#Army

The Army was recently demoing the upgraded, and long-overdued, version of the M2 Browning machine gun. Army.mil reports …

The Italian Army has started adopting the next-gen Beretta ARX-160 assault rifle. Shooting Wire reports …

During a firefight in Afghanistan in 2007, British soldier Pte Cole’s SA80 rifle was hit three times by 7.62x39mm bullets! It continued to function and he continued to return fire, despite the fact that the scope, bodywork and pistol grip was ripped off the gun. Express and Star report …

I first mentioned the new “Tan” M16/M4 magazine back in June.

PEO Soldier, the Army acquisition agency, have published a timeline showing the 62 ECP (Engineering Change Proposals) that have been applied to the M4 Carbine over the past 18 years. The original specifications called for 600 Mean Rounds Between Stoppage. The current reliability of the Carbine is over 3600 MRBS. COL Douglas Tamilio writes [PDF Link] …

The Army Times reports that Army weapons officials have presented to Congress six proposed upgrades to the M4. They are …

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 …

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Brendan Leo, an Australian Army Cadet corporal. ]

I had heard no news about the Army search for a “subcompact” for quite a long time and thought that the idea had been dropped. Apparently this is not so. The Military Times reports:

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.

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 sustained fire they were required to put downrange. Fox News reports:

This Glock 17 pistol, with thumb safety, was designed by Glock for use by the British Army. It was on display at DSEi ’09.

There is an interesting article at Human Events about the US Army culture favoring the M4, while the Marines culture being pro-M16A4.

Strategy Page reports:

No, you did not mis-read the title. You though field stripping your AR-15 blindfolded was cool, well the Iranian army have got you beat 😉