Artillery: Magic Eyes

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February 21, 2008: The British Army is buying 700 J-TAS (Joint-Target Acquisition Systems) that will enable troops to quickly identify and precisely locate targets. J-TAS looks like large binoculars, and weighs eight pounds. But the system contains a thermal imager as well as binocular optics, and can be used on targets up to five kilometers away. J-TAS has a laser rangefinder and GPS, plus a computer that does all the calculations needed to provide a precise location for artillery or smart bombs. Each J-TAS costs about $85,000.