Rheinmetall Wins €33 Million Vario-Ray Laser Light Modules Contract

The British Ministry of Defence has ordered Rheinmetall’s Vario-Ray laser light, to be mounted on soldiers' small arms for easier detection, identification and marking of targets.

The contract valued €33 million, encompasses the supply of tens of thousands of these innovative devices. In the near term more than 7,000 units are to be delivered in a first lot. 

Vario-Ray, officially dubbed the “Laser-Light Module Mark 3” by Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, forms part of a comprehensive programme to modernize the British infantry. In the competition to secure the order, it had to overcome a number of well-known rivals. 

Weighing less than 244 grams, the device can be attached to small arms of all types by means of a Mil-Std 1913 rail, and remotely operated using a trigger cable. It features a powerful white light lamp, a red light laser marker, an infrared laser marker and an electrically focusable infrared illuminator. The light source is selected via a rotary switch. All of the light sources are infinitely variable, while the lasers can all be adjusted via block calibration. 

The LLM Vario-Ray complements the tried-and-tested LLM-01, already widely used by the British military and likewise made by Rheinmetall. Vario-Ray also forms part of Germany’s new “Gladius” expanded future soldier system.