User:KarmaKangaroo/Articles/AN/PEQ-15

The Advanced Target Pointer/ Illuminator/ Aiming Light, ATPIAL AN/PEQ-15 known colloquially as the "PEQ-15" [] produced by L3Harris (originally designed and manufactured by Insight Technology, until their acquisition by L3Harris); is a multifunction IR Target Pointer & Illuminator, or Laser Aiming Module (LAM) for use as an attachment to a soldiers personal weapon/rifle, using a picatinny rail mounting system.The ATPIAL is designated using the Joint Electronics Type Designation System. The designation is made up by: AN = Army/Navy. P = Portable. E = Laser. Q = Special or Combination. The PEQ-15 was brought into service in 2003 during the GWOT. The PEQ-15 is the most widely used LAM on the market, having been the standard issue for American regular forces. In most military units the PEQ-15 is being superseded by the new AN/PEQ-16, (with the US Marine M27 IAR having the PEQ-16 as standard), AN/PSQ-23 STORM-PI, or the Squad Rangefinder (SRF) that are all also manufactured by L3Harris.

Development
The ATPIAL AN/PEQ-15 is a multifunctional laser aiming module that emits both visible and IR laser light for precise weapon aiming and produces IR light with an Illuminator for target/area illumination. The module can be used as a handheld illuminator/pointer or can be mounted to weapons equipped with a MIL-STD-1913 (Picatinny Rail) rail mounting system, using the integrated M1913 rail grabber moulded into the body of the unit, eliminating the need for separate mounting hardware.

History
Developed and brought into service in 2003 by Insight Technology, the AN/PEQ-15 was being adopted and issued to replace the PEQ-2. The PEQ-2 was first developed in the early '90s, also by Insight Technology became the first widely issued LAM (laser aiming module), both of US forces, but other countries' ground forces as well, with the PEQ-2 seeing active use by Australian Special Forces in as late as 2010. The expansion of the GWOT through the early through 2003 quickly ballooned many a defense budget, leading to a lot of contracts for new technology being raised, with an updated LAM and replacement for the AN/PEQ-2 being one such on the list.

Since its development the PEQ-15 is still the the standard issue LAM for US regular forces, nearly 20 years later. With hundreds of thousands of PEQ-15s in DOD (Department of Defense) inventory, they have even since been adopted by Police and other Law Enforcement units across the United States, with the PEQ-15 becoming the most widely issued and battle tested laser aiming modules on the market. The successor to the PEQ-15, the AN/PEQ-16 is fast becoming popular amongst SOF forces and other countries' regular forces. The Australian Army has begun adopting the PEQ-16 replacing many of it's PEQ-15s, as the standard LAM to be fitted to the EF-88's extensive picatinny rails.

A high power and ultra high power variant of the PEQ-15 was developed with the latter, the UHP LA-5C/PEQ becoming part of the SOPMOD Block II kit for SOF (Special Operations Forces) Weapon systems. SOF have also now begun to move to the L3 Harris NGAL (Next Generation Aiming Laser) in conjunction with the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular (ENVG-B).

Restrictions on sale
IR Lasers are restricted to Law Enforcement and Government customers only and cannot be sold to civilians. Sale and Purchase of IR Laser equipment can only occur at the Department, Agency, or Unit level, and cannot be sold to individual Law Enforcement, Military, Government, or Contractor personnel. The AN/PEQ-15 is ITAR restricted and its export outside of the United States is strictly prohibited without a valid export license, prescribed in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR).

Design Details
The Advanced Target Pointer/ Illuminator/ Aiming Light (ATPIAL) was the standard issue laser aiming module for the U.S. Warfighter before the introduction of the AN/PEQ-16. Designed and built as the next generation weapon-mountable IR laser/Illuminator, in 2003 it became the battlefield replacement for the AN/PEQ-2A which served US Military Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies for many years. One of the key improvements of the ATPIAL over the previous generation PEQ-2 is the addition of a co-aligned and slaved visible laser, allowing for use without night vision devices. With a single set of adjustment screws for windage and elevation, zeroing one laser, zeros the other, it is possible to zero the PEQ-15 during the day without personnel needing any night vision/IR vision devices using a simple boresight technique. The ATPIAL comes in at almost half the weight and size of its predecessor with the added functionality.

The PEQ-15s low profile, and offset of the laser diodes from the center of the device allows the PEQ-15 to be mounted to to the top of the rifle hand guard, without obstructing the view of optics, and passing by either side of the front sight post of the M16 and M4 service rifles. The PEQ-15 has a rear-facing battery compartment allowing users to remove and replace the battery of the unit without having to remove the unit and potentially disturb the zero with the rifle. Windage and Elevation are adjusted with small low profile screws on the top and sides of the unit. Each adjustment produces a positive click. The adjustment requires tooling to adjust windage/elevation thus keeping the adjustment points from catching in the field.

