Veteran-owned Vortex’s Viper and Venom lines of red dot sights have earned the respect of shooters. Still, for 2024, all eyes will likely be on the new Vortex Defender-ST – the company’s latest microdot, which features a large hard-coated aspherical lens that provides a distortion-free sight picture and incredible color fidelity.
The Defender-ST was introduced to be versatile – ready as part of an everyday carry setup or mounted to a shotgun for sneaking around the turkey woods. It offers a large, ultra-clear window with smooth draw out of concealment, yet is wide enough for shooters to acquire the dot on a fast-moving target more quickly.
The red dot sight features a Deltapoint Pro footprint and fast-rack texturing, while it comes with a “ShockShield” polymer insert to protect against hard but daily abuse. The sight’s fully multi-coat lenses are also waterproof, fogproof, and shockproof and offer adjustable brightness to deliver superior target acquisition and adaptability in all light conditions, including for faster follow-up shots. It further features motion activation for instant readiness, as well as a 10-minute auto shutoff to save battery life.
Defender-ST Specs
- Magnification Range: 1x
- Dot Color: Red
- Dot Size: 3 MOA/6 MOA
- Reticle: 3 MOA Red Dot/6 MOA Red Dot
- Battery Type: CR2032
- Battery Run Time: 25,000 hours (Setting 6)
- Eye Relief: Unlimited
- Adjustment Graduation: 1 MOA
- Travel Per Rotation: 25 MOA
- Max Elevation Adjustment: 115 MOA
- Max Windage Adjustment: 145 MOA
- Parallax Setting: Parallax Free
- Optical System: Aspherical
- Lens Coating: Fully Multi-Coated Lenses
- Material: 7075 Aluminum
- Length: 1.83-inches
- Weight: 1.48 ounces
- MSRP: $469.99
The Defender-ST is available with 3 MOA and 6 MOA models, each offering 1x magnification. The sights come with a Glock MOS adapter plate, Picatinny mount, rubber cover, lens cloth, CR2032 battery, and custom adjustment tool, as well as the most common mounting screw sets.
The Defender-ST 3 MOA and 6 MOA Micro Red Dot is available now with an MSRP of $469.99.
