A thermographic weapon sight, thermal imagery scope or thermal weapon sight is a device combining a compact thermographic camera and an aiming reticle. They can be mounted on a variety of small arms as well as some heavier weapons. As with regular thermal sensors, thermal weapon sights can operate in total darkness or through light concealment (smoke, haze, fog, light rain), or when transitioning from bright areas to dark areas and vice versa (I.E. from outside to a dark, unlit room). The thermal scope can be quite useful in places with snow as the large contrast in temperatures between the snow (inherently cold) and any heat source (such as humans or vehicles) make it very easy to distinguish between the two. While the infrared scope can present a view of the target in a variety of ways, it can show both temperature differences, and an outline of the target, to make it easier to identify. The scope possess additional back up night vision features, as well. Being digital, virtually all the features of the scope are controllable by computer, and it is designed to be interfaced with the land warrior system. In addition, the digital display of the scope can be projected on the head's up display of the soldier's visor, which allows the soldier to see a semi-translucent image of the scope's image, without having to bring the weapon to bear at their shoulder and look through the scope. This is especially useful when behind cover, as the soldier doesn't have to expose themselves to see or even fire behind the enemy like they would originally, essentially giving them the ability to see around corners.
Based off of the XM104 and AN/PAS-13, the scope is extremely reliable, designed to withstand a variety of weather conditions and incredibly harsh service. It is intended to reduce the weight of the weapon as much as possible, by using higher strength and higher quality materials (at the cost of increased price). Paired with an additional spotting scope, the weapon has a 60mm reticle and can adjust between .5x and 10x magnification. The weapons also possess a infrared laser range finder, which also doubles as an infrared targeting laser. This allows the user to estimate ranges to targets much more accurately, providing accuracy of ranges within degrees of half a meter. Unlike visible light, infrared lasers are invisible to the naked eye, and thus can't be detected by people without thermal scopes themselves; the lasers can be clearly seen to their targets several miles away, thus giving the user a good indication of where their barrel is pointed at any given time. While targeting lasers, like all sights, are range dependent, the device gives the user a much more natural viewpoint to acquire targets with, giving a rough approximation of where the bullet will land, without having to fire a round first, also increasing first round hit capability.
The scope gives the user a form of automatic aiming. While no rifle can completely aim itself, the weapon is takes in a multitude of ballistic information, and then based on the laser range finder, calculates and shifts the scope into the direction best estimated for acquiring the target. It works by calculating the difference between the laser range finder and the scope itself, thus determining how to shift the scope accordingly to find it's way to the target, in addition to calculating the range of the target, and the bullet shift. It can be utilized to track targets moving faster than 20 mph and
Finally, the scope can be utilized as a fire control feature for airbursting cartridges, particularly the 25mm series of grenades. While it can technically operate as a stand alone system, it's operating mechanism is typically integrated into the desired weapon system to improve ergonomics for the user, and much of it's computerized system are located in the land warrior system, reducing it's weight considerably. When paired with the grenade launcher, the 25 mm grenades are set to explode in mid-air at or near the target. A laser rangefinder in the weapon is used to determine the distance to the target. The user can manually adjust the detonating distance by up to 10 feet (3.0 m) shorter or longer; the XM25 automatically transmits the detonating distance to the grenade in the firing chamber. The grenade tracks the distance it has traveled by the number of spiral rotations after it is fired, then detonates at the proper distance to produce an air burst effect. These features make the grenades more effective than traditional grenade launchers at the task of hitting targets that are behind cover or dug into the ground (i.e. in defilade.). Studies indicate that the scope paired with air burst rounds is 300 percent more effective at engaging the enemy than other squad-level grenade launchers.
Mk. II- Target acquisition/fire control
- Weight: 2.0 lb
1-4× thermal sight with zoom
4-10× direct view optical sight
1000 yard autocalculate range
20 mph targeting speed
Ballistic computer
Digital compass
Laser rangefinder
Ammunition fuze setter
Environmental sensors
Mk. III specifications
- Weight: 5.5lb
1-4× thermal sight with zoom
6-14× direct view optical sight
4000 yard autocalculate range
80 mph targeting speed
