This photo is form a set of Life Magazine never seen before Korean War photos. Does anyone know what they are doing? It looks like they are loading a case, but that can't be right ... can it?
Larger version and other Korean War photos at Life Magazine.
[ Many thanks to Mik for emailing me the pic. ]
The big news this week is that SOCOM are abandoning the FN SCAR MK-16 (5.56mm NATO version) after buying less than 1000 rifles.
Military.com's Kit Up blog reports ...
Details provided exclusively to Military.com reveal that SOCOM, the Tampa-based command that oversees the training and equipping of SEALs, Green Berets, Air Force Special Tactics Teams and Marine SOC groups, will stop purchasing the 5.56 mm Mk-16 Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle and might require all units who now have them to turn the new weapons back into the armory.
“The Mk-16 does not provide enough of a performance advantage over the M-4 to justify spending USSOCOM’s limited … funds when competing priorities are taken into consideration,” officials at USSOCOM said in an email response to questions from Military.com. “Currently, three of USSOCOM’s four components receive the 5.56 mm M-4 from their parent service as a service common equipment item.”
The money instead going to be used to purchase FN SCAR MK17 (7.62x51mm NATO) rifles instead.
[ Many thanks to everybody who sent this in. ]
SIG Sauer is now making polymer magazines for the SIG 751 which are patterned after the SIG 550 magazines. The SIG 751 SAPR is essentially a scaled up 7.62mm version of the SIG 550.
UPDATE: SIG has told me that the SAPR has never been in production. So it is more correct to say that the latest SAPR prototypes have polymer magazines (the older prototypes had metal mags).
[ Many thanks to Aurelien for proving the photo and information. ]
Many thanks to Val for emailing me these photos.
Lots more photos after the jump ... Continue Reading »
From the Navy press release ( 5/29/2010 )...
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), with support from Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren, for the second time successfully tracked, engaged, and destroyed a threat representative Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) while in flight May 24 at San Nicholas Island, Calif.
This marks the first detect-thru-engage laser shoot-down of a threat representative target in an over-the-water, combat representative scenario.
A total of two UAV targets were engaged and destroyed in a maritime environment during the testing, the second series of successes for the U.S. Navy's Laser Weapon System (LaWS) Program.
Members of NAVSEA's Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems (DE&EWS) Program Office (PMS 405), Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS), Raytheon Missile Systems, and NSWC Dahlgren fired a laser through a beam director on a KINETO Tracking Mount, controlled by a MK 15 Close In Weapon System (CIWS). This brings to a total of seven UAVs destroyed by the Surface Navy's first tactical development for fielding a Directed Energy weapon system.
Many thanks to AccurateShooter for sending me the link.
American Rifleman have the scoop on the new Rossi Ranch Hand, a Mare's Leg style lever action pistol.
The Rossi Ranch Hand has a 12" barrel chambered in either .38 Spl./.357 Mag., .44 Mag. or .45 Colt. It will retail for $536.
More information and specs over at American Rifleman.
The photo is a classic.
[ Many thanks to areader for emailing me the link. ]
Yesterday I blogged a video of an AR-15 being fired underwater. This fascinating video shows the infamous APS underwater assault rifle and SPP-1 underwater pistol being fired in a pond.
[ Many thanks to David for posting the link. ]
Celebrated science fiction author Philip K. Dick published Project Plowshare as a serial between November 1965 and January 1966. The story, later expanded into the novel Zap Gun, is set in a world where seemingly deadly new weapons are "plowshared" into consumer products. It is ironic that just a few years after that novel was set, a defense giant is quite literally turning a new weapon system into an agricultural tool.
Defense giant Raytheon is well known for putting the "ray" into raygun. They developed the infamous Active Denial System that is designed to zap rioters with a non-lethal millimeter "pain ray".
Raytheon realized that technology which can heat human skin at a distance can also be used to heat crops that are vulnerable to frost. One crop that is very sensitive to frost is grapes. In 2005 Ontario's overall yield of processed grapes fell by 54% due to injuries sustained by the grapes during winter. In 2007 California experienced $800 million in crop losses due to freezing temperatures with navel oranges being the hardest hit.
Existing methods of frost prevention include heaters, wind machines, sprinklers and helicopters in emergencies. These methods all have significant downsides. They are either noisy, costly, inefficient or are only effective under certain environmental conditions.
Two moths ago Raytheon deployed a prototype of their newly developed Tempwave system to an Ontario vineyard. Tempwave sits atop a 25 feet pole and is powered by the grid. When its sensors detect weather conditions that may result in frost, its low-level microwave delivers energy directly to the crop without wasting energy on heating the intervening air. As long as the Tempwave system has enough power delivered to it, frost protection is guaranteed.
From the Raytheon press release (19 April 2010) ...
Canadian horticulture research center has contracted with Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) to install a prototype microwave frost protection system at its Ontario vineyard.
Tempwave(TM) is a Raytheon-developed system that uses low-level microwave radiant heat to prevent frost damage to crops. Microwave energy is transmitted from towers located in an orchard or vineyard changing the energy balance that slows cooling to prevent freeze damage.
"The agreement leverages Raytheon's expertise in radio frequency applications with the Canadian research center's mandate to introduce innovative horticulture technologies," said Lee Silvestre, vice president for Mission Innovation at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems. Mission Innovation is charged with exploring and applying Raytheon technical expertise to address global challenges outside Raytheon's traditional core business interests in defense, homeland security and other government markets.
The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario, Canada, is a center for horticultural research and innovation whose charter includes commercializing and delivering new technologies to market.
"This new prototype technology will help ensure Ontario vineyards and orchards are protected when temperatures fall below freezing and jeopardize tender fruit and grape production," said Dr. Jim Brandle, the center's chief executive. "Our partnership with Raytheon is a new chapter in Vineland's on-going research to protect Canada's food supply."
The contract calls for Raytheon to install a prototype system in the center's vineyard, prepare it for operation, and support initial testing during a four-month period. It is part of a working agreement for each party to contribute its expertise to test and market the system worldwide.
I would never have guessed that the alien Heat-Rays described by H.G. Wells would one day be put to use in making vino.
The accurate detection and compensation for the effect of cross winds is the holy grail of sniper scope development. A patent awarded two days ago to the Israeli Government's Soreq Nuclear Research Center describes a system that can do just that.
The patent describes a LIDAR (Laser Identification Detection And Ranging) unit which works by firing a laser beam at the target. The reflection of the laser is captured by an array of photodiodes. Fluctuations in the signals received by the photodiodes are used to detect both the direction and velocity of cross wind. The system works for targets which are at least 500m away.
Highly sophisticated hunting rifle scopes, for example the Burris Eliminator LaserScope, already incorporate technology that can adjust their aiming point by measuring the target's range using a rangefinder. If this technology was combined with the Israeli LIDAR system it would take most of the guess work out of long range sniper.
The DARPA One Shot next-generation sniper scope program requires cross wind calculation [PDF link] ...
The One Shot program will develop a field-testable prototype, observation, measurement, and ballistic calculation system, which enable Snipers to hit targets with the first round, under crosswind conditions, up to the maximum effective range of the weapon (RE). The system developed should provide day and night direct observation of the target, measure all relevant physical phenomena that influence a ballistic trajectory, and rapidly calculate and display both the aim point offset and expected crosswind variability (confidence metric) in the shooters riflescope.
It will be interesting to see if the Israeli system will be used in the One Shot scope.
The patent can be read below ... Continue Reading »
