The Avenger weapon system is a lightweight, day or night, limited adverse weather FU employed to counter low-altitude aerial threats. The FU consists of two turret-mounted standard vehicle mounted launchers (SVMLs), a machine gun, a forward looking infrared (FLIR) sight, a laser range finder (LRF), and an identification, friend or foe (IFF). The gyrostabilized turret is mounted on the high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). The FU can launch a missile or fire the machine gun on the move or from a stationary position with the gunner in the turret. It can also be remotely operated from a location up to 50 meters away.
Sensors
The sensor package includes an optical sight, FLIR, LRF, IFF, and a fire control computer. With these sensors, the Avenger can acquire and track targets in any battlefield environment, such as darkness, dust, smoke, or adverse weather.
FLIR. FLIR provides enhanced acquisition capability in various environments: night, smoke, rain, background clutter, and haze. The automatic video tracker (AVT) is a subsystem of the FLIR. The AVT provides autotrack of the FLIR targets
Global security, AVENGER PLATOON OPERATIONS AND ORGANIZATION
Army-technology, Avenger Low Level Air Defence System, United States of AmericaTargets are acquired either by using the optical sight or the Raytheon AN/VLR-1 Avenger FLIR (forward-looking infrared). The FLIR sensor is fitted to the left launch beam and is boresighted to the aiming point of the missile pod. The FLIR has three fields of view - wide, narrow and a rain mode.
The Daily BeastThe North Dakota Guard selected the Avengers for the “observation” mission not only because of the launchers’ night-vision equipment, but also owing to their enclosed, heated cabins, Prokopyk said. Taking into account wind chill, winter temperatures in North Dakota can dip below negative 40 degrees.
