At the International Defense and Security Equipment Exhibition held in September this year, Israel's new SMASH-3000 intelligent optical sight attracted a lot of attention. It is reported that this new type of gun optical sight retains the core function of the previous generation's "dynamic target locking" and adds AI trajectory prediction function, which can capture real-time environmental parameters such as wind speed and humidity, and automatically correct the deviation of the bullet falling. In addition, this type of gun sight has made significant breakthroughs in intelligence. Its tactical data interface can directly interface with unmanned aerial vehicle reconnaissance systems to receive real-time target position coordinates, upgrading firearms from "single shooting tools" to "battlefield information terminals". The evolution of gun optical sights, from simple telescopic devices to integrated intelligent algorithm systems today, is not only a witness to the continuous progress of military technology, but also a result driven by battlefield demands. Let's trace the evolution of the "precision eye" of gun optical sights together, and see how it gradually broke through the limitations of technology and scenes from the early bulky "niche experimental products", and developed into a "single soldier standard" on the modern battlefield; How to break through the positioning of a "simple targeting tool" and accelerate the transformation towards an "intelligent combat center" that connects battlefield information under the impetus of the wave of informatization. Starting from the contradiction between the range and accuracy of firearms, the birth of optical sights for firearms originated from the contradiction between the range and accuracy of firearms. In the mid-19th century, with the popularity of rifled guns, the effective range of rifles increased from around 100 meters in the era of smoothbore guns to over 500 meters. However, the shortcomings of traditional mechanical sights became increasingly prominent: soldiers needed to simultaneously consider "three-point and one line" aiming and correcting trajectory drop, resulting in significant errors during long-range shooting. The development of optical sights for guns was put on the agenda. Subsequently, the German company combined the relatively mature optical telescope technology at that time and made the first attempt to combine the telescope lens with a rifle, pioneering the development of military optical sights. Although this sight has a large volume and weight, requiring the user to lift it with both hands during operation, it hit the bullseye hundreds of meters away during testing, allowing the military to see the possibility of "precision shooting". At the end of the 19th century, the Boer War became a practical testing ground for early sights. The Boer people in South Africa used Mauser rifles equipped with simple optical sights to engage in long-range shooting against the British army on open grasslands, effectively delaying their advance. This battle made countries realize that optical sights are key equipment for enhancing individual combat effectiveness. Subsequently, the trench warfare of World War I further promoted the development of sights: the German army equipped snipers with the "Zeiss 6 × 42" sights, which had a fixed magnification telescope function, allowing shooters to achieve effective sniping from hundreds of meters away. However, there are still obvious shortcomings in the sight at this time. The glass lens of the sight is prone to reflection, making it easy to expose its position. Its metal frame is prone to rusting and sticking in muddy environments, and can only be used by snipers. The full-scale outbreak of World War II propelled optical sights from being exclusive to snipers to being widely used. In order to meet the needs of large-scale positional warfare and urban street fighting, countries have made targeted modifications to sights: the "Unertl2.5 ×" sight equipped by the US military for the M1903 sniper rifle uses a brass reinforced mirror body, which can withstand the intense recoil of rifle shooting. In the Pacific Island War, US Marine Corps snipers used it to accurately clear Japanese fire points in tropical rainforests; The "PU3.5 ×" sight of the Soviet Mosengan rifle innovatively added a ballistic compensation scale. Shooters can rotate the scale ring according to the target distance to correct the amount of bullets dropped. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet army achieved great results with this sight. By the end of World War II, optical sights had become a standard configuration for infantry squads of major participating countries such as the US, Soviet, and German armies. With the arrival of the Cold War, the battlefield environment has become increasingly complex, and the adaptation of optical sights for guns to the battlefield has become a common practice. From the frigid polar ice fields to the humid and hot depths of rainforests, from the desert heartland filled with flying sand to the dangerous areas shrouded in nuclear, biological, and chemical threats... Countries are focusing on the "survivability" and "adaptability" of firearms, striving to improve the material performance of optical sights to adapt to new combat scenarios. Breakthrough in material performance has improved the "survivability" of sights in extreme environments. The lens material of early sights was mostly ordinary silicate glass, which not only had poor impact resistance, but also had a light transmittance of less than 70%, making it prone to "glare" in backlit environments. In the 1960s, the application of polycarbonate materials completely changed this situation: the impact strength of this material is 10-15 times that of glass. In the 1980s, multi-layer coating technology was further upgraded, and the transmittance of sight lenses increased to over 95%, allowing lenses to maintain clear vision even in hazy weather; Metal oxide anti reflective film solves the problem of "reflective exposure location". Later in the Iraq War, the "Leupold MK4 3.5-10 ×" sight used by US snipers relied on multi-layer coating technology to accurately capture targets even in strong desert light and sandstorm environments. At the same time, in response to the