#Misc

In negotiations since last year, some of the small arms shipments from China to the Government of the Philipines arrived amid much fanfare and public ceremony, with the Filipino President Duterte himself presiding over the festivities. Although it does coincide with the current fighting in Marawi, these shipments are the result of a multi-million dollar arms sale between the two countries. According to the Filipino defense blog Maxdefense, the initial arms grant is worth over $14 million, while a further $500 million might become a reality as a sort of credit for the Government to purchase from Chinese defense item producers.

Recent photographs and information have come to light detailing the possible adoption of the Heckler & Koch G28 by Turkish special operations groups. Specifically the Turkish Combat Search & Rescue (Muharebe Arama Kurtarma) component of the Turkish Air Force has received the rifles possibly as early as 2014. From what we understand the CSAR component might have got them from trials done on the G28 by Army commandos but due to the political situation between Turkey and Germany over the refugee crisis (among others), the supply might have fallen through. The image above is actually from some of those trials.

We first reported on the Podavach magazine loader in January this year, mentioning that it had some unique features in an industry saturated with “unique”. First and foremost, more than a simple magazine loader, it incorporates a multi-caliber design, with layout options for 7.62x39mm AKM patterned magazines, 5.45x39mm AK74 patterned magazines, .300 BLK and 5.56x45mm patterned magazines. The ability to not only load multiple calibers but more importantly the two most common rifle magazines so prevalent within numerous military, law enforcement, and civilian sectors isn’t something to not take lightly, given its potential.

An Israeli Defense Force platoon leader was recently fatally shot when he was working with his soldiers on a training scheme, involving simulating a knife-wielding attacker. Unfortunately for the platoon commander, Lieutenant David Golovenchick, one of his soldiers did exactly as he was supposed to and promptly shot his PL with his service rifle which lead to wounds that proved to be fatal. From the Haaretz news source–

Corey joined us for a talk about rifle grenades and launchers in use by U.S. Infantrymen during the Second World War. Particularly we focused on the M1 Launcher for the M1903 Springfield rifle, however we also discussed some of the aspects of the M7 Launcher for the M1 Garand, and a very similar one for the M1 Carbine.

The French National Police and Gendarmerie Nationale law enforcement branches have recently posted a solicitation for a submachine gun chambered for a 9x19mm Parabellum round. The solicitation was placed on Boamp.com, a French government run contract posting website. Specifically (as much as Google Translate will tell), the solicitation is for an entire suite of carbines, specifying 2000 submachine guns, 600 “training” replicas, blank firing adaptors, training devices, and interestingly enough, suppressors.

The Armed Forces of the Netherlands will be receiving an order of 10,000 9x19mm NATO Gen 4 Glock 17s with the latest contract announced by the Dutch Ministry of Defense as reported by the Polish magazine Mil Mag. This comes after an initial purchase of 6,300 Gen 4s in the fall of 2016. Previously the Dutch were armed with the Browning 9x19mm Hi Power up until 1994 when they were replaced with Glock 17s sans a forend mounting rail. Glock 17s destined for Holland are specifically marked “NL” as a serial number prefix.

The state-owned Ordnance Factory Board’s most recent rifle submission has failed the Indian Army’s initial rifle qualification trials, in the words of the Hindustan Times it “miserably failed”. This most recent trial comes right on the heels of the failed “Excaliber” INSAS enhancement, and the MCIWS that hasn’t been able to achieve a successful adoption. From the Hindustan Times-

Red Oktober is a competition very unique in the regard that it caters specifically to the Kalashnikov platform. Debuted in 2016 at a range in southern Utah, it attracted a significant number of collectors, shooters, and builders throughout the country, even coming so far as Alaska or jumping through the hurdles of traveling from California with restricted rifles. In my opinion, the entire scene was something to really behold just due to the dedicated folk that are drawn to the platform. Unlike the AR15, it is much harder to become proficient or even get into one of the Kalashnikov derivatives due to the lesser availability of quality components, the lack of common knowledge and popularity, but most importantly the much more intricate procedures of completing an AK build. Those willing to go down this forbidding path and are serious about it have an adherence to the AK unlike most any you will probably encounter in the AR world.

