Optical Environment Testing

RED Scientific, supported by a number of Environmental Test House partners, selected and conducted a range of appropriate tests to assist and inform the down-select process for the six replacement candidates for the obsolescent No.2 and No.5 binoculars.

Combat Support Equipment (CSE) IPT originally ran a competition to replace obsolescent binoculars. The Expression of Interest (EoI) attracted 11 companies with a total of 18 samples, the majority of which were Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS).

Following User trials at the Infantry Trials & Development Unit (ITDU), six samples were selected for the final phase of the competition, the rest having failed the Key System Requirements (KSR) for weight, size, FOV, or compatibility with in-service defence clothing.

The remaining samples required an independent evaluation, conducted by RED, to determine their robustness of design, tested through the application of a suite of environmental tests.

The following environmental tests were conducted:

• Temperature - Humidity
• Solar RadiationHigh Temperature
• Sand and Dust
• Low Temperature
• Immersion
• Vehicle Vibration
• Salt Corrosion
• Impact
• Fluid Contamination
• Drop & Topple.

Based on this single set of environmental tests, and considering all tests to be of appropriate weighting to their impact on performance, conclusions were drawn about the best performance (i.e. minimum damage) to samples.

Recommendations were also made in order to model the Whole Life Cost (WLC) of ownership and determine the best long term procurement solution.