impact of combat distance and lighting conditions on sights in different environments, the functions of optical sights are constantly subdivided, forming a clear functional "matrix". Telescopic sight. The core of this type of sight is to enlarge the target image through an optical telescope system, while integrating a trajectory compensation mechanism to help the shooter correct the amount of bullets dropped during medium and long-range shooting, which is the core equipment to ensure accurate shooting at medium and long distances. The magnification is usually between 4-10 times, which ensures clear visibility of the target and avoids narrow field of view and difficulty in capturing the target due to excessive magnification. Taking the ACOG sight as an example, it adopts a 4x fixed magnification design and can correct the drop of 5.56mm bullets at a distance of 100-600 meters. Reflective red dot sight. This type of sight is based on the principle of optical reflection, projecting the red aiming point generated by the LED light source onto the transparent lens. The shooter does not need to strictly align the "three points and one line" like using mechanical sights, but only needs to aim the red point at the target to complete the aiming. Its core advantage is its fast response speed, especially suitable for sudden close range combat. Its non magnifying reflective design allows for a wider field of view, allowing shooters to simultaneously focus on both the target and the surrounding environment. Holographic sight. The principle of this type of sight is to generate a holographic image of a virtual aiming line on the sight lens through laser holography technology. This image is not a simple light spot, but a three-dimensional line containing information such as distance and trajectory. For this type of sight, even if the lens is scratched, worn, or partially shattered by shrapnel, as long as the holographic imaging area is not completely damaged, the aiming line can still be used, and the anti damage ability far exceeds that of traditional sights, especially suitable for harsh environments such as dust and smoke. Night vision sights. This is an optical sight designed specifically for low light or completely dark environments. It amplifies weak natural light in the environment by thousands to tens of thousands of times through optical enhancement technology, or captures the target's own infrared radiation through infrared sensing, allowing shooters to see the target clearly even in the dark. These functionally segmented sights, like equipping firearms with a "multi scene visual module," enable soldiers to clearly target their targets in all scenarios, from 100 meter street battles to kilometer long sniping, from scorching sun to nightfall. The "information nodes" on the intelligent battlefield have entered the 21st century, and information warfare has reshaped the development logic of weapons and equipment. The performance advantage of a single equipment has given way to "system collaboration". Gun optical sights are no longer isolated aiming devices, but gradually become "information nodes" connecting soldiers, firearms, and the battlefield, with an increasingly evident trend towards integration and intelligence. ——Data interconnection. Data interconnection makes sights the intersection of battlefield information. Through the linkage of tactical data links with helmet displays, drones, fire control computers, etc., modern sights can form a closed loop of "perception decision strike". For example, the optical sights in the French FELIN single soldier system can share the aiming image in real time with comrades, achieving "one person aiming, multiple people working together to strike". This data fusion capability allows ordinary soldiers to have the shooting accuracy of "one hundred steps through a poplar tree" - in a test conducted by the US military, new recruits who have never used sniper rifles greatly improved their shooting accuracy with the assistance of intelligent sights. ——Adaptive environment. Environmental adaptation enables sights to actively respond to complex battlefield environments. The application of intelligent sensors enables sights to automatically adjust their state like a "chameleon": the light sensor can recognize the ambient brightness within milliseconds and switch the lens from "strong light mode" to "dark night mode"; The acceleration sensor can sense the recoil of the firearm, automatically lock the position of the divider plate, and avoid calibration deviation caused by vibration; Some high-end sights are also equipped with anti nuclear radiation coatings, which can maintain stable optical performance in nuclear contaminated environments. ——Multimodal fusion. Multimodal fusion is a deep extension of integration and intelligence, with the core being the integration of multiple aiming modes such as telescope, red dot, and low light night vision on the same optical platform. Without frequent equipment changes, soldiers can adapt to full day and night time, long, medium, and close range combat. The Elcan Specter DR sight installed by the US military is a typical representative of this type of sight. It controls the rotation of the lens through a central lever and can quickly switch between 1x red dot mode and 4x telephoto mode. The red dot mode has a wide field of view and is suitable for sudden close range combat; The telescopic mode can handle precise shooting at medium and long distances. From bulky experimental objects in the 19th century to the current development of intelligence, every evolution of gun optical sights is answering the same question: how to enable soldiers to complete tasks more accurately and safely on the brutal battlefield. In the future, with the deep integration of artificial intelligence and augmented reality technology, this "precision eye" may also achieve "predictive targeting" - by analyzing the target's motion trajectory to lock in the shooting point in advance, and even linking with the soldier's brain computer interface to achieve "intentional targeting". No matter how technology iterates, the core mission of sights remains unchanged: to extend the boundaries of vision with the power of technology and unlock more accurate battlefield observation capabilities. (New Society)