UK orders Rheinmetall Vario-Ray laser light modules

During the next few years the British Ministry of Defence will continue procuring Rheinmetall’s Vario-Ray laser light module for its infantry forces.

Mounted on soldiers’ small arms, these devices enable them to detect, identify and mark targets.

The framework contract, with a total value of €33 million (approximately £28 million), encompasses the supply of tens of thousands of these innovative devices. In the near term more than 7,000 units are to be delivered in a first lot.

Vario-Ray, officially dubbed the “Laser-Light Module Mark 3” by Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, forms part of a comprehensive program to modernize the British infantry.

In the competition to secure the order, it had to overcome a number of well-known rivals.

Weighing less than 244 grams, the device can be attached to small arms of all types by means of a Mil-Std 1913 rail, and remotely operated using a trigger cable.

It features a powerful white light lamp, a red light laser marker, an infrared laser marker and an electrically focusable infrared illuminator.

The light source is selected via a rotary switch.

All of the light sources are infinitely variable, while the lasers can all be adjusted via block calibration.

The LLM Vario-Ray complements the tried-and-tested LLM-01.