In our Photo Of The Day, we take a look at the U.S. Army’s Family of Weapon Sights-Crew Served (FWS-CS) made by BAE Systems. The system is designed for integration with the M2 .50-caliber machine gun, MK19 grenade launcher or the M240 machine gun. It has a laser range finder that provides automatically adjusted crosshairs directly onto the soldier’s helmet-mounted display.

According to BAE Systems, the FWS-CS provides exceptional image quality, producing high-resolution images directly from the weapon sight to the helmet-mounted display – day or night and in any weather condition. The sight combines a high-resolution 12-micron thermal and high-definition day camera in the weapon sight, which is transmitted to the soldier.

A 3-71 CAV, 10 MTN DIV Soldier makes adjustments to the FWS-CS during a test at Fort Drum, NY

A 3-71 CAV, 10 MTN DIV Soldier takes aim with an M2 .50 caliber machine gun outfitted with the FWS-CS during testing at Fort Drum, NY

Unfortunately, there are no photos or videos of what the system looks like from the heads-up display.

To my knowledge, the closest civilians can get at the moment are the Pulsar KRYPTON FXG50 Thermal Vision Front Attachment, US version of the Pulsar Trail 2 LRF XQ50 and XP50 or N-Vision Optics.

All photos by Frederick Shear