Army testing green laser kits in Afghanistan

[Sergeant Boot]

Army testing green laser kits in Afghanistan
Jun 2, 2010

By Debi Dawson

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (Army News Service, June 2, 2010) -- The Army's Program Executive Office Soldier is fielding several Green Laser Escalation of Force kits to units in Afghanistan for operational assessment.

The GLEF systems are mounted as an accessory to Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations or CROWS, the turret system that provides Soldiers the ability to employ cameras, sensors and weapons from inside the protection of an armored vehicle. The non-lethal green-light laser gives Soldiers an interim step before escalating force while conducting daily operations.

Article continues: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2010/06/mil-100602-arnews05.htm

[tercio67]

The Dutch Army introduced a similar system; Green Laser Optical Warner (GLOW) in a underslung configuration.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4339/c7withglow.jpg (http://img202.imageshack.us/i/c7withglow.jpg/)

It is used as a non leathal opton, part of the mid-life weapon upgrade programme.

[yiorgo]

does anyone know what type rail system that is?

[MoFo]

does anyone know what type rail system that is?


picatinny?

[tercio67]

Yes, it's a picatinny rail system. Supplied by Colt Canada (formerly known as Diemaco).

[Sergeant Boot]

Didn't know that Diemaco became Colt Canada, thought they were still called Diemaco....Wikipedia says they changed names in May 2005. Get with the times eh? :)

[Sergeant Boot]

And by the way GLOW is a pretty fitting acronym for a laser system :)

[2495]

Thames Valley Police have a green laser system thats very similar. Spooky thing is that it forms a triangular pattern on its target. Dazzlingly bright.

[tercio67]

There seem to be less incidents at vehicle check points in Afghanistan after its introduction.

[Sergeant Boot]

Thames Valley Police have a green laser system thats very similar. Spooky thing is that it forms a triangular pattern on its target. Dazzlingly bright.

Really? Never heard of it or seen it...will have a quick look online. Sounds like it works then if lots of different forces/groups are using it. What is the Thames Valley area of influence? I spend a lot of time in Surbiton and Kingston...they work in that area?

[budgie]

How long till they get green lightsabers?

[Sergeant Boot]

How long till they get green lightsabers?

They already tried that a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Didn't turn out too well.

[rgjbloke]

Really? Never heard of it or seen it...will have a quick look online. Sounds like it works then if lots of different forces/groups are using it. What is the Thames Valley area of influence? I spend a lot of time in Surbiton and Kingston...they work in that area?

I would think that would be the Metropolitan Police area or if not, Surrey Police.

[Inflatable Infidel]

Does anybody know how this thing functions, i mean does it only overwhelm your vision ("blinding light"), or does it actually cause like induced epilepsy seizure in a average "client"? Also, is it really effective out in the open, in full daylight? Just wondering.

Cheers.

[crazyman]

We (the US Army) have been using variations of the green laser for a good 5 years now in Iraq, this is just the "latest and greatest" version. It's literally bright enough to safely and temporarily blind (I believe the operative word is "dazzle") a person for half a second or so. Short version? it's an attention getter. You point it at someone's car, near them, whatever and there is no doubt that someone has a weapon pointed at you and wants you to know it very clearly. Its similar to having someone point a surefire right at your face in a dark room: just isn't comfortable to look at, so you reflexively turn away and close your eyes, pretty much ceasing whatever task you were working on.

[Sergeant Boot]

I would think that would be the Metropolitan Police area or if not, Surrey Police.

I live in Surrey ;)

[tercio67]

I can only tell how the GLOW functions. It has different settings; narrow beam/wide beam and steady/pulsating. What a person 'sees' is a blinding, fragmenting bright greenish light that disorients besides impairing vision. It works under all weather conditions/time of day. Under training circomstances it is not allowed to use it under 10m distance.

[Tucker217]

I can only tell how the GLOW functions. It has different settings; narrow beam/wide beam and steady/pulsating. What a person 'sees' is a blinding, fragmenting bright greenish light that disorients besides impairing vision. It works under all weather conditions/time of day. Under training circomstances it is not allowed to use it under 10m distance.

Sounds very cool and "techy" and when will these be introduced then?

[tercio67]

Sounds very cool and "techy" and when will these be introduced then?

They have been in use for about 1 1/2 years now in Afghanistan.

[Tucker217]

Is that Brits though? I know the US troops use them, well at least Brit Forces are getting a revamp in gear wise.

[tercio67]

Is that Brits though? I know the US troops use them, well at least Brit Forces are getting a revamp in gear wise.

Nope, Dutch. It's part of the mid-life weapons upgrade for the C7, a non leathal option.

edit: The supplier is Thales Air Defence, Belfast.

[Sergeant Boot]

This can only be beneficial for the success of winning those all-important "hearts ad minds." It will hopefully reduce the shooting of civilians, but then again soldiers often use warning shots to warn people away, and that often doesn't stop them, so maybe this will. Time will tell I guess ;)

[GG]

oooooooooooops

[GG]

We (the US Army) have been using variations of the green laser for a good 5 years now in Iraq, this is just the "latest and greatest" version. It's literally bright enough to safely and temporarily blind (I believe the operative word is "dazzle") a person for half a second or so. Short version? it's an attention getter. You point it at someone's car, near them, whatever and there is no doubt that someone has a weapon pointed at you and wants you to know it very clearly. Its similar to having someone point a surefire right at your face in a dark room: just isn't comfortable to look at, so you reflexively turn away and close your eyes, pretty much ceasing whatever task you were working on.
You are correct. The major difference here is that these are being added to CROWS which up until now had only lethal engagement options. Overall, there is no difference in laser, but rather the application.