March 22,
2008: The U.S. Army has ordered another $130 million worth of the AN/PAS-13
thermal sights. This device enables
infantry to see through darkness, mist and dust storms, because it can make out
differences in heat.
The
AN/PAS-13 actually comes in three sizes, to accommodate the different ranges of
infantry weapons. The smallest one, weighing 1.8 pounds, is used on your basic
M-16 or M-4 assault rifle. This sight has a range of 550 meters. I uses 4 AA
batteries (lithium, as used in cameras), which gets you about 5.5 hours of use.
The next
version weighs 2.8 pounds, has a range of 1,100 meters and is used in 5.56mm
and 7.62mm machine-guns. This sight requires six AA batteries (for 6.5 hours).
The heaviest version weighs 3.9 pounds, has a range of 2,200 meters, and is
used by heavy machine-guns and snipers. This one also requires six AA batteries
(for 6.5 hours).
The
AN/PAS-13 began showing up in Iraq and Afghanistan about a year ago, and now
everyone wants one. About 20,000 have been delivered so far, and production is
headed for 3,000 sights a month. Unless there is a much improved new version in
the next few years (no one is sure, engineers can be unpredictable), the army
plans to buy as many as 150,000 AN/PAS-13 sights (at a cost of over $10,000
each).
