In three previous articles, we briefly discussed some of the tradeoffs involved in the bullpup concept, and some of the challenges they face in the field of military procurement specifically. Today, we’re going to continue this deep-dive into the bullpup concept [Read More…]
Australian technology company Kord Defense has been awarded an 18-month, $2.25 million United States Marine Corps developmental contract for development and production of a Rifle Accessory Control Unit (RACU), which would attach to existing M4 Carbines and M27 IARs and [Read More…]
DS Arms, Inc. was present at SITDEF 2017 this year with a number of the companies FAL modernization upgrades, continuing to offer their legacy upgrade packages to various South American Military/LE forces that are still armed with FN FALs or Brazilian Imbel license made versions. Although there were [Read More…]
Target designator and illuminator division Steiner eOptics of Steiner has introduced their latest DBAL, the DBAL-A4 v2 at SOFIC 2017. In this improved Picatinny mounted package, the company has added a visible white light capability (500 lumens), a modified IR [Read More…]
On top of introducing a 5.56x45mm carbine, MKEK is also showing current prototypes of an anti-material rifle that the Turkish state-owned company is in the process of perfecting and producing. The MAM-15 utilizes a manual bolt action, is chambered in .50 BMG, and has a [Read More…]
We fired 10mm Hornady 175 gr Critical Duty FlexLock from 4.5″ barrel EAA polymer frame Witness at 20 feet into clear ballistic gel to assess velocity, penetration, expansion, and weight retention. While the performance may not be perfect, it is nevertheless quite good. Average velocity: 1,083 [Read More…]
By this point in the second decade of the 21st Century, unmanned aerial vehicles armed with precision weapons are not strange or unusual. Indeed, they have so profoundly impacted the popular psyche as to have had pop songs written about them. However, these [Read More…]
The Iranian Ministry of Defense has revealed a new locally produced semi-automatic, magazine fed, 12.7mm anti-material rifle to the public, dubbed the “Nasr”(نصر). In addition to the Nasr, what appears to be a locally produced 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov [Read More…]
Is the People’s Republic of China about to be the latest nation to abandon the bullpup configuration in favor of the “traditional” rifle layout? That seems to be the word on the street since about September of last year, when Chinese news outlets and [Read More…]
In a surprising turn of events given the recent public motions towards an all-M27 fleet, the United States Marine Corps has just released a new request for information (RFI), soliciting proposals from the industry for a whole new suite of infantry equipment, including [Read More…]
In what may be a world’s first, silencer manufacturer Delta P Design has just announced a 50 caliber rated 3D printed suppressor. The 12.7mm (I’ll let you do the math) model is made with a proprietary inconel alloy that can withstand use on a variety of [Read More…]
Thanks to a recent leak exclusively to The Firearm Blog, we have now become aware of a new tender for rifles issued by the Pakistani government. According to the tender document, the Pakistani Army is looking for 75,000 “modern 7.62x39mm caliber weapons”, [Read More…]
The US Military is looking into lighter weight armor for the infantry. Both the Army and the Marine Corps are looking into reducing the weight of the personal protective equipment (PPE, read “helmet and body armor”) carried by the infantrymen of both [Read More…]
Last month the United States Special Operations Command along with the United States Marine Corps posted a Sources Sought Solicitation to FedBizOpps (FBO) for 5,000, belt-fed, medium, machineguns in .338 Norma Magnum (NM). Before you get too excited, a Sources [Read More…]
We fired Speer 124 gr Short Barrel Gold Dot from a S&W Shield through heavy clothing and bare gel to assess penetration, expansion, and retained weight. The Speer Gold Dot is one of the most highly regarded handgun projectiles for defense, but we find some surprising results with this load. Buy [Read More…]
Gentlemen, it has begun: The Silencing is upon us. Following a series of trials testing the feasibility of an infantry battalion equipped entirely with suppressors, the United States Marine Corps has moved quickly to field the first all-suppressed unit to the Værnes [Read More…]
The Sten machine carbine was one of the most hastily completed and most expediently made submachine gun of the Second World War. Although it was reliable, a number of users didn’t like it simply because they saw it as a cheap pipe gun created as a last ditch effort. Nonetheless, there were a [Read More…]
Two Arabic news sources (Military-Zones, Middle East Panamera) have published independent posts about a remote control vehicle currently at least in the developmental phase of design within the highly contested Aleppo province in Syria. The designers are in areas still in control by Assad’s [Read More…]
In the latest twist of events to do with the 25mm XM25 “Punisher”, it appears the program is coming to a grinding halt after Military.com recently reported that the U.S. Army has completely canceled the program with Orbital ATK after almost two decades of [Read More…]
At the Security & Counter Terror Expo outside of London EFAFLEX introduced their EFAPROTECT Ballistic shutter. The shutter is a sort of garage door opener that rolls up into a box above an entrance and deploys extremely quickly to shield an entrance from various small arms threats up to [Read More…]
Marine Corps Systems Command has finally pushed .50 Caliber M2A1 Browning Heavy Machine Guns out to the Fleet and to Training Command throughout the Marine Corps. 3,600 M2A1s are within this fielding, primarily going to Infantry battalions in the Fleet and Reserves, Training Command, and [Read More…]
Recent photographic evidence has shown that Assad’s Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is equipped with DNS-1 Day & Night Vision Sights from the Belarusian company “Belarusian Optical & Mechanical Association”. These optics have been seen mounted on both [Read More…]
The French government has received the first production units of the Heckler & Koch HK416F as part of its long awaited Arme Individuelle du Futur (Future Individual Weapon). According to the French government Ministry of Defence website, the first 400 HK416F rifles [Read More…]
The US Army has released the name of the unit which will be the first to receive the new M17 Modular Handgun System pistols produced by SIG Sauer, and that is none other than the legendary “tip of the spear”, the 101st Airborne stationed at Fort Campbell in [Read More…]
Since its introduction in 2009, the Marine Corps’ M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle has proven itself as an effective support weapon that offers more firepower and range than the Corps’ other squad level weapons, the M4 Carbine and M16A4 Rifle. This good [Read More…]
In an unprecedented turn of events, the Indian government has approved the building of a private sector small arms factory at Malanpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Previously, the Indian small arms industry has been entirely nationalized, with the Ministry of [Read More…]
Recently we’ve been looking at a number of high-profile developments that came out of Special Operations Executive. Namely the infamous Welrod and Welwyn suppressed devices, and the Norm and Welgun experimental submachine guns. In this video, we take a look at some of the much lesser-known [Read More…]
One of the more captivating and fascinating designs to come out of Russia in the past several decades, the 5.45x39mm AN-94 has recently been covered in great detail by Ian of Forgotten Weapons, in conjunction with Armament Research Services on The Hoplite Blog. If you have a chance, go over to The [Read More…]
Recent photographs out of the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib show a thorough manufacture of improvised anti-material rifles, all in 14.5mm. Local gunsmiths in the rebel-held city appear to be using the discarded barrels of 14.5mm KPV heavy machine guns, of an [Read More…]
Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, or Polish Armaments Group is the holding company of 60 Polish armaments companies (one of which is Fabryka Broni, producing the MSBS). Recently an announcement was made on Polish defense news service Defense24 that PGZ will be bringing a suite [Read More…]
Your Privacy Choices