Infantry Marine, based in the Midwest. Specifically interested in small arms history, development, and usage within the MENA region and Central Asia. To that end, I run Silah Report, a website dedicated to analyzing small arms history and news out of MENA and Central Asia.
Please feel free to get in touch with me about something I can add to a post, an error I’ve made, or if you just want to talk guns. I can be reached at miles@tfb.tv
We’ve covered the story of the Dillon AK on TFB previously on the blog and due to the efforts of a faithful reader that actually put us in touch with Col. Dillon we were able to actually sit down and interview him about his service in the 1st of the 7th Cavalry, infamous for heroic […] [Read More…]
An entrepreneur in Seattle has developed a bayonet mounting attachment that is specifically designed for AR15s with standard front sight gas blocks. Currently, the U.S. Infantryman of today doesn’t have an option for mounting a bayonet on an M16A4/M4 that has [Read More…]
During the battle of Mosul that recently ended with Iraqi security forces declaring the entire city to be cleared of insurgent elements, Conflict Armament Research discovered an anti-personal IED that the so-called Islamic State was using to drop from drones as a sort [Read More…]
Carpet sellers in Afghanistan call it a “Tup-e-Tung” in Dari, or what we know of in the United States as the “Afghan War Rug” in popular conception. This style of carpet initially became prevalent among tribal Baluchi women who weaved low profile [Read More…]
Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah has reported that MKEK will be delivering 450 7.62x51mm NATO MPT76 services to Somalia, and another 2,500 have been ordered by the Turkish Republic of Norther Cyprus. Although the Somali order is quite small comparative to the size of the [Read More…]
Virtual Trainers have been incorporated into Military, Law Enforcement, and Competitive circles for a number of years now and have been used very widely in that regard. If used correctly, they can be very beneficial to shooters in giving feedback over where their rounds [Read More…]
A company in the United Kingdom is importing SAAB’s Barracuda system, renaming it the Bullet Katcher. The idea is to use pellets stacked in rigid containers that could be fitted within commercial walls and dividers. These pellets would then absorb the impact of [Read More…]
Smart gun technology in the United States usually refers to various measures being taken by a manufacturer in which they aim to make firearms harder to access by non-owners, or those without special permissions for that particular firearm. Korean S&T Motiv is going [Read More…]
For better or worse the PKM GPMG has been in constant service since 1961 and is considered by many to be one of the best machine guns in its field. Comparatively light, very reliable, and disgustingly simple to maintain and operate, the machine gun has found much favor among good guys and bad guys [Read More…]
Although new to the English language defense industry due to ADEX 2017, S&T Motiv’s entry into the anti-material rifle market was first publicly unveiled in September of this year via a post on the popular Korean defense industry blog Bemil.chosun.com. The [Read More…]
From the Ukrainian company Xados that brought us the MG34 lookalike .50 BMG Rhino Hunter, now comes a 14.5x144mm anti-material rifle, recently at Arms and Security 2017 held in Kiev. The rifle manually loaded with each round by inserting a round into an open chamber, [Read More…]
An improvised shotgun utilizing a revolving cylinder that appears to hold six 12 gauge shotgun shells was captured in a Nigerian Army operation in May of this year, capturing several alleged kidnappers on their way to committing a crime. Along with the improvised [Read More…]
An Israeli Defense Force Brigadier General is currently under investigation for having a large number of issue rifles in his personal storage container while transferring bases in his career. None of the rifles (more than 30) were supposed to be there as Generals [Read More…]
Mexican authorities have released photographs of commercial drones armed with improvised explosives caught among cartel members in the central Mexican town of Guanajunto. The improvised explosive was attached to the drone via a string that allows it to be carried to an [Read More…]
At this year’s IPAS 2017 held in Tehran, the Iranian state owned Defense Industries Organization unveiled a new anti-material rifle based on the U.S. produced .50 BMG M82 Barrett anti-material rifle. Similar to the U.S. version, the Iranian production variant is [Read More…]
What was most telling about Iran’s Defense Industries Organization’s display at this years IPAS 2017 was what was not present at the show. Previously we’ve reported on Iran’s attempt at an AR15 copy (currently in service with some units, in a [Read More…]
At IPAS 2017, Iran’s Defense Industries Organization showcased various grenade launchers and anti-material rifles the state owned company is bringing to the Iranian (and possibly Iran’s allied customers) market. Displayed first is almost an exact copy of the [Read More…]
This year’s IPAS 2017 held in Tehran featured a number of designs seen previously such as Iran’s 7.62x54mm PKM GPMG, and 12.7x108mm Dshk Heavy Machine Gun copies. But of particular interest was what appears to be a shortened PKM with a barrel cut to around [Read More…]
In an ongoing national conference where the top Indian Army generals are convening to discuss issues and ways to improve the military, one of the top issues is small arms program reform, especially in regards to the 5.56x45mm INSAS infantry rifle currently in use by [Read More…]
Marcolmar makes semi-automatic, legal copies of the Czech Uk.59, and similar copies of the Soviet PKM General Purpose Machine Gun. So why not clone the two together and bring the resulting creation into the 21st Century, with polymer furniture, an updated design, and Picatinny rails? Meet the UKM, [Read More…]
The defense forces of Cyprus will soon be turning in their H&K 7.62x51mm G3 rifles for 5.56x45mm X95s in a recent deal between the government of Cyprus and Israeli Military Industries. The X95 is already seeing limited issue, most recently at an annual independence [Read More…]
While the majority of the defense industry is fixated on the adoption of the 7.62x51mm NATO MPT-76 select fire rifle by the Turkish Land Forces (which is still not complete in the least), or the more recent release of a 5.56x45mm version, MKEK has quietly been rolling [Read More…]
Recent images have emerged of the Pakistani Special Service Group (SSG), the countries Naval Special Operations component, with New Hampshire based Sig Sauer, Inc. 5.56x45mm NATO SIG 516PDW carbines with 7.5 inch barrels, along with Steiner DBAL I2 ATPIALs mounted [Read More…]
In the recent battle of Hawija, in northern Iraq, Iraqi security forces and Paramilitary forces lost two marksmen in the fight against the so-called Islamic State. Both of these snipers were very effective in the counter insurgency war that Iraq has been waging for [Read More…]
The Turkish national law enforcement special response teams (Police Special Operations Department, Polis Özel Harekât Dairesi) have recently adopted Accuracy International’s .50 BMG AX50 anti-material rifle according to Aybars, a Turkish defense analyst on [Read More…]
This guest post has been submitted to TFB on behalf of Marawan M, an Egyptian firearms designer currently working in Turkey for a civilian Turkish firearms company. Recently he visited the Istanbul Military Museum and wrote up a summary of his visit along with [Read More…]
Marcolmar is a small but very dedicated company in northern Indiana that produces semi-automatic beltfed versions of historically significant small arms from the Soviet era. Tackling a very difficult task such as taking the Czech Uk.59 GPMG and turning it into a legal, semi-automatic, ATF approved [Read More…]
An online Italian firearms news website Gunsweek.com has published an article on a digital design concept put out by Italian firm Tecnostudio Engineering that consists of an interesting “Bullpup” submachine gun/PDW. The design incorporates a 15 (appears to [Read More…]
This year at DSEi 2017 a number of countries had their lesser known and newly developed vehicle mounted Remote Control Weapon Stations (RCWS) on display for the defense industry exposition in London. Rather than list each entry individually, it is fitting that we [Read More…]
This summer Glock has emerged as the winner of not only one, but two very substantial contract victories to supply the Philippines National Police and the Armed Forces. The first contract was awarded in June of this year to supply the Filipino National Police Forces [Read More…]
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