Multi-role prism sights created and manufactured by Raytheon ELCAN Optical Technologies
The Elcan Specter is a line of multi-role
prism sights created by
Raytheon ELCAN Optical Technologies originally designed for
M16/
M4 family of rifles but now also exists for light machine gun and heavy machineguns. Most of the optics are capable of switching between magnifications and illumination.
History
The Specter was developed by Raytheon Six Sigma Product Development Team under
Raytheon ELCAN Optical Technologies for the United States
Naval Surface Warfare Center to fill the requirement for the "SOPMOD rifle kit SU-230/PVS Articulated Telescope NSN 1240-01-533-09039", development was started in 2003 with the goal to fix the general issue of transition between long range engagements/operation to short range engagement/operations(CQB) that would leave the soldier vunerable while switching optics. The solution found by ELCAN was to merge a
telescopic sight with a
red dot sight by using a rotating lens one side at 1x magnification the other in 4x that could be rotated by the turn of a lever. Development was finished in 2006 where it won the bid 9-1 and was adopted as the SU-230/PVS. Since then more models have hit the market,[1] such as the stripped down Specter OS line developed as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive DR line developed for
SOCOM, which lacks the capability to switch magnification making it function more as standard
prism sight.
Reticle
The optic has 2 standard
reticles both are a cross, feature a range finder out to 600m for
5.56x45 and 800m for
7.62x51, where they differ is in the bulletdrop design where the one called CX5395/CX5396 uses circles to denote the range, while the other called CX5455/CX5456 uses lines and also features lines for windage.[2]
The OS line features two different reticles one is the SFOV4-C1 similar to the CX5455 except featuring a "+" as the center of the reticle, the other reticle for the OS line is an
ACOG like type reticle with a chevron in the middle known as CX5755
Operation
The Optic is fitted to the rifle with an A.R.M.S locking levers to a normal
picatinny rail (MIL-STD 1913 rail) 70mm from the shooter eye. The optic is zeroed at 100m range the azimuth/ windage is adjusted by flathead screwdriver on the front right of the optic and the elevation is adjusted on the elevation at the back of the optic. The optic is capable of illumination, it can be turned on as a reddot or it can illuminated the entire reticle for night use. Illumination is turned on by turning the illumination dial on the left of the optic and the battery is located within the dial itself.
If the optic is a Dual Role (DR) model it has a lever in the middle that can be depressed and then pushed/pulled to switch between to set magnifications.[3]
The Tri-Role (TR) is the more unique optic in the line, although operation remains mostly the same except the changing of the magnification now happens on the dial on the left of the optic; it can only have a red dot as illumination; and features a different mounting solution.
Denmark:
Hæren adopted 3 custom versions developed jointly between
DALO and Elcan in 2020. The models picked where the Specter DR 1-4x for 556, Specter DR 1-4x for 762 and the Specter DR 1.5-6x for 12.7 as all with a unique reticle and was adopted as a replacement for the ageing C79[14]
Germany: The Bundeswehr adopted the Specter DR 1-4x in 2021 to be delivered by
Leonardo[15]