Eyes On The Red Dot
TECHNOLOGY ENABLERS AND RESPONSIVENESS TO WARFIGHTERS’ REQUIREMENTS BOLSTER USE OF RED DOT SYSTEMS.
Red dot sights are being fielded in increasing numbers with SOF and other military units around the globe. As these systems and their variants help warfighters survive the rigors of closequarter battle (CQB) situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, industry continues to introduce technology upgrades and new products across this equipment portfolio.
SOME BASICS
Red dot systems are a mature, yet evolving, technology. Ultra Dot Distribution, one industry mainstay, notes on its Website that the namesake product’s creator “developed the world’s first red dot sight nearly 30 years ago.”
The systems’ optics operate on the principal of visualizing a red dot inside the sight being superimposed to the image of a target, rather than being actually projected onto the target itself, as in a laser system. As a result, red dot sights have no direct signature—providing no warning to the target. Red dot optics are envisioned for use from close-quarter situations up th-rough 200- to-300 meters (218-to-328 yards).
Red dot systems and their variant products remain of special interest to SOF worldwide. One evolving product line has Mini- Red Dot (MRD) sights, “which are secondary optics mounted onto weapons as backup sighting systems,” pointed out Lieutenant Commander Marc Boyd, USSOCOM spokesman. “For instance the Enhanced Combat Optical Sight–Carbine (ECOS-C) SU-230/PVS produced by ELCAN Optical Technologies has a mount capable of adding an MRD on top. SOF has mounted MRDs on just about every conceivable weapon, from pistols to shoulder-fired weapons, to assist in fast target acquisition at close range or hasty target engagement for suppression,” he added.
A number of products provide an insight into the evolving state of the technology. Some trends support the use of red dot sights with night vision devices. Other developments bolster the scopes’ battery technology, the quest for lighter-weight versions of a unit, and other enhancements.
SIMPLY THROWING THE LEVER
ELCAN is providing “about 16,000 SpecterDR (Dual Role) optical sights for the USSOCOM Special Operations Peculiar Modification [SOPMOD] kit,” said Peter Cheshire, business development manager, weapon sights.
The ELCAN sight is designated the SU-230/PVS articulated telescope.
The technology development embodied in this sight enables the ground warrior to use a 4x magnification (with a 6.5 degree field-of -view (FoV)) in a street or other outdoor urban venue for long-range target identification and precision marksmanship capability out to 1,000 meters (see accompanying article), and shift to a 1x CQB with “both eyes open” (26 degree FOV) setting, by simply throwing the lever on the side of the scope.
“The ballistically compensated reticle is illuminated by means of a high efficiency, resonant cavity red light emitting diode [LED],” noted Cheshire. “The LED illumination switch, when turned in one direction five different illumination of a ‘red dot’ aiming that attracts the eye the precise point of impact. The opposite direction of rotation of the switch provides five levels of illumination of the whole reticle allowing dawn, dusk and night shooting of the sight. Both of these LED settings have levels that are compatible with image intensified night vision equipment,” he added.
At press time the SpecterDR remained under evaluation by SOF in the U.K. and Australia.
Other enhancements are being introduced on both sides of the Atlantic.
ARRAY OF INNOVATIONS
The Swedish firm Aimpoint reports one recent breakthrough in its use of batteries for electronic-powered sights. Their advanced consumption compared to other light sources. Accordingly, the ACET sights last nearly 50,000 hours (on a setting of 7 out of 10) on a single AA-type battery, which is reportedly 49,000 hours more than other competitive sights on the same setting.
In February 2007, Aimpoint introduced its new Micro-series of three compact electronic red dot sights. The Micro T-1 is of special interest to the warfighter. The T-1 device is reported to be suitable for use on rifles, carbines, shotguns, submachine guns and handguns. Each of the three Micro-series sights is a nonmagnifying, parallax-free optic that features a 4 MOA red dot for fast target acquisition.
Schmidt & Bender’s proprietary Flashdot technology provides an illuminated red dot projected precisely at the center of the reticle. “This is not a typical illuminated reticle system where part of the reticle actually lights up, but rather a projected image made possible through a highly sophisticated prism design,” pointed out Mark Cromwell, president, Schmidt & Bender Inc.
One attribute of the company’s Flashdot-based products provides another example of how industry is better enabling the warfighter to operate in even the harshest of environmental conditions.
“The Flashdot intensity is user-controlled from ‘off’ (in which case the reticle functions normally) to ‘fully bright’, with 11 separate click stops. The illumination control is located in a third turret on the left side of the scope. Settings one through three are very low intensity, for use with night vision devices. Settings four through six are moderate intensity for low light conditions such as dawn and dusk. Settings seven through eleven are very bright, for use in daylight, snow, sand and other conditions,” explained Cromwell.
At the lower intensity levels it functions like the illuminated reticle on a hunting scope, providing a precise aim point at times when dark crosshairs would be difficult or impossible to distinguish against a dark target. At the brightest levels, the Flashdot acts much like the front bead on a shotgun, allowing quick, precise shots in high-stress, rapidly changing situations.
