Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the awesome YHM R9 multi-host suppressor. Last week we brought you a look at the Hansohn Brothers Vidar 22 rimfire silencer. Today we take a look at the challenges of adding a beltfed rifle suppressor to a crew served machinegun. Is this the future of beltfed weapon systems? Let’s take a look.

While researching the Indian small arms procurement program and reading the news from the DefExpo 2022 exhibition, I came across quite an interesting Indian rifle called INDRA (name of a Hindu deity) made by Astr Defence, a private small arms manufacturing company from Hubballi, Karnataka, India. INDRA is a gas-operated multi-caliber modular rifle that apparently has been in development for several years. Let’s take a closer look.

In September the Indian Army launched a fresh search for a ‘5.56MM X 45 MM CQB CARBINE’. Initially, there had been a desire to procure these close quarters carbines internationally, just as with the purchase of 716i rifles from SIG Sauer. However, the Indian Government has expanded the requirement significantly with the new request for information (RFI) seeking 4 lakh or 400,000 rifles from a domestic Indian manufacturer, via India’s ‘atmanirbharta’ (self-sufficiency) program.

This week sees India’s premier military exposition, Defexpo, get underway in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. One of the attendees is Russia’s Rosoboronexport, a subsidiary of the Rostec State Corporation, who will be in discussions with Indian officials to finally get production of the AK-203 in India organised.

SIG Sauer were recently awarded a 5-year, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract valued at $5 million to provide the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) with a new Reduced Signature Assault Rifle. The RSAR will be MCX Rattlers chambered in 5.56x45mm and .300 BLK and will be equipped with SIG’s SL suppressors. The search for a weapon to fit the RASR requirement has been ongoing since 2017, it is currently unknown exactly what the RASR’s configuration will look like with barrel lengths undisclosed. SOCOM describes the RASR as a ‘PDW system [which] will allow Operators to have maximum firepower in a concealable weapon.’

The Canadian government has announced that the SIG Sauer P320 will replace the Browning HiPower. The Canadian government will procure an initial batch of 7,000 pistols and holster systems for the Canadian Army. There will be a follow-up option to procure up to 9,500 more pistols for further elements of the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy and Military Police.

The Australian Department of Defence has selected the Accuracy International AX-SR as the Long Range platform for the sniper capability of the L159 contract. The rifle will be introduced into service as a multi-calibre system, capable of being configured to .338 Lapua Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum and 7.62mm NATO calibres.

In 2015, the Royal Bermuda Regiment began to field the British L85A2 bullpup. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory and is one of several territories to have its own British Army-affiliated home defence regiment. The regiment’s transition to the L85A2 was completed in early 2016, with the replacement of the last Ruger Mini-14s which had been in service since 1983. If you haven’t seen  our earlier video/article looking at the Royal Bermuda Regiment’s Mini-14 service rifles, do check it out.

In recent weeks we’ve examined how the UK has procured various 7.62x39mm AK-pattern rifles for use in training Ukrainian troops in the UK. The latest video and photographs from the training the UK is providing show that alongside the previously identified AK variants a number of Chinese Type 56-1 rifles have also been procured.

On 30 September the Australian Defence Department announced that it had selected a raft of new weapon systems as part of the first tranche of its major Lethality System Project (LAND 159) project. One of the weapons selected was the Benelli M3A1 which will become Australia’s new Combat Shotgun.

The Australian Department of Defence has announced that under its Lethality System Project LAND 159 project a raft of new small arms have been selected for the Australian Defence Force’s dismounted combatants. The news was announced at the end of last month with Head Land Systems, Major General Andrew Bottrell announcing the selections and saying that “this is a bold step into modern weaponry to quickly improve Australia’s defence preparedness.” Bottrell said early engagement with the industry had proven very successful.

Premier Body Armor is introducing the Everyday Armor T-Shirt 2.0, a shirt designed for discreet protection and everyday use. This T-Shirt is made with anti-microbial compression fabric and has front and rear armor pockets to carry the company’s Level IIIA 7.75″x 12.75″ ballistic inserts. The intention is to protect the cardiac box, where your most vital organs are located.

In December of 2021, TFB was the first firearms media to publish information about BW20, a new family of roller-delayed blowback rifles developed by Pakistan Ordnance Factories. In February of 2022, the entire family of weapons was officially presented in Saudi Arabia at the World Defense Show exhibition. Now, there is a new member in this family – CW39, which stands for “combat weapon chambered for 7.62×39”.

Despite the fact that the first AK went into production over 74 years ago, new companies and new countries are beginning to manufacture their versions of Kalashnikov rifles every year. At least 31 countries produced various AK variants, and now Turkey is joining that list, thanks to Sarsilmaz.

