Thermal Dominance:
advanced imaging solutions for the Battlefield

Ralph Wilhelm, Sales and Marketing Specialist, VECTED GmbH

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While residual light amplifiers were the dominant device when it comes to night vision, now there is shift towards thermal cameras, as they are much more versatile.

Thermal cameras, no matter if they are handheld or weapon mounted, are not limited to night vision, like residual light amplifiers (RLA), they also function effectively in daylight without any restrictions. And while there are many options, like camouflage clothing to easily hide from RLA, it is much harder to hide from thermal cameras. Bottom line is thermal cameras help today's soldiers to find possible threats much faster, day or night, than RLA or any other optical system. Let's take a look at the different weapon mounted thermal cameras available today.

Battle sights

Reflex sights are tried-and-tested electronic aiming devices for assault rifles, submachine guns, light and heavy machine guns and even automatic grenade launchers, but they reach their limits when it comes to detecting adversaries. Modern camouflage clothing, confusing terrain, dense forest or bush area and ruined landscapes make it very hard to impossible to detect hostiles.

While reflex sights offer a significant advantage when it comes to target acquisition, thermal sights are perfect for uncovering those hard to detect threats. This is why VECTED, a leader in high end thermal imaging devices for assault rifles, sniper rifles and machine guns, has combined the advantages of both systems into the TRS, the Thermal Reflex Sight, a true game changer.

Different thermal overlays, NVG and magnifier compatibility and a large screen for maximum overview enable soldiers to detect and fight enemies earlier, faster and more accurate than ever before.

A unique and very important feature of the TRS is the user-friendly quick parallax adjustment. It guarantees that the visual picture and thermal overlay perfectly match, enabling the operator to fire with maximum accuracy, which is of paramount importance in CQB and hostage situations.

Just by opening the lens cover or by the push of a button the thermal overlay can be switched on instantly. This not only enhances the survivability of the operator significantly but also give a decisive advantage in case of quickly changing light conditions, e.g. entering a basement or a dense forest.

Besides different thermal overlays this most modern thermal reflex sight offers significant advantages. The red display is eye friendly at night (pupil diameter), good to see in desert or forest environments, where yellow or green displays fail. It has 9 brightness levels, some for use with additional RLA, others for extra bright environments. A variety of reticles, available at the press of a button, according to customer specifications can be integrated. Supersonic ammo with different bullet weights, subsonic ammunition, 40mm underbarrel launcher, etc.

While the screen of the VECTED TRS seems bulky at first sight, it serves a very important purpose. With a normal reflex sight, the operator has both eyes open so he can see not only his primary target through the reflex sight but also secondary threats outside the tube of the reflex sight. With a small thermal overlay, this won't be possible. That's why VECTED decided on a wide window in order for the user to detect secondary threats due to its wide thermal overlay.

Thermals for scopes

Many soldiers have a true optic on their primary weapon. Be it a low power sight, like an Elcan Specter on an assault rifle, or a scope on a DMR or sniper rifle. For this configuration a thermal clip-on is the optimal addition. Mounted in front of the optic, it gives the user the advantages of thermal devices while still using their normal optic with the reticle and ballistics the operator is used to. However this does require a specific mount. In this case German based company VECTED also offers a brilliant and unique solution. The “Intellimount” enables the user to switch from a handheld observation thermal to a clip-on thermal in less then a second. The following example illustrates this capability quite well. A soldier is stationed on the watchtower of a camp. Due to lots of bushland around the camp, he uses his handheld VECTED TC-640 thermal to detect possible threats as early as possible. Upon sensing an adversary he clips the TC-640, using only one hand, onto his assault rifle, sniper rifle, DMR or LMG, and can engage the target immediately. No mounting/dismounting of additional lenses, no adjustment of any setting, no screws. From handheld thermal observation device to ready to fire clip-on in less then a second. But not only is the mount brilliant, the thermal camera also shows the capabilities of German engineering. VECTED's thermal clip-on never has to be sighted-in. Not even when you mount the camera in front of your scope for the first time. As these thermal clip-on's are aligned, they never have to be sighted in. Means they can be swapped from assault rifle to DMR to sniper rifle, no matter which caliber the respective weapon has, a first round hit dead centre is always guaranteed.

Conclusion

Today's thermal devices are superior to any residual light amplifiers, as they can not only be used during the day, but also they help operators to detect hidden or camouflaged enemies. High end thermal devices, like the VECTED thermal reflex sight TRS, when used as a battle sight, or the TC-640 when used as a clip-on, enable soldiers to detect and fight enemies earlier, faster and more accurately than ever before.

For more information please visit:
https://vected.de/en