Soldiers Get Wireless Targeting to Shoot Around Corners, Hit Enemies Instantly

Warrior Maven Video Above: Soldiers can shoot around corners with new wireless link between night vision and weapons sights

Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

As attacking enemies appear and vanish in seconds from around corners, rocks and trees – armed US soldiers in Close Quarter Combat often have little or no time to respond, while their lives often hang in the balance.

As a way to address this, the Army has leveraged wireless networking technology to give soldiers a distinct advantage; a new system connecting night vision goggles with rifle targeting sights will arrive in a matter of months, enabling soldiers to fire around corners and hit enemies instantly, without having to “shoulder” their weapon.

“You see this gray circle in your night vision goggles, with a red dot …. no matter where your weapon is,” Brig. Gen. Tony Potts, Program Executive Officer, PEO Soldier, told Warrior Maven.

A wireless link will show the reticle from thermal weapons sights directly into the night vision goggle display, allowing soldiers to quickly track and destroy targets without needing to actually lift the weapon to their head to see the crosshairs through the thermal sights.

This system, called Rapid Target Acquisition, is slated to arrive in early 2019, Potts said.