The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded a seven-year contract worth £120 million to Qioptiq Limited for the continued procurement of the TALON Fused Weapon Sight – a cutting-edge image intensifier and thermal imager system.
This contract, placed by the Dismounted Close Combat project team, is part of the broader Assault Rifle In-Line Low Light Sight (ARILLS) capability, designed to enhance the operational effectiveness of British Army assault rifles in low light and difficult conditions.
The contract, which covers up to 10,000 TALON systems over the duration of the agreement, is critical for the MOD’s capability in close combat operations.
As noted in the contract award notice, “There will be no initial quantity from the outset. However, there is an estimated TFR of 10,000 TALON systems over the life of the framework.” The framework agreement has been placed with Qioptiq Limited, a leading supplier of advanced optical and sighting systems based in Denbighshire, with future purchases subject to financial approval on a case-by-case basis.
This contract was awarded under a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice, justified by the MOD due to the technical complexities involved.
The MOD explained, “This is due to strict technical impracticality for any other economic operator other than Qioptiq to achieve the same technical requirements/output performance provided by the TALON system.” Qioptiq’s unique ability to deliver the TALON Fused Weapon Sight – which offers dual-channel capability combining image intensification and thermal imaging – ensures the necessary interoperability with the existing TALON fleet.
The MOD further noted Qioptiq’s expertise’s importance, stating that the company “has the necessary know-how/access to information to manufacture and provide the TALON system, to meet the Authority’s requirement.”
This expertise, the firm say, ensures that the TALON system will continue to play a vital role in the Army’s close combat operations, offering advanced sighting capabilities that enhance situational awareness and improve operational effectiveness in challenging environments.
£12k per sight seems excessive. they could buy 10k of the KS1 issued to the RM with sights for that amount.
unbelievable really
This is cutting edge stuff. It’s a Thermal Imager and an Image Intensifier with the images seemlessly fused together in one.
The sight’s on KS1 are not night vision….in fact they’re designed for additional night vision systems to be added in front of them at extra cost….
I would be interested to see how good these are compared to say a £600 Arken Zulu.
understood on KS1 sights, but its still an awful lot of money for a sight or am I wrong?
I get 5-7k for top of the range sights – £12k when we are buying 10k seems hugely expensive to me and doesn’t pass the sniff test (again I am no expert)
And if they get less than the 10,000 (the contract is up to), then the unit cost goes up!
A decent, not military grade, civilian thermal sight will set you back £4-5k, add in fused image intensification….you can’t because there are none available…
Then add in training, support, manuals etc etc…
It’s par for the course
thanks for explaining – I will now shut up
It’s a reasonable point you make though. We’re fixated on getting gold plated solutions sometimes. This sight is really good….and 10,000 arguably equips most of our infantry…but where does that leave everyone else?….thats why I mentioned COTS solutions lower down…by all means lets give the people at the tip of the spear the right gear…but other parts of the Army also need night vision…they’re rather good for spotting drones for example…
ideally we should cycle the equipment through the force structure, so as the tip get gucci, the older stuff they have been using goes down the food chain. once its broken its gone imo, buy new or use for spare parts if possible. This lifecycling approach is used in many industries and extracts max value from assets
I mean we do. That’s why some units still have SUSAT’s and Ironsights on L85A2’s with green furniture, and others are operating with L403’s with a modern variable sight and in line thermal optics, and others are in the middle with L85A3’s with LDS’s.
Not really. You have to remember this is a small, rugged, squaddie proof, thermal imagining AND NVG system. 10+k is really the ball park that will go to.
thanks – understood
To be fair the elcan Spector which is the civilian version of the sight on the SA80a2/3 is about 2/3k and that’s just a 4x optic
Glad to see I’m not the only one thinking this. I’ve done a brief bit of searching but have found scant information around Talon that could help me understand it’s huge cost.
Even if it is cutting edge, surely others are making or have made similar systems? Im struggling to se it being “cutting edge” enough to justify the cost.
Understanding project procurement a bit, I appreciate the overall cost will more than likely include both research and development and in life servicing. But the cost still seems prohibitive.
