Not so cool

In 'Techno warriors' (Feature, 17 July), you report the development of a 'sophisticated thermal sight' for infantry weapons.

Apparently, the accuracy of the image will be improved by use of a thermo-electric cooler. It seems to me that this would make the user more visible to the enemy should they also be using thermal imaging.

Concealing the dissipation of the cooler (and the rest of the electronics) is likely to be a significant engineering challenge in its own right. Instead of baffling the opposition, the objective will be to baffle oneself.

Tim Forcer

Southampton, Hants

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