The Army last week announced two contracts, each for roughly $500 million, to FLIR and Leonardo for delivery of what is termed the Family of Weapons Sights-Individual.
In a nutshell, the new FWS-I, when paired with the equally new ENVG-B night vision/thermal goggle, allows the user to link the sight on his rifle, carbine, or light machine gun to his goggles remotely, kind of like a really secure Bluetooth, which then allows them to aim and fire the gun by just aligning the augmented reality reticle without bringing the weapon up to their eye.
This means cool things like shooting around corners or from under a car, with just the rifle in the open if you can get the angle right.
Also, as it is infrared, the sight works day or night and sees through smoke and harsh weather (fog, rain, hail), giving the user a sort of “Predator vision” without the crab face or catching lip from Austrian bodybuilders.
Of course, the sight is dependent on batteries– 3 AAs– only lasts only about seven hours before needing new ones, and, like any tech, can break, but if it works, could be super interesting on the modern battlefield. This isn’t 1914 or 1941 anymore, guys.
By Michael Crites
Michael Crites has served as executive editor of AmericanFirearms.org since 2016 and previously held positions as associate editor and range correspondent dating back to 2000. He discovered his passion for precision shooting at age 12 during his first visit to his grandfather's shooting range, eventually earning an Expert classification in three different shooting disciplines before age 18.
During his studies at University of Wyoming, he earned four varsity letters on the collegiate rifle and pistol teams, serving as team captain for three consecutive years. He became the first UW student to complete the NRA Range Safety Officer certification while maintaining full-time student status. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Communications.
His diverse career has included roles as Range Safety Coordinator for the National Rifle Championships in Camp Perry 2001; editor-in-chief, Precision Shooter Quarterly; series editor, Modern Firearms Handbook collection; managing editor, National Shooting Sports Foundation Newsletter; editor, Competitive Shooter Magazine; operations director for Western Arms & Ammunition Co.; senior editor for the Shooter's Reference Annual (Cheyenne); content director for The Firearms Report, published by the American Shooting Coalition in Billings, MT; firearms correspondent for Hunting & Shooting, produced by Outdoor Sports Media Group in Jackson, WY; and publisher for Wyoming Shooting Sports Journal in Casper. He has contributed as a regular columnist for American Rifleman (NRA Publications), technical editor for Precision, a publication of the National Bench Rest Shooters Association (Phoenix, AZ); and as firearms specialist for the Gun Owner's Annual.
As a digital content creator, he has written more than 400 articles on AmericanFirearms.org, developed shooting technique coverage for the Brownells Shooting Blog (Montezuma, IA) and Federal Premium "Range Notes" platform (Anoka, MN), and served as lead content strategist for International Defensive Pistol Association (Berryville, AR). Beyond Tactical Firearms, his current endeavors include content development for the Wyoming State Rifle Association (Cheyenne, WY) and technical manual production for High Plains Publishing of Laramie, WY.
He has contributed to the 12th, 13th, and 14th editions of Modern Sporting Rifles Guide and edited The Complete Guide to Tactical Shooting and Competitive Shooter's Reference Manual (Gun Digest Books).
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