This is good news as ARILLS is an excellent bit of kit, and Qioptiq are made in the UK…there has been some inroads to the UK market by Greek and Israeli companies recently, and we really need to protect home grown capability, particularly if its good gear. But they aren’t cheap…and 10,000 will only go so far… We could order even more, at a price, but we often ignore COTS solutions…you can purchase a decent, though admittedly inferior, thermal sight from the likes of Pulsar, ATN or Hik for £2k a pop…none of those are UK providers (Pulsar are Lithuanian… Read more »
Qioptic was taken over by Excelitas an American company in 2013, not sure he the sights are actually manufactured in the UK.
They still do most of their manufacturing at St Asaph in Wales.
It really is, the only thing I’d complain about is they’re bloody hard to see anything through in daylight.
Great bit of kit, great addition to the infantry’s inventory, but the single biggest issue that will always be a limiting factor, is the platform it is mounted on.
As with the armies plan to ensure every soldier has the ‘right kit, for the right job’ and crucially, enough of it and before any possible, future increase (🙏) in overall troop numbers, the weapon system that is currently fielded, is still, sub-optimal. It would be very encouraging if there was a big light at the end of that very long tunnel too.
Project Grayburn the replacement for L85A2/A3 was due to go out to tender next year for the replacement Rifle for an in service date of between 2027 to 2030, but rumour has been delayed due to lack of funds. This will be an AR platform with various barrel lengths and optic sights depending on the user role & this be in 5.56 mm for general service, more specialist users may go to 6.5 or 6.8 mm.
To be honest there are some indications that the U.S. army is going all out for its infantry weapon, squad support weapons and medium MGs to all move to a 6.8mm round. Essentially moving from the 5.56mm and 7.26mm.
The British army really need to consider if they are going to do the same.
If that is the case we will go for a two calibre fleet, a 5 foot AGC clerk does not require a battle rifle weighing 14 pounds inc sight & a 20 round magazine with a working pressure of 82000 PSI with its composite brass & steel cartridge case. Female soldiers couldn’t even handle the SLR, that’s why they where issued with the SMG prior to it’s replacement with the L85.
I’ve seen women handle a GMPG, pretty sure “they couldn’t handle an SLR” is just 1980’s sexism.
You have seen a woman firing a GPMG you definitely haven’t seen them tabbing 10k with that and a 100lb rucksack on it’s not sexist to point out a physical fact woman are not as strong as men
Oh, so glad I have you to tell me what I’ve seen with my own eyes lol
Jog on.
I agree Dern, but a GPMG is fired from a bipod.
Wait, you’re seriously making an argument about being able to fire the weapon system? Okay mate, I think that’s a worse position to goalpost shift too.
L129 (A 7.62NATO rifle that weighs almost exactly the same as a L1A1 SLR) ACMT requires firing from a variety of positions, including standing unsupported. Women pass that all the time.
Dern, I apologise if my comments appeared sexist, they where not intended to be, I have also been on ranges with women firing both L7A2 and L129A1’s, my original comment was about the MOD are not going to be equipping everyone with a 6.8mm rifle, as everyone keeps banging on about, because the Americans are.
Every country in NATO has either replaced there main rifle or are about to all in 5.56mm, so this calibre is going to be around for many years to come.
Again I apologise if my original comments where misconstrued.
I don’t think there are any indications of that whatsoever. They’ve doing troop trials but they still only have the intention of purchasing a very limited number…and the per shot cost is eyewatering at present…
It’s also proprietary…so we couldn’t buy the ammo from anyone else but SIG….that doesn’t work for us or other NATO members in the slightest…
They have just finalised funded for 112,000 XM7 personal weapons and around 13,500 XM250 squad support weapons…with 18,000 rifles for next year….they are also looking for a kit to change M240 to 6.8mm. They have clearly now stated the XM7 will replace the M4 in service and the XM250 will replace the M249..they are also building a whole new munitions plant to supply the army with 6.8mm rounds.. The have also issued the first battalion with the replacement rifle and squad support weapon so it’s now in active service. Thats a pretty strong set of indicators…they may keep the 5.56… Read more »
Honestly, I’ve used it with an L85A3, the rifle isn’t really a hugely limiting factor. Compared to the old LLM it’s a complete gamechanger at night.