Competing elements of the Ukrainian Special Operations Command came together recently to participate in a skill of arms testing precision rifle capabilities, teamwork, handgun marksmanship, care under fire, among numerous other skill sets often required by sniper teams [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern recently released a new English language video regarding their PL-15K compact pistol, MP-444 pistol, AM-17 and AMB-17 compact assault rifles, and SVCh semiautomatic sniper rifle. By way of a walkthrough from Kalashnikov Concern technical consultant [Read More…]
In this episode of TFBTV, James discusses whether or not carrying a large caliber handgun is a good idea for defending the person against large predators (in particular, brown bears), alternatives to a handgun, the logistics of using one (including a quick-draw-and-shoot test!), the types of [Read More…]
The days of the Air Force‘s first stealth air superiority fighter, the F-22 Raptor, may already be numbered. US Air Force General Mike Holmes told Aviation Week that the requirements for the next-generation “Penetrating Counter Air” (PCA) program are [Read More…]
A Bulgarian investigative journalist by the name of Dilyana Gaytandzhiev has published an article vigorously detailing the activities of the Azerbaijani state run airline Silk Way in providing arms shipments across the MENA region and Africa in the airlines diplomatic [Read More…]
Taiwan’s 205th Armory small arms design bureau has unveiled a 7.62x51mm NATO Designated Marksman’s rifle at the 2017 Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition as evidenced by the Sohu news agency. Designated the XT107, it is a 7.62x51mm NATO [Read More…]
Lobaev Arms is a precision rifle company that produces high power precision rifles in calibers ranging from 6.5mm to .408 Chay Tac. The company is mostly focused on the civilian competition market, although the founder said in an interview to the Russian press that [Read More…]
Originating from Russian Ministry of Defense counter-UAV trials, the most recent version of the LOKMAS (the com[any that produces it) “Stupor” Counter-UAV device was on display at ARMY 2017. Hrachya wrote about the prototypes of this device back in April of [Read More…]
Essentially Yugoslavian 7.62x39mm M70B1 rifles, the Tabuk series of small arms were produced in Iraq, with the help of Yugoslavian engineers in the late 1970s, just in time for the Iran-Iraq conflict that endured for an agonizing decade afterward. There were different iterations of the Tabuk, the [Read More…]
Close air support (CAS) – the direct support of ground forces by low flying combat aircraft – has been a key function of military aviation since World War I. However, since the formation of the Air Force as a separate service in 1947, and especially the Key [Read More…]
The United States Air Force has become the second US military service to adopt the Magpul PMag as their standard rifle magazine. According to the document USAF AUTHORIZED SMALL ARMS and LIGHT WEAPONS (SA/LW) ACCESSORIES (as of 28 July 17) the Magpul PMag Gen M3 [Read More…]
Creating improvised firearms is one thing, but a recent propaganda video released by the Yemeni rebel and terrorist group Ansar Allah (better known as the Houthis) threw the spotlight on some weapons that take this to the next level. 20mm, 23mm, and even 30mm caliber [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern has released several new handguns this year at ARMY 2017, most notably a compact version of the Lebedev PL-15, the company’s flagship semiautomatic handgun. We’ll post some photographs below, which are courtesy of Maxim Popenker, the [Read More…]
On display at the recent Russian Army 2017 expo was Kalashnikov’s new AM-17 and AMB-17 compact assault rifles. The AM-17 is a 5.45x39mm caliber improved version of the MA assault rifle introduced last year, designed to fill the same role as the AKS-74U compact [Read More…]
Kalashnikov Concern’s subsidiary Zala Aero Group has released a counter UAV device named the REX-1. The handheld device is designed to target a UAV/drone’s emergency land function, forcing it to land from a hovering position. Very importantly, it is [Read More…]
Apex Gun Parts is a surplus importer and distributor based in Colorado Springs, that stocks a large amount of inventory for the surplus parts and parts kits manufacturing industries in the United States. The owner, Jeff Selvig was kind enough to give TFB a personal tour [Read More…]
Kalashnikov enthusiasts and parts kid builders in the United States have long known about the “sterilized” East German (GDR/DDR-German Democratic Republic/Deutschland Demokratische Republik) MPi-KM kits coming in from the Balkan states. These kits have been [Read More…]
The timeline for the replacement of the troubled G36 rifle with a new yet-to-be-selected weapon has been announced by the Bundeswehr. The German System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr (SSB)program was announced on February 3rd, 2016, with the solicitation itself being released [Read More…]
“Archer” is the public nickname of a Polish volunteer currently fighting in the highly contested city of Raqqa with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces working right now to take it from the so called Islamic State. Countless U.S. and European volunteers have gone [Read More…]
Recent so-called Islamic State propaganda videos and an individual Twitter account within Syria have posted numerous examples of improvised suppressors in use on a wide variety of precision rifles and anti-material rifles.The Twitter account simply mentions that the [Read More…]
The defense magazine European Security & Defence has published an article detailing for the first time Glock’s Modular Handgun System submission and its Federal-engineered ammunition. The article – part technical overview, part interview, details the [Read More…]
Earlier this year US SOCOM submitted an RFI for a new PDW. Nathaniel F. wrote an article about it back in March. PDW Kit specifics: The kit must be adaptable to the standard M4A1 lower receiver, any modification to the lower receiver must be reversible and nonpermanent. [Read More…]
Knight’s Armament Company has announced a new very light weight belt fed light machine gun – which they have appropriately termed the Stoner X-LMG (for “Extra Light Machine Gun). The new weapon is based on the previous Knight’s LMG, itself a [Read More…]
The 1/6 “Hard” Über Squad that Marine Infantry Gunner (WO5) Wade put into motion some months ago has taken on Golf Six, a live fire range in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 1/6 is trialing several new pieces of kit, most importantly M27 IARs as a standard [Read More…]
With the soldier’s load growing beyond the bounds of reason, and the Army set to replace the M4 Carbine in some units with the new Interim Combat Service Rifle, questions have arisen about how the soldier’s burden has changed over time. In the comments [Read More…]
MKEK select-fire 7.62x51mm NATO MPT76s currently being issued to soldiers in the Turkish Army will soon be coming with magnified daylight optics in the form of the Turkish company 3E EOS and its variable magnification daylight optic, the AVCI (1X-4X). The optic is [Read More…]
DARPA’s Squad X program has recently taken a major step forward with the U.S. Army awarding the preliminary team contract to Lockheed Martin to develop the technological projects within the program, at a value of $12.9 million. The program is an experiment by [Read More…]
A recent article in the Vietnamese online journal Nguyen Tan Dung discusses the latest updates of a remotely controlled 12.7x108mm DShK heavy machine gun that could see potential use among soldiers of the Vietnamese Peoples Army. The contraption was aired on the Vietnamese MoD’s public [Read More…]
Nguyen Tan Dung is a Vietnamese defense website and posted about this graduated reflex sight that the Vietnamese Military Technical Academy has come up with to be paired with the 40x46mm low-velocity M79 single shot/ stand alone grenade launcher. Although the Vietnamese [Read More…]
Dat Viet, a Vietnamese language news website has reported that the production of Vietnamese made bolt-action, five round magazine-fed12.7x108mm KSVK anti-material rifles has commenced at the Israeli IWI built, Vietnamese MoD owned factory Z111 in Vietnam. The factory [Read More…]