Home Tech A new human eye-like rifle scope for US Special Forces?

A new human eye-like rifle scope for US Special Forces?

November 9, 2014

razar1 — US Spec Ops operator testing the RAZAR

The United States of America Special Forces are testing a new sniper rifle scope that functions exactly like a human eye, developed by Sandia National Laboratories.

Until now, the conventional sniper scope needs readjustment and refocusing, which is tricky with a moving target or when trying to acquire a following target. Undeniably, the conventional sniper scope has allowed remarkable long range kills (up to 1.8 km), however, the US Special Forces wanted a natural, easier-to-use sniper scope.

Normal long range rifle sniper scopes adjust the focal point by sliding one or more lenses back and forth like a normal telescope, but the new scope called RAZAR (Rapid Adaptive Zoom for Assault Rifles) works like human eyes. The optics can deform to change the degree of curvature — fatter or thinner on-the-fly just like how our eyes pull the eye lens to focus vision over distances.

According to Sandia Labs:

The U.S. Military requested a compact zoom riflescope, capable of rapidly toggling between magnification at the push of a button without changing the grip on the weapon or losing sight picture. The Rapid Adaptive Zoom for Assault Rifles (RAZAR) filled this request. RAZAR can zoom in milliseconds and perform 10,000 actuations on two AA batteries. The weight, power, and speed requirements for mechanical zoom make them prohibitive. RAZAR allows target engagement at diverse ranges and provides several distinct advantages including speed and high resolution at varying distances.

This allows rapid, more naturalistic function with better clarity than normal digital zooms. So far, the engineers have admitted that the major weakness of the design is when it runs out of battery power. The focal point will remain stuck until a new fresh battery charges the scope again.

Sandia hopes one day this technology will apply to more peaceful enterprises like binoculars or long range sports camera for example.