In  Part 1, we looked at some of the Azerbaijani-made small arms showcased at the ADEX 2022 exhibition in Baku. In Part 2, we’ll look at more unique and lesser known products of the Azerbaijan defense industry – large caliber sniper rifles and machine guns.

The ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia brought a lot of attention to the military-industrial complex of Azerbaijan. And while many of their heavy weapon systems were procured abroad, when it comes to small arms, Azerbaijan demonstrates a surprising abundance of domestically produced firearms, which were demonstrated at the ADEX 2022 defense exhibition in Baku. That is especially interesting considering the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan did not inherit any significant firearms manufacturing capability and their entire military industry was built from the ground up in the last 30 years.

Volunteer Defense Groups are small groups of Ukrainians local to a town or village who have been organizing to augment the other more regimented security forces. The small groups will also act as partisans if their region is occupied. Overt Defense has recently had the chance to examine some of the small arms issued to the Volunteer Defense Groups in the field.

The US Department of Defense has ordered over $80 million worth of Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle ammunition and shoulder-launched AT4CS RS (confined space and reduced sensitivity) anti-armour weapon systems. The order was made within a 2019 Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract. The AT4CS RS variant was first procured back in 2015. The ammunition and weapons will be used by the U.S. Army, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and U.S. Marine Corps.

The UK is currently providing basic infantry training to up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops. We have already covered the UK’s procurement of AK-pattern rifles to train Ukrainian personnel but in this article, we will look at how Ukrainian troops have also been training with the UK’s SA80/L85 bullpup rifles.

Every day we run an article called Photo Of The Day with some of the coolest pictures from the world of firearms. Today we have images from Fuerzas Comando 2022 on offer, with Brazilian snipers.

India has long sought a modern 5.56x45mm carbine and has launched numerous efforts to procure one internationally and locally. The latest initiative will see a competition launched to find indigenous Indian companies who can manufacture hundreds of thousands of carbines. This is in line with India’s well-known ‘Make In India’ initiative which is seeking to foster self-sufficiency.

The U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Secure Transportation are set to procure ZEV’s OZ-9 X Combat. A notice of intent to procure was posted on SAM.gov announcing that the Office of Secure Transportation are responsible for the safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons and components and special nuclear materials.

On the 9th of July, the UK’s Ministry of Defence announced that as part of its agreement to train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers it had acquired a significant number of AK-pattern rifles. Initially sharing only one, fairly low res photograph the official announcement stated that:

Photo Of The Day: What a “just in time” picture of a Green Beret with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), as he fires an AT-4 anti-tank weapon during a heavy weapons rehearsal. The location was the Yakima Training Center, Wash., on Jun 24, 2022. This rehearsal provided an opportunity to fire both direct and indirect fire weapons which increases the team’s lethality.

Back in May, following the US Army’s decision to select the SIG Sauer submission to the Next Generation Squad Weapons program, Lone Star Future Weapons lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (the GAO) against the US Army’s choice. The Government Accountability Office is essentially an independent arbitrator which examines bid protests and reports ruling based on their investigation. The GAO defines a bid protest as a challenge to the terms of a solicitation or the award of a federal contract.

The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation ( OCCAR) has signed an amendment to an existing contract for binocular night vision goggles on behalf of Belgium and Germany. The contract is worth a mid-three-digit million amount, in Euros. The follow-up contract will be executed by the newly founded joint venture HENSOLDT Theon Night Vision, which TFB recently wrote about.

TFB’s Photo Of The Day has become an impressive gallery, with an ever-growing number of images of firearms in all sorts of environments. Today we’re going to add a few more from the NZ Defence Force and their Army Combat Corps soldiers as they’re in an exercise on the West Coast. Their soldiers mainly use the LMT MARS-L, with a Trijicon ACOG scope and an RMR red dot.

Denmark is pretty flat, as you can see from the shooting range below.

The Indian Ministry of Defence has indicated requirements for multiple equipment, primarily for the Indian Army, over the past few weeks. This includes 4,800 .338 sniper rifles, 29,762 night sights for assault rifles, about 50,000 Hand-Held Radio Sets (HHRS) and 300 High Frequency (HF) manpack software-defined radios (SDR). Further, requirements for digital night vision goggles and helmet-mounted panoramic night vision binoculars have also been indicated. The requirements are to be met by the Indian industry.

Which is the best carry gun for the people who take the photos for TFB’s Photo Of The Day? The Heckler & Koch MP7 of course! Above we have a Norwegian Army photographer during exercise Trident Juncture 2018 in Norway, armed with his camera and a huge lens, apart from the MP7.