Leupold and Aimpoint combine optics to win Navy ECOS-O combat infantry rifle sight contract

CRANE, Ind., 19 March 2013. Two military optics companies are combining their expertise in rifle scope and sighting technologies for a U.S. Navy program to provide Marine Corps warfighters and other combat infantry personnel with an advanced rifle sighting system for a variety of battlefield weapons.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane, Ind., is awarding five-year contracts to Leupold & Stevens Inc. in Beaverton, Ore., and to Aimpoint Inc. in Chantilly, Va., for the Enhanced Combat Optical Sight-Optimized (ECOS-O) program, Navy officials announced Monday.

Leupold & Stevens is receiving a $42.8 million contract, and Aimpoint is receiving an $8.7 million contract to provide ECOS-O equipment. The Navy issued a formal solicitation for this program last August.

The ECOS-O advanced rifle sighting system combines the Leupold & Stevens Mark 6 3-18x44mm Riflescope with the Aimpoint Micro T-1 red-dot aiming system to help enable combat infantrymen to engage targets with standard infantry rifles at distances of more than half a mile, and can be used with night-vision goggles.

The Leupold Mark 6 high-end rifle scope is 12 inches long and weighs 23.6 ounces. The Aimpoint Micro T-1 red-dot sighting system uses advanced circuit efficiency technology (ACET) with a light-emitting diode (LED) light source to create a 650-nanometer red light.

The rifle scope delivers zoom magnification to help infantrymen detect, identify, track, and engage targets at extreme distances, while the red-dot sighting system helps infantrymen aim their weapons accurately with both eyes open to maintain situational awareness.

The ECOS-O design attaches the Aimpoint T-1 sighting device to the top of the Leupold Mark 6 rifle scope. The system is designed to provide optical targeting from zero to 300 meters, and optically enhanced targeting from 300 to 1,000 meters.

The new infantry rifle scope and aiming system is designed to fit the M4A1 carbine, as well as the M4A1 carbine while mated to M203 or M320 grenade launchers. The system also fits MK16 and MK17 combat assault rifles, as well as those weapons combined with grenade launchers. The system also will fit M14, M16, Mk11, and Mk12 combat infantry rifles.

The ECOS-O system is designed to withstand the effects of a wide variety of battlefield conditions, including extremes in heat, cold, and altitude, solar radiation, humidity, ice, salt fog, vibration, shock, and rough handling.

The system comes in two configurations: a non-illuminated and an illuminated reticle. The system will be able to upgrade the system to accommodate future reticle designs for changing operational needs, Navy officials say.

Leupold & Stevens will do its ECOS-O work in Beaverton, Ore., and should be finished by March 2018, while Aimpoint will do the work in Jagershillgatan, Sweden, and should be finished in March 2018.

For more information contact Leupold & Stevens online at www.leupold.com, Aimpoint at www.aimpoint.com, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division at www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/crane.