The versatility of the Flashdot system results in a scope that is truly “any light, any time,” concluded Cromwell.
In Schmidt & Bender’s Police/Marksman II (PM II) series tactical scope line, the Flashdot is offered in the 1.1-4 x 20 Short Dot, the 1.1-4 x 20 Short Dot with Locking Turrets, and the 1.1-4 x 24 Zenith Short Dot LE models. The Flashdot system is most applicable to these shorter focal length scopes, which are preferred for urban and close-in environments where shots might range from a few feet to a few hundred yards.
The 1.1-4 x 20 Short Dot ships with bullet drop compensators calibrated for 5.56 and 7.62 mm cartridges, including the 62 gram. Green Tip, 75 gram Hornady TAP and the SR25 sniper rifle with M118LR16 and M118LR20 loads. The 1.1-4 x 20 Short Dot with Locking Turrets and 1.1-4 x 24 Zenith Short Dot LE include calibration rings for the M855, 75 gr. TAP and M118LR loads, again for 5.56 and 7.62 weapons.
Schmidt & Bender’s shorter length PM II scopes are very popular with several specialized forces within the U.S. military, and with allied and friendly European nations that the company could not divulge.
WIDELY USED
JP Enterprises’s JPoint is a microlectronic reflex sighting system, a variant of a red dot sighting system, and provides another perspective on the adaptability of the technology with a variety of small arms.
JPoint was “designed to give extremely fast-sight acquisition and recovery in short- to medium range applications on pistols, rifles or shotguns. It also makes an ideal secondary short-range sight on rifles equipped with high-magnification optics,” stated a company brochure.
“When we introduced the JPoint, it was apparent that we had a miniature electronic dot sight that could be used for virtually any application without effecting the weight or ergonomics of the weapon as a whole, be it pistol, shotgun, or rifle,” said JP Enterprise’s John Paul. He added, “The combination of the Trijicon TA01 NSN [advanced combat optical gunsight (ACOG)] with the JPoint and winged guard has become the most popular and effective set up for our special operators in the Mid East. There are now many of thousands in service and the feedback has been enthusiastic.”
At press time, JP Enterprises had introduced mounting hardware for over 40 applications.
SLIMMING DOWN
Red dot products support the ground force community’s efforts to lighten the load of material with which a warfighter must carry into combat.
The dimensions of a representative red dot sight can be gleaned from Ultra Dot Distribution’s Ultra Dot 30, which is 5.1 inches (12.9 centimeters) long and weighs 4.1 ounces (116 grams). An earlier generation of a comparable, more clunky, 30 mm scope would have weighed upwards of eight ounces.
There are other UltraDot developments of note.
“At this time we offer six non-magnified red dot sights, all of different sizes and reticle designs, for use on pistols, rifles and assault weapons,” remarked Thomas Roach, owner, Ultra Dot Distribution.
Much like its industry counterparts, the company is responding to the lessons learned of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the near-term horizon, Ultra Dot is developing a “new Micro-Dot application for close combat, quick shooting requirements, with urban type target needs,” revealed Roach.
Ultra Dot’s past and present military customers include all of the U.S services. Reflecting another industry trend, Ultra Dot’s sights are also in use by law enforcement and other government organizations. Some non-military customers of interest include the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Across the Atlantic, the German firm Docter’s MRD sights are distributed exclusively through Trijicon, confirmed Shaun Rategan, manager, Trijicon’s Military and Federal Law Enforcement Division, and Docter's export manager Susann Adam.
The Docter MRD’s are familiar to the U.S. military since they “are fielded with Trijicon’s 4-power ACOG,” pointed out Rategan.
For its part Docter reports on its Website the recent fielding of its Sight II Plus red dot sight.
One of the sight’s interesting attributes is the use of highstrength aluminum alloys to achieve a lighter weight (25 gram) unit. The product brochure also reported the sight’s refex-free observation distance is 40 meters.
BEYOND RED
Barska’s red dot scopes “were designed with two things in mind: fast target acquisition and pinpoint accuracy,” said Marty Traxler, public relations manager, Barska. “We then paired it with features that a practical shooter can take advantage of in the field, such as a finger adjustable rheostat for reticle brightness control and an anti-reflective coating,” he added.
The use of anti-reflective coatings addresses a knock against some products from the current generation of red dot sights—that under certain conditions, the systems’ front lens may generate reddish reflections.
Another emerging industry trend seen in Barska’s scope is the move from “red” to “green” in sighting systems.
Barska introduced its first green dot dual-color reticle scopes at the 2006 Shot Show.
“Unlike red, a green dot reticle gives shooters more versatility during broad daylight. We’ve seen the trend continue to shift towards panoramic and multi-reticle style sighting systems, and with that in mind we’re focused on making our entire red-dot and electro sight product line broader than ever by developing our red dot and multi-reticle panoramic style sighting systems for our customers,” concluded Traxler. ♦