1G46 thermal imager retrofit
A recent production patent filing shows that the Soviet era 1G46 (part of the 1A45 FCS) is being retrofitted with a thermal imaging channel. Named 1G46TT, the retrofit encompasses a major rework of the entire module. One of the major visual changes is the complete removal of the old faceplate of the sight and replacing it with a screen, indicating that the sight is now equipped with more advanced electronics and no longer relies on conventional mirror-based daylight optics as on the standard 1G46. Another interesting observation is that the retrofit retains the parallelogram mechanism, which most likely indicates that the sight block has not received independent stabilisation, unlike other modern Russian sight modules like Sosna-U. This means that, to retain accurate LoS and alignment with the barrel, mechanical input from the gun breech trunnion will be transmitted via a parallelogram arm. With a high probability that the new 1G46TT has received a thermal imaging chan...