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Optical Sights In The US Army And Marine Corps
The US Army went to a 1X solution for its first universal issue optical sight. A 1X sight offers the maximum situational awareness and an infantryman's role, even in this day and age, involves a significant amount of close combat. Analysis after the Korean war focused the US Army's attention on short range engagements at which they sought to achieve incapacitation by using large numbers of projectiles to compensate for aiming errors - a philosophy evidenced in the SALVO and SPIW projects. From 1973 to 1993, US Army doctrine was designed to face an enemy that would dismount from armoured vehicles at 300 meters from its objectives. The 300/500 meter flip backsight served this doctrine well enough and the US Army was reluctant to adopt the improved USMC M16A2 variant with its windage adjustable 800 meter backsight. They replaced the M16A2 with the M4 carbine, giving up some lethality for a more handy package..
The kinds of wars US forces are fighting in now could hardly be more different from those anticipated in the 1980s and the emphasis now is on light infantry, correct target identification and precise engagement with minimum force. This lead to renewed interest in longer range rifles and the sights that would be needed to get the best from them. The US Marines went to a flat topped M16A4 rifle as its standard weapon, replacing most of its pistols with M4 carbines. The Army brought back M14 rifles with a variety of scope rails and mounts, some of them equipped with a chassis system as the Enhanced Battle Rifle. The Army has also bought M16A4s in some numbers.
The Army first went to the Aimpoint CompM2 as its M68 close combat optic. The CompM2 is a very rugged red dot sight that offers a single 2 MOA red dot aiming mark with no adjustment for range. The sight is attached to the weapon's Picatinny rail with a conventional ring mount. The original M68 gave the US Army and Air Force sterling service for almost a decade, but time and technology moved on and their existing inventory was up for replacement. This time they went for the Aimpoint CompM4S, a CompM4 with its battery housing and brightness adjuster moved to a more protected lower position. The CompM4s also brought in a tougher adjuster knob and has a mount that prevents rotation induced cant of the weapon. The increase in battery life was amazing - a CompM4 or M4s can run continuously for up to 80,000 hours on a day setting and theoretically up to 250,000 set for night vision use! One battery could well last the lifetime of the sight. Combat in Afghanistan has emphaised long marches across rugged terrain with weight being at an absolute premium. To try to get its soldiers burden reduced the US Army has issued quantities of the tiny (3.7 ounce with mount!) Aimpoint T-1 4 MoA red dot sight with the 3XMag detachable magnifier in Afghanistan. The huge humbers of CompM4s in the inventory may well be replaced by Micro T-1s in the not too distant future. The US Army went with a 3.8X ELCAN, the M145 for its machineguns.
The USMC adopted a different approach and never gave up on long range rifle fire, despite being stuck with the M16A1. The traditionalists in the USMC establishment pushed hard for the adoption of a heavy barrelled M16 with a tight twist and backsight theoretically capable of 800 meter engagements. It hardly mattered that it would be next to impossible to engage a real world target at anything like 800 meters with iron sights. The USMC still sees no need for a dedicated close combat optic. After combat evaluating the TA31 ACOG, the USMC type classified two TA31 4X32 variants ballistically matched to the M16A4 and M4 carbine as their RCO or Rifle Combat Optic. These are type classified as the AN/PVQ-31A and AN/PVQ-31B. The M150 is the US Army version of the TA31RCO, also ballistically matched to the 20" barrelled M16A4. This is being retrofitted with L3s Miniature Reflex Sight on a piggyback mounting - Docter and Trijicon RMRs are already in widespread use in this capacity. The US Marines went with TA-11 3.5X 35 ACOG variants, rather than ELCANs for their M27, M249 and M240 machine guns.
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