Fast target acquisition with new sights
Brian M Walters
Two new weapon sights are making their international debut here on Aimpoint’s stand (Stand CON10 in Swedish Pavilion). The CompM4 sight, which has already been selected by the US Army and is the subject of a contract for some 163,000 examples, was chosen after a series of competitive tests. These were held to determine if there was another sight available that performed better than the existing Aimpoint CompM2.
The new sight includes many design changes made as a result of extensive use of the earlier sight in combat conditions and the CompM4 is optimised for use with all generations of night vision devices. It features an extremely rugged and easy-to-use 16-position manual switch with seven night vision compatible settings and nine daylight settings.
The electronic components in the new sight improve upon Aimpoint’s existing state-of-the-art diode circuitry, allowing it to run constantly for more than eight years on a single AA battery. Moreover, an internal voltage regulator allows the sight to operate on any AA-size battery available worldwide.
Featuring an improved Picatinny rail mount that eliminates the need for a separate mounting ring, the CompM4’s mount is keyed into the sight to absorb recoil forces. Vertical and cantilever spacers are available to allow the sight to fit on all M16 rifle and M4 carbine variants.
The other new product shown for the first time is the Micro T-1 electronic red-dot sight designed to perform under extreme conditions while adding only 105g to the weight of the weapon. This compact sight is suitable for use on rifles, shotguns, submachine guns and handguns.
But although ideal as a standalone sight, the Micro T-1 can also be mounted on top of larger magnifying scopes, night vision and thermal imaging optics. It comes with an integral Picatinny mount that is keyed into the sight to absorb recoil. The Micro T-1 features a four minute-of-angle red dot for fast target acquisition and no tools are required to zero the sight. When mounted on top of other magnifying optics, the Micro T-1 gives the operator dual capabilities to engage targets in a close quarter battle situation as well as at longer ranges.
 The Micro T-1 adds only 105g to the weapon |