Last December we reported on the Uzbek originated group Malhama Tactical, offering the equivalent of private military services to numerous belligerents within the Syrian conflict. Rather than fade away from the scene, the group has actually appeared to have grown, with its own dedicated Twitter, Telegram, and several Youtube pages that go by hannibal Great and  Malhama-Tactical FanGuy. In our previous post about the group, the videos that we posted were all taken down from Youtube but they are still on the internet in various locations. I’ve taken the liberty of downloading them from their original source and uploading them to Youtube, because it probably is only a matter of time before the group deletes their channel or it gets taken down. My hope is that readers realize that TFB isn’t intent on “spreading” their propaganda videos, but is instead doing our utmost to learn and analyze the weapons, tactics, techniques, and procedures that the group is utilizing.

We at TFB realize the substantial work that the Transportation Security Administration does to protect the skies above the United States, on a 24/7 basis. However, the frustrations and tribulations of one being passionate about firearms can cause concerns at the airport. We’ve covered flying with actual firearms very thoroughly in a post about a legal expert explaining the issue, and even confiscated firearms. However, something that has arisen to the attention of TFB is the laws governing parts. I went through an experience back in October, but have always been of the opinion that a magazine, a scope, maybe a stock weren’t items that the TSA cared about. Actual ammunition and firearms are of course something that we need to be aware of when transiting through airports, but mere parts?

Asian Defense News recently published a compilation of high-quality photographs lifted from various Mandarin news sources such as Ifeng and Nownews of Chinese Military Police competing in a skill of arms competition, in Yunnan Province. The literal Mandarin translation of the description was for the chance to become the “Gun King” of the Military Police units involved. Sponsored by the PLA, Wu-jing (Military Police) soldiers used rifles and handguns in a combat marksmanship shoot, in addition to precision rifles shooting at distance and incorporating various tactical exercises. It incorporated load bearing equipment and physical fitness as a stress element. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any video material of the event to have surfaced yet, so we can’t fully comprehend the drills used just from the photographs.

The multi-lug rotating bolt as used in a number of semi-automatic firearms today has a significant number of advantages over numerous other designs, to include tilt locking or blowback operated mechanisms. Ability to unlock becomes easier than a standard two lug design, the forces on the lugs are much more evenly distributed, even if one lug does shear off, this might not affect the others during a course of fire. But what are the origins of this design feature that is seen in almost every modern day semi-automatic weapon? Stoner is rightly credited with bringing the concept to fruition, but where did he get it from? Many say Stoner was inspired by Melvin Johnson, but this episode will show that there is actually an 1800s design that features almost identical aspects of the current Stoner piece.

The Iranian press has released news of the Islamic Republic’s newest rifle design from a recent press conference held on the Zulfiqar modular rifle in Tehran. Milmag has what appears to be an excellent overview of the rifle in Polish, gathering photographs from Alalam news agency. The Farsi name of the rifle, “Zulfiqar” (ذوالفقار) is the name of the sword carried by Imam Ali, an extremely exalted leader among Shi’a the world over. This isn’t the first time a defense article has been designated Zulfiqar, as in the early 1990s the Army came out with a Main Battle Tank of the same designation. One important point to note in this context is that the rifle appears to be intended to either serve as a substitute or entirely replace (pending field trials) currently serving G3A3s and AKMs in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a branch separate from that of the standing military. This purpose might be the reasoning of picking such a term from early Islamic history.

Aybars is a Turkish Twitter analyst who very recently has been sharing a number of very detailed photographs concerning precision rifles among Turkish security forces. Primarily these are from the infantry deployed in Syria, however, he has also focused on Special Operations Forces and a special response contingent from the Turkish national police forces. These photographs appear to mostly be within the year and are thus an insight into the armament of the more powerful militaries in the MENA region.