SPECNOTE 0002 Attachment 1

Area of Interest

N0016425SCA002

Small Modular Optic and Laser Designator (SMOLDr)

23 July 2025

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Special Operations Forces (SOF) seeks a low-cost, small lightweight laser designator and separable digital optic. Current laser designation solutions are costly, large, heavy, require custom external batteries, and lack imaging performance in low-light environments. The current large and heavy solutions fielded reduce the amount of necessary supplies and equipment fire supporters can carry to into battle. Custom external batteries are often expensive and difficult to procure due to single source supply chains. Lack of imaging performance in low-light environments limits the effective engagement window on the battlefield with respect to time and range.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

The goal of the SMOLDr is to provide fire supporters with a low-cost, small, lightweight laser designator and separable digital optic. The laser designator should be a module (designator module) that can mechanically and electrically separate from the optic. The digital optic should be a module (optic module) that can mechanically and electrically separate from the laser. The intent of this modularity is to field a low-cost base capability while also allowing the Government to develop tiered solutions for the digital optic at their discretion without replacing the laser designator subcomponent. The Government does not foresee the modules as being standalone devices, but is open to standalone design concepts as long as they do not sacrifice the intended modularity.

The modules should be designed for cost efficiency such that economies of scale apply to the maximum extent possible. The performer should investigate techniques to improve performance without significantly increasing cost. Enabling technologies include but are not limited to the following: Pixel Binning / Large pixel area
Back-side illumination
Photon-counting
Artificial intelligence (specifically for improved low-light performance, not for image recognition) Efficient processors or tiered processing power (i.e. more processing may be beneficial for lower-light environments, but wasteful for higher-light environments) Power-efficient displays
Diode-pumped laser source
Passive heat dissipation technologies
Lens technologies which provide significant weight and/or size savings

A solution brief’s Technical Merit and Relevance will be based on the ability to meet the primary attributes and the cumulative evaluation of the secondary solution attributes/capabilities: