Operators of US special departments, under certain circumstances, cannot target the target due to a recognized defect in the holographic lens. The US government is aware of the problem and sued the precision optics manufacturer, L-3 Communications, for fraud last November. The company has limited itself to paying 25,6 million dollars, but has failed to resolve the anomaly that affects the remote coverage of the operators.
Even today, Navy SEAL, Berretti Verdi, the special operations units of the Marine Corps, Delta Force and SEAL Team Six, carry out missions with defective optics that have not been replaced.
The thermal drift problem causes an error of between six and twelve inches from a distance of 300 meters. Same distance that the government identifies as a combat zone. Translated, this means that an operator's first strike could also fail with consequences that could be fatal for the entire team. The defect tends to emerge when the optics are exposed to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold. It is not recommended in Afghanistan, where temperature excursions are typical.
The response of the company that created the precision system was staggering: "No repair or modification is in progress, anyone who finds a problem of thermal drift is asked to contact EOTech to obtain reimbursement". It must be understood if such a response can be effective in an operational context in the field.
We take the matter very seriously - comment from the Pentagon - and we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our forces. In a note from SOCOM, it is specified that optics are used only in permissive environments.
The first known complaints date back to 2007, when the Norwegian army found that the holographic viewfinder expands and distorts at temperatures below 20 ° F (-7 ° Celsius). EOTech tried to solve the problem when a short time later another inconvenience was discovered for the holographic viewfinder. Because of some faulty gaskets, if the optics were found immersed at a depth of twenty meters, it would accumulate moisture, "clouding the viewfinder".
In the complaint presented by the US government, it is noted that the company was aware of the limits of the optics that it kept hidden until March of the 2013, after a video on YouTube showing the critical points of the viewfinder. Every branch of the US armed forces has bought EOTech's sights.
Despite the improvised devices and the search for a new perspective, the holographic viewfinder is still in service on at least ten thousand different weapon systems.
