{"id":40764,"date":"2016-04-18T16:52:44","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T16:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/04\/18\/the-coast-guard-has-badass-lasers-they-just-can-t-use-them\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:44:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:44:03","slug":"the-coast-guard-has-badass-lasers-they-just-can-t-use-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/04\/18\/the-coast-guard-has-badass-lasers-they-just-can-t-use-them\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coast Guard has badass lasers. They just can&#8217;t use them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Coast Guard has <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">some <\/span>heavy-duty sighting equipment for rescuing mariners at night or stopping drug<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">runnersnighttime rescue operations and criminal busts<\/span>, but federal red tape<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">gulations<\/span> bar<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">n<\/span>s them from being used to save lives or stop criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the Coast Guard is not part of the Defense Department, the U.S. Food and Drug<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Federal Drug<\/span> Administration makes the rules on how they can use these lasers \u2014<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>and a lawmaker wants that changed. <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">congressman wants to know why.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">In an April 14 letter to the FDA, <\/span>Rep. Duncan Hunter, R\u2013Calif., chairman of the House Subcommittee on\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">on Maritime and <\/span>Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, demands<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ed<\/span> to know why regulators are hemming in the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Illuminators and laser sights stand to provide a clear advantage during use of force operations and <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">m<\/span>other missions, but imposed limits on the use of these tools creates needless challenges and safety risks,&#8221; Hunter wrote in an April 14 letter to the FDA, a copy of which was obtained by Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The equipment in question is the Electro-Optical Sensor System and the PEQ-15, a laser sight with an illuminator. ESS is a turret installed on Coast Guard helicopters, with a\u00a0laser illuminator that can enhance camera images, while PEQ-15 is a rifle sight with a laser illuminator.\u00a0The Coast Guard is not allowed to use ESS at all, while PEQ-15 can be used on a low setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know whether they see them as medical devices or something,&#8221; Hunter told Navy Times in a phone interview. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to find out.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service confirmed that, unlike the rest of the military, they&#8217;re barred from using these targeting optics\u00a0\u2014 even on the most dangerous missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The regulations limit the use of the ESS because the system was manufactured\u00a0for DoD use, and is not in\u00a0compliance with FDA standards,&#8221; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Chad Saylor, a Coast Guard spokesman, told Navy Times.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">because, <\/span>&#8220;The Coast Guard\u00a0does not possess the same ability as DoD to self-certify laser systems.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spokespeople for the FDA did not respond to queries seeking comment by Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FDA is reviewing the letter and will respond to Hunter directly, spokeswoman Lyndsay Meyer told Navy Times on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2013, the FDA gave the Coast Guard an exemption for ESS, but required them to demonstrate a list of mechanical safety controls to keep it within FDA regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The\u00a0Coast Guard is in the final stages of testing those mechanical control\u00a0measures following a lengthy re-engineering process,&#8221; Saylor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">But <\/span>Hunter wants to cut <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">out <\/span>that red tape and allow the Coast Guard to certify its own laser systems, like the other military branches, calling the FDA&#8217;s process &#8220;onerous and burdensome.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;No matter what they think their purview is over lasers, and if there&#8217;s a rightful reason that they have it, it doesn&#8217;t matter,&#8221; Hunter said. &#8220;The Coast Guard&#8217;s an operational military unit\u00a0\u2014 it should fall under the same rules, regulations and waivers as DoD.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hunter&#8217;s office had not received a response to the letter as of Monday, chief of staff Joe Kasper confirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A lawmaker wants to get rid of federal red tape that bars the Coast Guard from using its military lasers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":39565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3308],"class_list":["post-40764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HDKKAK4A55AEDN2XNFSMLA2BZQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/04\/18\/the-coast-guard-has-badass-lasers-they-just-can-t-use-them\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Coast Guard has badass lasers. 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