It’s not very often our Photo Of The Day is taken by myself, but here’s an exception. This is the Rheinmetall SSW40 – Squad Support Weapon 40mm, shown at EnforceTac in the spring of 2023. The SSW40 looks very futuristic, yet we know the future is already [Read More…]
You are here so you know what tonight means, esoteric night vision content! We started this year’s Friday Night Lights looking at the B2 Spirit with cooled MWIR thermal imaging. Tonight we look at the Rheinmetall/Oerlikon LLM01 (Laser Light Module 01) which [Read More…]
This week at Eurosatory 2022, Rheinmetall showcased a surprise, not their first tank the KF-51 or their unmanned ground vehicle that can launch loitering missiles, but the Squad Support Weapon or SSW40. It appears that the SSW40 is a matured version of the Hydra, [Read More…]
None of TFB’s Photo Of The Days is the same, and the CARACAL Air Assault Vehicle above is a perfect example. During Eurosatory 2022 in Paris, under the motto “Move – Sense – Strike”, Rheinmetall showcased the new family of Caracal airborne vehicles. This [Read More…]
What could be better than the Heckler & Koch HK433? Quite possibly the Heckler & Koch HK437 right above you, chambered in .300 Blackout (7.62x35mm). The rifle is also equipped with a VarioRay laser light module from Rheinmetall and an EOTech EXPS. You [Read More…]
The Portuguese Army has ordered LM-LowProfile laser modules from Rheinmetall. These types of low-profile laser markers and illuminators are normally mounted on top of a rifle. Due to the low profile (25 mm height) of these devices, iron sights and other optics can still [Read More…]
The South African Army has purchased more than 20,000 rounds of Rheinmetall’s a new medium-velocity (MV) 40mm ammunition. These include a mixture of high explosive, high explosive dual-purpose, practice ammunition, practice tracers, red phosphorous smoke rounds [Read More…]
Rheinmetall is a German defense contractor. They make various military products like electro-optics, night vision and aiming systems. Earlier we saw the GN1 from SIMRAD which is now owned by Rheinmetall. Today we will take a look at their Vario-Ray LLM (Laser Light [Read More…]
The Swiss Army has placed an order for almost 10,000 VarioRay LLM laser lights from Rheinmetall. The Swiss Army calls the laser light LLM 19 and it will be used on the Swiss soldiers’ assault rifles, as part of Germany’s Future Soldier System-Extended System [Read More…]
Since the late 1990s, the Heckler & Koch G36 is the standard rifle of the German Bundeswehr. Already in the 2nd quarter of 2017 it was made official that the Bundeswehr were going to procure roughly 120 000 assault rifles with accessories, to replace the G36. In [Read More…]
As this is The Firearm Blog it’s easy to focus on the firearms, the Heckler & Koch HK433 and the G95K (Heckler & Koch 416 A7) in this case. However, as Concamo supplied all the photos, the subject of Today’s Photos is actually their camouflage [Read More…]
Today’s Picture Of The Day shows a Heckler & Koch SFP9 (VP9), ready with optics. I think the red dot sight is a Leupold Deltapoint Pro. The HK has “SFP9 OR 9mmx19” typed on the side, to be exact. The laser-light module is called LLM-PI and made by [Read More…]
Around these introducing words, you can see a zoomed-in version from one of the pictures from the Concamo photoshoot. Yes, that is a Heckler & Koch 417P and that’s at least the first time I’ve ever seen or heard about it. In fact, there’s only [Read More…]
When we think of the iconic Cold War G3, we automatically think Heckler & Koch – but that wasn’t always the case. When the fledgling West German Army adopted the, now famous, roller-delayed rifle it was produced by not just H&K but another famous [Read More…]
Introduced in March of this year, we were able to get our hands on Rheinmetall Air Defense AG’s ILEE® TwinBeam Mk2 visible/IR laser designator. The TwinBeam Mk2 is actually just one such designator out of a large product line of similar designators that fill [Read More…]
The Canadian-based division of Rheinmetall was present at the show with the latest variant of their Field Ranger RCWS system that is designed to accommodate 7.62x51mm FN MAG/.50 BMG M2/ and 40x53mm Mark 19 grenade launchers and machine guns. On display was the [Read More…]
Rheinmetall have won the contract to equip the German Army’s special forces, the KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte, with a new laser light package. These will be mounted on the KSK’s new G95 (HK416) rifles, adopted in 2017. According to a contract notice posted [Read More…]
There is a new member of the Rheinmetall VARIO-RAY family and it’s going to be introduced on the US market. The new VARIO-RAY LowProfile (VR-LP) is a compact laser aiming and illuminating device designed and developed by Rheinmetall Soldier Electronics (RSE). [Read More…]
DefenceWeb recently released a video overview of the new Steyr / Rheinmetall RS-556 assault rifle. The rifle, a sort of hybrid between an AR-15 and a Steyr AUG, was submitted to the Bundeswehr’s System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr trials, competing against both Heckler [Read More…]
Rheinmetall has introduced a new take on the ability to check ceramic or metal plates used in plate carriers and vests by Military/LE/Security forces across the world. The idea is to have an extremely lightweight system of electrical wires hooked up to a users plates. [Read More…]
Rheinmetall has introduced a new Laser Aiming Module (LAM) unit at DSEi 2017. The picatinny mounted LAM unit is extremely compact, measuring in at 83 mm in length, 63 mm in width and 34 mm in height, also weighing in at 155 grams. It runs off of a single 3V CR123 [Read More…]
The German site All4shooters.de published a Facebook video with the Rheinrmetal Steyr Mannlicher RS556 (that’s along name) shooting both semi auto and full auto. New firearms are always interesting, and to see how they behave under fully automatic fire is even more fascinating. It looks like [Read More…]
The G36’s replacement is now known to be one of five guns – or at least that’s the report coming from reputable defense outlet IHS Jane’s. Competing in Germany’s System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr Assault Rifle System) will be the [Read More…]
The German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has announced the long-awaited program to replace the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle in German Army service, reports the Polish gun magazine MilMag. [Read More…]
The Battle of which company that will get the German Armed Forces contract to replace the HK G36 has just begun, and the “fighting” is taking place at Enforce Tac, Germany, right now. Rheinmetall and Steyr Mannlicher in co-operation are showing their [Read More…]
Just before the New Year, TFB reported about the rumor that Steyr and Rheinmetall were partnering to offer a new modular assault rifle. There is now an official Press Release from Rheinmetall to fill in some of the details that were unknown and unconfirmed. There is [Read More…]
Although the images above depict the previously announced STM556 from Steyr Mannlicher, the Austrian news site Kurier.at is announcing a new rifle – the RS556 – a possible contender to replace the G36 within the German “Bundeswehr” Armed Forces. [Read More…]
For a change I thought I would feature an interesting military munition for todays POTD. A reader sent us this photo asking if we could identify it and if it was a real cartridge. It is indeed real, but it is not a firearm cartridge. This round is a 30mm AHEAD Air [Read More…]
This video shows an Hellenic Navy Rheinmetall Mk20 with S20 Naval Gun Mount firing in slow motion. Note how the barrel appears to recoil. At first glance it appears that the gun utilizes a short recoil action like the Rheinmetall MG3 and the MG42. It is actually gas [Read More…]