The Army Times reports that Army weapons officials have presented to Congress six proposed upgrades to the M4. They are … Heavy barrel. This will increase the rate of fire and decrease heat problems but at the expense of weight. Add gas-piston system so that the [Read More…]
Simon, aka. Simon_the_Brit, was an Armorer in the British Army. He sent me photos of the M16 he was issued with during the British Army jungle training in Malaysia, which he participated in sometime between 1984 and 1986. I was surprised to learn that at the time, just [Read More…]
Military Times (via. SNAFU!) reports … (emphasis mine) James Conway had questioned how the IAR will fit into fire teams, but said that his concern was “answered in short order.” Smith declined to elaborate, and Maj. David Nevers, a spokesman for Conway, said [Read More…]
Ken Nelson, who wrote the recent guest blog post about Atlantic Arms, has a son who has just completed the Army Marksmanship Unit Junior Shooter Camp. He has blogged about the experience … Here is an idea…. take 50 junior practical shooters, put them with six of [Read More…]
[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Brendan Leo, an Australian Army Cadet corporal. ] As a corporal with the Australian Army Cadets, I recently had the opportunity to play with the Weapons Training Simulation System. As the name suggests, this is a [Read More…]
The British troops are also calling for a switch to something better than the 5.56x45mm NATO. The Telegraph reports … A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers [Read More…]
I had heard no news about the Army search for a “subcompact”1 for quite a long time and thought that the idea had been dropped. Apparently this is not so. The Military Times reports: Despite initial industry suspicion that the Army would let the effort die a [Read More…]
REMOV let me know that H&K have redesigned their version of the FN MAG 7.62mm machine gun (designated the L7A2 in the British Army). The new models have been completely redrawn from imperial to metric and also feature a lengthly picatinny rail (what self-respecting [Read More…]
This video shows a Filipino hitman demonstrating the concealment and quick draw techniques he was taught by the guerilla NPA (National Peoples Army). Interesting use of two hands. Many thanks to Michael for the link.
This interesting grenade, manufactured by Bulgarian firm ARCUS Co., is designed to combat frogmen. The AR476 is fired from standard 40mm launchers at the area where combat divers are suspected to be underwater. When the projectile hits the water, a time deployed fuse is [Read More…]
Minute Man Armor make armor that mounts into picatinny rails. Weird. Jovian Thunder Bolt has more info.
David emailed me to ask what the below object is. I have no idea, although the suggestion that it’s a cartridge delinker sounds plausible. I believe it is a military accessory and I would like some help to identify what it is. Attached is a picture, there is a [Read More…]
The Washington Times reports that there have been cuts a defense spending bill … Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, [Read More…]
This photo, taken at a German Army artillery range, is not a fake. I know what you are thinking: “WTF!”.It was build to reduce noise to communities nearby. The vehicle pictured is the M109G 155mm self-propelled howitzer. Many thanks to Sven for emailing it [Read More…]
Firearms and Training has posted an essay written by a Marine who was badly wounded in combat, and only realized his mistake after taking tactical training courses. The reason for this belief of mine is fairly simple: When I was engaged in combat the day I was wounded, [Read More…]
I missed this article when it was published last month, but luckily a reader alerted me to it. The Marine Times reported last month (Sep 21, 2009) that the result of the Infantry AUtomatic Rifle competition will be announced this month! The Marine Corps plans to [Read More…]
Michigan based Defcom LLC is a new firm that have designed two lightweight grenade launchers which make maximum use of polymers. They are in a sense the Glocks in a world of Beretta M9s. The DEFCOM XL 79 COMPOSITE is essentially a M79 that has been brought into the 21st [Read More…]
When I recently blogged about TACOM’s efforts to expand the US small arms industrial base, Btr astutely noted that if the government was really interested in expanding the industrial base they would re-open the machine gun registry. In India the opposite has [Read More…]
Defense Aerospace reports that many of the Walther P1 pistols, which Germany donated to the Afghan police force, have found their way onto the black market. Defense Aerospace reports: German military pistols are being sold on the black market in Afghanistan and [Read More…]
UPDATE: I was wrong. This is the QBZ-95B (The sailors white gloves are covering the barrel). Earlier this month there was a huge military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of People’s Republic of China. I was astounded to see a photo from the event of what [Read More…]
Yesterday I blogged about the M4 reliability controversy story that was originally reported by the Associated Press. At best the writer of the AP article exaggerated many the points. The leaked draft of the of the analysis of the Battle of Wanat reads quite differently. [Read More…]
A leaked US Army report about the Battle of Wanat criticizes the reliability of the M4. On July 13, 2008 200 Taliban fighters attacked 48 US and 24 Afghan troops. Outnumbered 2.7 to 1 the M4 Carbines, which the troops were carrying, could not function reliably under the [Read More…]
Stupidity and poor intel knows no limits. The Sydney Morning Herald reports … Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy’s 18,000-tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military says. The crew of La Somme, [Read More…]
From what I can make out, it appears that the Czech Army may be planning to replace their well known Vz. 58 assault rifles. All the articles I have read were very badly written and incredibly confusing. The Czech news website Ceskenoviny.cz , for example, seems to be [Read More…]
This was rumored and denied by founder Kevin Brittingham ( at least that is what I was told ) but the deal closed on 2 October and suppressor manufacturer AAC is now a division of Remington Military Products Division (MPD). “We welcome Kevin and his team of engineers [Read More…]
Surefire are attempting to carve out a new niche with their two new “tactical” suppressors. These tiny suppressors only add a few inches to an M4 Carbine or Colt Commando. Gear Scout reports: Surefire snuck out two new 5.56mm suppressors at Modern Day Marine [Read More…]
While watching a video of the MetalStorm 3GL 40mm Grenade Launcher I was blown away by the incredible technology1 that these Australians have developed. I have blogged about the 3GL before, but I had not imagined it worked so well in practice. The video is worth 1000 [Read More…]
Last week the Polish Army sighed a contact for over 5000 new modernized wz. 96 Beryl assault rifles and Mini Beryl carbines. The updated rifle features a telescopic buttstock, quad picatinny rails, new pistol grip and forgrip design and nifty semi-transparent magazines. [Read More…]
During the Iraq War the Marines urgently ordered 180 of the Mk11 Mod 0 Sniper Weapon System’s, but with the Army M110 Rifle Upper Receiver. This Mk11 / M110 hybrid was known as the Mk11 Mod 1. Later, the Marines began ordering the Mk11 Mod 2, a SOCOM / Navy [Read More…]
Colt have won a contract worth $126 million to manufacturer the FN designed M240B machine gun, the standard medium caliber machine gun of the Army and Marines. Colt Defense, LLC., West Hartford, Conn., was awarded on Sept. 25, 2009 a $32,143,048 firm-fixed-price [Read More…]
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