SSOT Spotter Scopes to Replace USMC’s M49s

USMC Sniper Team,Cobra Gold 2000(click to view full) Small business qualifier Horus Vision LLC in San Bruno, CA received a not-to-exceed $49 million, 5-year firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for Scout Sniper Observation Telescopes (SSOT). The SSOT is a lightweight variable power telescope that will replace the M49 Sniper 20x power fixed telescope throughout the United States Marine Corps, which has been in use since World War 2 and remains in service with a number of countries around the world. Snipers are not loners; as shown above, they always work in pairs. One team member serves as the spotter to help identify difficult to find targets at long range, and adjust the marksman’s fire as necessary. The SSOT is intended for those spotters, and is part of a larger set of marksman-class optics buys by the USMC. High-quality optics, in the hands of trained riflemen, are proving to be extremely useful against opponents who regularly use human shields and commit related war crimes. As such, a broader trend within the Corps is the shift toward universal fielding of combat optics, rather than restricting these tools to snipers and designated marksmen. With respect to the chosen spotter systems, note that the specifications […]