Microdisplay Offers Enhanced Capabilities for New Weapon System

Kopin Corporation (Westborough, MA) has been selected by L3Harris to supply high-brightness LCD display modules for the US Army’s Next-Generation Squad Weapon – Fire Control (NGSW-FC) programme, the company announced on 28 May.

Intended to replace traditional direct-view riflescopes currently fielded by the US Army. NGSW-FC provides an integrated approach to targeting by combining range-finding capability, ballistic computation and environmental sensors that increase the probability of accurate targeting, while decreasing the time required to engage a threat. The service plans to procure up to 250,000 systems to support current and future weapons. This system is for daylight situations and is supplemental to the thermal systems Kopin is currently supplying. Deliveries of initial prototypes are expected to start in Q3/2020 and early production is expected to commence in mid-2021.

“This award is a testament to both the strength of our technology and production capabilities. Over the years, Kopin’s display products have demonstrated superior performance in the most challenging environments and continue to be the displays of choice for high-performance military applications. We look forward to continuing to provide our soldiers with the best technology possible,” commented Bill Maffucci, Kopin’s VP/General Manager of Government Programs.

The Army’s NGSW is a family of products that includes a rifle (NGSW-R) and an automatic rifle (NGSW-AR) that integrate advanced fire control and common 6.8mm ammunition. The NGSW-FC is an advanced individual fire control device that supports NGSW-R, NGSW-AR and other individual and squad weapon systems. The L3Harris NGSW-FC prototype uses open architecture to deliver an initial augmented core capability, followed by increasing increments of capability over time as technology matures and evolves.

“With our full suite of microdisplays, including LCD, LCOS and OLED, Kopin has become the microdisplay provider of choice for defense and enterprise applications. With our expertise in optics and specialized IC chips, we have now expanded our capabilities to include high-level integrated modules and subsystems. With the increased demand for AR and VR applications from both defense and enterprise customers, we are very enthused about Kopin’s positioning in this growing market segment,” added the company’s President, Dr John Fan.