Laser ranging is one of the first areas of practical application of lasers in foreign military equipment.The first experiments date back to 1961, and now laser rangefinders are used in ground military equipment (artillery, tank), and in aviation (rangefinders, altimeters, target designators), and in the navy.This technique has passed combat tests in Vietnam and the Middle East.Currently, a number of rangefinders are adopted in the armies of a number of countries.The firstXM-23laser rangefinderswas tested in Vietnam and entered service with the US Army.It was designed for the use of forward observation posts of the ground forces.The radiation source in it was a laser with an output power of 2.5 W and a pulse duration of 30 ns.Integrated circuits were widely used in the design of the rangefinder.The emitter, receiver and optical elements are mounted in a monoblock, which has scales for accurate reading of the azimuth and elevation of the target.The rangefinder was powered by a 24 V ni...