Polarion CSWL - Night Reaper - Live Fire Testing

[Ken J. Good]

Had a great opportunity over the weekend to work with a few USMC units to demonstrate the capabilities of the Polarion "Night Reaper" CSWL and the PF40.

The US Marines brought out their current long range illumination tools for head-to-head testing. Without getting into details, they were exceptionally happy with the new information gained from this demo/test.

Just a few pics here (All lights were 40-watt units - The Night Reapers they will receive will have a 50-watt capability).

Preparations #1: Click Here

Preparations #2: Click Here

Arrival: Click Here

Arrival 2: Click Here

Polarion PF40 on 240G MG: Click Here

Getting ready to mount Polarion PF40/240G MG: Click Here

Testing Polarion PF40/240G MG on Turret Mount: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper @ Dusk: Click Here

Polarion PF40 on Mk 19 Grenade Launcher: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on Mk 19 Grenade Launcher: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on .50 cal MG Side Profile: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on .50 cal MG Side Profile 2: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on .50 cal MG: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on .50 cal MG #2: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on .50 cal Light Show: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper on .50 cal Light Show #2: Click Here

We went through several 10,000's of rounds.
Here is the initial load out of ammo...

Polarion Night Reaper Test Ammo #1: Click Here

Polarion Night Reaper Test Ammo #2: Click Here

We fired from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 am in the morning.
All lights good-to-go at the end of the night after the extensive almost non-stop pounding.

Checking the Mounts between shooters: Click Here

 

[LuxLuthor]

Oh man, what great photos. Now that's just good, clean, fun! 13 hours of shooting! I can't even imagine that. Very impressive to see the light and its performance.

 

[dudemar]

I believe I need to go change my shorts now...

THANK YOU KEN!!! AWESOME PICS!:goodjob: That Night Reaper sure is something!:wow:

If you have any more pictures, please, by all means post them up. Especially the night shots.

:thanks:

 

[Team Member]

It seems like a good day at the range :twothumbs


Nice pics.

 

[Mettee]

Lucky

 

[Patriot]

Very Nice! I noticed on the M2 mount that there is a "near - far" lever. Is that a two position only adjustment or a fully adjustable cam interface of some type? The external frame of the mount looks to be very beefy and well engineered.

Thanks for the pics.

 

[Ken J. Good]

Patriot36

As far as the rail mount adaptor, I didn't ask. It looks like it might be a quick elevation change option for Night Vision Devices that could be mounted there?

These are area-fire weapons (although) that can be exceptionally accurate in the right hands.

On another note.
Saturday night and the actual location presented a unique set of circumstances I have not previously encountered.
Specifically, the air had a high moisture content (rain, icy rain) I now liken high moisture as a "headwind" for the photons.

Additionally, the target area had a constant downhill slope. All the vegetation was charred. I walked out there to get a closer look and I was quickly covered in black soot.
The actual targets were rusted hulks of vehicles and armored vehicles.
There was basically zero reflectivity off the ground and/or the targets. Everything was essentially a "light sponge".

When we first used the Polarion searchlights, I was disappointed as to what we could actually discriminate and accurately engage. I kept on thinking to myself, "I have seen these things consistently reach out much further."

I asked the Marines if they had any of the highly focusable short-arc systems and if they did could they bring them out for comparison.
They did.

To be perfectly honest, I was thinking, this will be a time where the short-arcs are going to kick-butt on the Polarion's. But I would rather know and face the music.

We fired those things up.....Everybody was blown away (including myself) at the utter LACK of performance in these same light absorbing conditions.

Bottom line, I would conservatively estimate the penetration distance was 1/3 that of the Polarion's on the line and at least 1/10th or less in terms of lateral coverage. I mean it was totally unusable.

I wish I would have done a side-by-side photo comparison right then and there. I couldn't because we were whisked off to another area of the base to demo the Polarion's against the Short-Arcs to another inquiring unit who had reps observing what was going on on this range.

What I did for that demo is have a US Marine in woodland, digital camo move at least 250 yards away from the group (with their backs turned) and hide himself in the treeline in a manner that if a bright light hit him, he could be located and identified.

We fired up the competitors system. After several minutes of searching, nobody in our 10 person group could locate the subject. We knew the general location but no dice on locating the subject.

We fired up a PF40. In Less than 2-seconds the same subject was located and he was averting his eyes (hands blocking the light) to avoid discomfort of the light.

What followed was frantic bunch of cross-talk punctuated with exquisite, well-placed expletives as only US Marines can articulate.

I then took both lights, told the group to stay in place and I ran to the subjects location. I then fired up the short-arc and directed the light beam into their eyes. Nothing to report.

Did the same with the Polarion. From 250 yards I could hear the next round of chatter.
When I returned they asked to hold the light. They treated it like the Holy Grail. I was smiling inside.

This particular group hunts IED's in Iraq. The stories and applications of light unfolded from there.
Polarion's are in their future. They need them, knowing what they face on a regular basis.

 

[BVH]

I love to read this kind of info. Great info, Ken! Thanks!

 

[Taboot]

Nice job! I hope these lights help them in the field. The Polarions look right at home on those guns.

One thing I wonder from looking at the pictures of the .50 firing. Does the smoke from the gun cause visibility trouble when hit with a bright light? For instance, when driving in dense fog or thick snow, sometimes your high beams can actually blind you by reflecting the light back from close range.

Mike

 

[Ken J. Good]

The lights would be much better mounted below the barrel shroud.
Smoke is a big issue.

That mount is next for us. Of course they could alway use the Surefire Hellfighter mount (minus the Hellfighter...Hee hee)

I will post some video in the next few days....Some fun stuff.

 

[Patriot]

Great additional info in post #7. I wonder what kind of short-arc systems they were using?

Looking forward to the video.

 

[Taboot]

I would think that the further the light is from the operator, the less effect the smoke would have on visibility. Of course you would have to pick a desired range for the system. Anyway, nice work, looking forward to the video.

I'll bet the PH series lights will be one of the best pieces of specialty gear they have. :thumbsup:

Mike

 

[HoopleHead]

very very cool. nice work! :thumbsup:

 

[Ken J. Good]

Some weekend fun in Video Format...

Quicktime:
http://polarion-usa.com/videos/Polarion-CSWL-USMC.mov

MPEG-4
http://polarion-usa.com/videos/Polarion-CSWL-USMC.mp4

Flash
http://polarion-usa.com/videos/Polarion-CSWL-USMC.flv

Windows users should be able to Right-Click/Save As to their desktops
MAC users should be able to Control/Click to save the file to their desktops

 

[CajunJosh]

Great videos, defiantly goes to show the durability of these lights.

 

[Patriot]

Nice to be able to see more Polarion video. Very cool footage of the Night Reaper soaking up the M2 recoil.