Marine Corps makes $11.2 million order to Kollsman for electro-optics laser rangefinders
QUANTICO, Va., 20 July 2016. U.S. Marine Corps electro-optics experts are asking Kollsman Inc. in Merrimack, N.H., to build more handheld tactical laser rangefinders small enough for individual Marine infantrymen to carry under terms of a $11.2 million order announced Tuesday.
Officials of the Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico Marine Base, Va., are awarding Kollsman a four-year contract to build production versions of the Common Laser Range Finder-Integrated Capability (CLRF-IC). Kollsman is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd. in Haifa, Israel.
The handheld CLRF-IC handheld laser rangefinder systems are to help deployed Marines detect, identify, and pinpoint targets during the day, at night, and in bad weather.
Tuesday's indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity-delivery contract is for order number 0004 for the Marine Corps's new handheld tactical laser rangefinder, as well as for rails, covers, cases, and cables.
The CLRF-IC is a handheld, lightweight, man portable, global positioning system target location device. Its principal function is to assist the operator in determining the location of a target or other object of interest by measuring the distance, direction, and vertical angle from the operator to the object.
In March 2015 Kollsman won a $73.4 million Marine Corps contract to build as many as 1,500 CLRF-IC systems. Kollsman prevailed over three other electro-optics companies that were competing for the CLRF-IC production contract -- Kollsman; the Raytheon Co. EO Innovations business unit in Richardson, Texas; Jenoptik Defense Inc. in Jupiter, Fla.; and BAE Systems OASYS in Manchester, N.H.
The small handheld system weighs no more than three pounds -- light enough for one Marie infantryman to carry -- and will provide improved integrated night-vision capability, internal selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM) GPS, and non-magnetic azimuth capability.
The CLRF-IC system is replacing the Marine Corps's currently fielded CLRF suite of equipment. The new CLRF-IC system provides reduced weight, enhanced precision, improved night-vision capability, and improved non-magnetic azimuth capability by incorporating components of the CLRF suite into one system.
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The CLRF-IC is a handheld lightweight man-portable GPS target location device to assist the operator in determining the location of a target or other object of interest by measuring the distance, direction, and vertical angle from the operator to the object. The CLRF-IC system also can export these measurement in digital format to external digital devices for further processing.
The CLRF-IC from Kollsman also operates in the daytime and at night, as well as in the range of environments in which the Marines deploy with laser spot imaging of several wavelengths, Marine Corps officials say.
On this contract Kollsman will do the work in Merrimack, N.H., and should be finished by July 2020. For more information contact Kollsman online at www.kollsman.com, or Marine Corps Systems Command at www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.