The PEQ-15 has three main functions that may be used in a number of ways or combinations. All the functions are axis aligned with each other operated by a single adjustment, zeroing/boresighting can be achieved without the use of NODS/NVGs by using the visible lasers, with the adjustment screws requiring the use of a tool for windage and elevation, allowing the adjustment points to remain low profile so as not to be caught and moved in the field. The main functions of the functions of the PEQ-15 are:
 * Visible Laser: The visible laser is a red laser that can be emitted from the unit with the press of the button. The visible red-dot can provide precise aiming of a weapon during daylight or night operations. There are higher power variants (HP LA-5A & UHP LA-5C) that provide a higher output Visible Laser for better view in the day. The Visible laser can only be used on it's own, setting don't allow for it to be used with the IR laser or illuminator. The visible laser can be used to boresight the device to a weapon without the need of night vision goggles, as the lasers and illuminator are co-aligned, this zeroes all diode functions.
 * IR Laser: emits a tightly focused beam of IR light for precise aiming of the weapon while wearing night vision goggles, or viewing the environment with a Infrared camera or weapon sights.
 * IR Illuminator: provides additional IR illumination of a target or target arear, it is operated through an adjustable lens with a turning bezel to vary the size of the illumination beam depending on target size and distance to the target, allowing adjustment from a flood light (105 mrad / 6°) mode to a single point spot-divergence (0.5 mrad / 0.029°) mode.

Operation
The AN/PEQ-15 is operated using a main mode selector dial, with 8 options to select (9 on the UHP and HP variants)), these are detailed in the table below. Once the mode has been selected, the activation of the pressure pad activates the function selected. The unit has an inbuilt switch, but it also has a remote cable switch socket to allow for a remote pressure pad to be located elsewhere on the rifle, in a natural position that can be activated while shooting; this may be on a forward grip, or the handguard in a position accessible while aiming the rifle.



ATPIAL AN/PEQ-15
The standard power PEQ-15 variant, with single power visible laser, and high and low, IR Laser and IR Illuminator module.

The low power modes can be used during force-on-force training, however the high power modes should only be used on live fire ranges at ranges exceeding 220 meters. The single visible laser power output of the standard power PEQ-15 of only 5 mW means the visible laser is only visible during the day of with a range of > 25 m when NOT in direct sunlight.

LA-5B/PEQ | HP ATPIAL
The LA-5B/PEQ (officially  'High-Power' ATPIAL (LA-5B/PEQ)) is the high power variant of the PEQ-15, with a higher output visible laser, and IR Illuminator. The major benefit to the increase in the visible laser power is improved performance in direct sunlight, with six times more output power. The higher power IR illuminator allows users to use the illuminator as pointer being able to reach out to much farther distances.

LA-5C/PEQ | UHP ATPIAL
The LA-5C/PEQ; formally, ' Ultra High-Power' ATPIAL (LA-5C/PEQ), is the ultra high power variant of the PEQ-15, which carries forward the same high output IR Illuminator and Visible Laser from the HP LA-5B/PEQ, but with the addition of a significantly higher output IR laser of. The Ultra High Power variant is in use by the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) as part of the SOPMOD Block II accessory kit for SOCOM rifles, replacing the Block I AN/PEQ-2.

AN/PEQ-15A – DBAL-A2
The AN/PEQ-15A — DBAL-A2 (Dual Beam Aiming Laser – Advanced-2) is an alternative of the L3Harris variants that is manufactured by Steiner Optics, and has the designation AN-PEQ-15A.

Like the L3Harris variants, the visible and IR aiming lasers on the DBAL-A2 are co-aligned with a single setting adjustment to windage and elevation to move and zero both beams, a soldier can use either the IR or Visible laser to boresight/zero the device to the rifle. The Steiner DBAL-A2 variant was offered with two different visible laser wavelengths, with the standard being 640 nm (±3%) Red, and the alternative being the 532 nm Green visible laser.

Current Operators

 * 🇦🇺: AN/PEQ-15 used by Australian infantry and Special Forces on both the EF-88 and SOCOMD M-4 Carbine, the PEQ-15 is being phased out for the AN/PEQ-16B which will be supplemented at the squad level with the L3Harris Squad Rangefinder (SRF).
 * Great Britain: Used by UKSF, including the SAS.
 * 🇳🇿: Used on the New Zealand service rifle - LMT Modular Assault Rifle System - Light (MARS-L).
 * 🇺🇸: In use by the US Military, being phased out for the AN/PEQ-16,. The UHP LA-5C/PEQ is in use by USSOCOM forces within the SOPMOD Block II kit.
 * Los Angeles LAPD SWAT: Use the DBAL-A2 variant of the PEQ-15.

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