Laser Rangefinder Transforms Every Soldier into a Sharpshooter

Named ELCAN, the dual-field-of-view rifle sight is designed to give soldiers the ability to engage targets at close range and at a distance while maintaining precision fire capability. Using a laser pulse to ping the distance between a shooter and a target, the updated ELCAN system can now take this data, process it and deliver critical sighting information to a soldier within seconds. With this distance data in hand, soldiers can aim and fire with added confidence.

Traditionally, complex fire control systems with the ELCAN’s abilities have been associated with tanks, drones, aircraft and ships, all of which can carry loads of gear. The same can’t be said for an individual soldier, making it critical for the ELCAN to be as lightweight and as small as possible. Coming in at three by four inches and weighing three pounds, the ELCAN achieves the goal of providing advanced warfighting capability without overburdening a soldier.

“Being able to do that with one shot–that’s a game changer,” said Dan Pettry, a former sniper with the U.S. Army Rangers and product manager for Raytheon.

"You put so much work and training into finding distance and all the things that go into making a good shot," says Pettry. "The thought that someone could build a piece of equipment that could do that for you is really amazing."

Raytheon says that its ELCAN system will be deployed on the battlefield as early as 2018. Hopefully the improvements that it can bring to marksmanship will keep both civilians and soldiers safer.

For more news from Raytheon, find out if the company’s next-gen air force trainer will be made in America.