Marines buying powerful telescopes for every rifleman in fighting units.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: SHARPER Aim

With fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan placing increased emphasis on precise marksmanship, the Marine Corps is investing heavily in small-arms optical systems.

Since the invasion of Iraq, the Corps has quadrupled the number of such systems--from 155,000 in 2003 to 500,000 in 2005--and is buying still more. The total number soon will surpass 600,000, Jean Beal, program manager for optics and non-lethal systems at Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., told a recent industry briefing.

Traditionally, only snipers and designated marksmen have been issued small-arms optical systems, including scopes that are similar to the telescopic sights long used by big-game hunters, night-vision equipment and observation devices.

Most infantrymen have trained and fought with simple "iron sights," an open, unmagnified aiming system consisting of some sort of post on the weapon's barrel and a notch in the rear. Often, especially on military weapons, the rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation. This can improve accuracy, but it takes training and experience, said Lt. Col. Steve Grass, product lead for optics.

"That's why all Marines spend time every year on the rifle range, maintaining their shooting skills," Grass said.

The Corps began putting telescopes on rifles in 1942 when it first issued M1903 Springfield rifles equipped with a military version of the 8X Unertl target sight to its snipers.

Now, the Corps wants to spread more modern versions of such optics more widely through its combat units. The goal, Grass said, is for every rifleman in fighting units, for the first time, to have a weapon equipped with a rifle combat optic that magnifies targets four times what the unaided human eye can see.

In 2005, the Marines awarded a $660 million contract to Trijicon Inc., of Wixcom, Mich., to provide up to 800,000 of these optics over a five-year period. The initial order was for 104,000 scopes at $610 each at a price of $63.4 million.

The rifle combat optic--designed for use with the M-16 rifle and M-4 carbine--dramatically increases lethality at greater ranges, Grass said. "The idea is simple. If I can see my enemy before he sees me, I can eliminate him before he eliminates me."

A well-trained and experienced infantryman, armed with a standard M-16 with iron sights, can hit a specific target up to 550 meters way. With a rifle combat optic--also known as the Trijicon advanced combat optical gun sight, or ACOG--a shooter can fire accurately upon...