L-3 Communications to pay out $25.6 million
Well that escalated! Hot on the heels of the U.S. Government suing EOTech for the alleged fraud in their sights, specifically in claiming that their sights could work in certain cold weather and humid environments, then trying to cover up this error in an upgrade, the parent company of EOTech, L-3 Communications, based out of New York has agreed to a payout of $25.6 million to the Government. We literally just reported on the lawsuit going through the the courts, and then this agreement has come up. It could be the end of the matter, or this could drag on with both sides negotiating some more. Along with the FBI’s HRT team switching over to Aimpoint sights, things don’t seem to be looking hot for EOTech right now on the federal government front. If you’re interested in reading the full court reading of the case, Soldier Systems has a good write up of the legal discussions.
What will that mean for civilian or LE EOTech users? The problems are being found in extreme weather circumstances, so if you use your EOTech sights for range use, self defense, and hunting, unless your house is in the Arctic circle, or the jungles of Philippines, I don’t see your sights failing anytime soon. Regardless, maybe the responsible thing for EOTech to do, is to publish lists of serial numbers of their sights with the defect so customers can just be aware of what they have.
L-3 Communications Corps, a New York company that holds numerous contracts with the federal government, agreed to settle the matter the same day the civil complaint was filed in a Manhattan federal court, attorneys with the Justice Department told Guns.com.
Since 2004, L-3’s EOTech sold holographic weapons sights that they knew were defective to the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the lawsuit says. EOTech was paid tens of millions of dollars in government contracts.
The defects caused the optics to fail in both cold and humid environments (effective in temperatures -40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit), but EOTech claimed it tested the sights in accordance with military standards.
The lawsuit says in sub-zero temperatures the defect distorts the aiming dot within the optic by more than 20 inches fore every 100 yards.
The lawsuit adds that EOTech waited to disclose the problem until 2013, when the company thought they had a solution and then pitched the fix as an upgrade.
A judge is currently reviewing the settlement agreement. More information will be available once the settlement is approved.
Infantry Marine, based in the Midwest. Specifically interested in small arms history, development, and usage within the MENA region and Central Asia. To that end, I run Silah Report, a website dedicated to analyzing small arms history and news out of MENA and Central Asia.Please feel free to get in touch with me about something I can add to a post, an error I've made, or if you just want to talk guns. I can be reached at miles@tfb.tv
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When I stepped off the planme into Kuwait, mid summer, it was like 120-130 degrees. Worst ever being 140 degrees 'outside, in the sun temp'
A car trunk over there would have probably been 160+ degrees. And I live in Minnesota, where -40 degrees happens most winters.
EOTech would have had issues here or there. Luckily I've never liked them for battery life alone.
Crazy. Can't believe that China Lake didn't test these things before allowing them to be issues. You'd think that they would periodically grab a random sample and run them through the paces. At least, that's how I would have written the contract. Independent verification say every 200 units. Someone from DCMA, DFAS or the COR picks random serial numbers and they test them.
Yikes. There's probably more to the issue than just L3/EOTech. Some gov't rep somewhere missed it too.