and no range compensating reticle.
Another option favoured by the US Army is to take its M150 Rifle Combat Optic – itself an adaptation of the USMC’s AN/PVQ-31 series RCO, a variant of the Trijicon TA31 ACOG, and mount an L3 Insight Miniature Reflex Sight or MRS on top. The MRS will be issued to users of longer ranged weapons such as snipers and designated marksmen as a back-up for short range engagements. Earlier ACOGs had been used, including the TA01NSN with a built in peep and post peepsight and the TA01NSN-RMR with a piggybacked mounted RMR (Rugged Miniature Reflex) red dot sight. The combination of the M150 and MRS (which has yet to recieve a military designation) overcomes the Aimpoint’s lack of range compensation capability at long range and provides a very versatile combination.
L3 Eotech have not been sitting idle and have designed their own miniature solution. The Eotech EXPS3 holographic sight uses a CR123 transverse mounted battery and weighs in at 11.2 ounces. This uses a fighter-jet style HUD with all its attendent advantages of parallax elmination and situational awareness. There is now a variant with a four dot reticle to cater for ranges out to 600 meters and the sights are now available in a tan finish. The Eotech is seen as some as a less rugged alternative but SOCOM, the USAF PJs and various Army formations have adopted it in some numbers. Thousands have been privately purchased and turn up in pictures and video from Afghanistan on a daily basis. The Eotech G23.FTS magnifier flips to the side and converts the EXPS from short to medium/long range operation in an instant. A tan finish is offered on the magnifier too, to match the terrain in the most likely theatres of operation.
Sightmark Sure Shot Reflex Sight…A red dot review from Dr. Nastyy