#Sof

With India’s armed forces still awaiting a new service rifle, it seems that Indian Special Forces are forging on ahead. Indian media outlets have reported that India’s Para (Special Forces) unit have selected the 7.62x51mm FN SCAR-H along with a number of other weapons.

Poland’s  Jednostka Wojskowa Formoza and Jednostka Wojskowa GROM, both key elements of the Polish Special Forces, are seeking to procure new carbines. JW Formoza are seeking a new modular carbine while JW GROM are seeking an unspecified number of Heckler & Koch HK416 carbines. A tender notice was published by Poland’s state treasury on behalf of JW Formoza on the 12 June announcing the desire to procure an unspecified number of modular carbines. While a second tender from JW GROM was issued on the 16 June.

Today’s Photo of the Day features a beautifully composed photograph of a U.S. Army Special Operation Soldier with 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) firing an M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle during Integrated Training Exercise 3-19 at the US Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) in Twentynine Palms, California. The photo was taken last May by USMC photographer Lance Cpl. William Chockey. With the caption explaining that “the Green Berets utilized the training areas at MCAGCC while supporting ITX as a special operations unit for force on force training.

US SOCOM has released a Request for Information (RFI) for a new night sight for their grenade launchers. Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane) released a requirement specification for a Low to Medium Velocity Grenade Launcher Day-Night Sight on the 10th June. US SOCOM run a number of grenade launching platforms ranging from the M203, MK 13 Mod 0 and M320 to the M32 multi-shot launcher to the M19 and M47 automatic grenade launchers.

Grab a drink, and maybe some popcorn, and settle in for an hour long presentation on Soviet, ComBloc and other foreign weapons with former Marine and small arms expert Harold Johnson.

The Dutch Army is set to procure a further fifty Barrett .50 BMG M107A1 anti materiel rifles. The purchase is being made through TBM – Technisch Bureau H.A. Muller, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing’s sales representative in the Netherlands.

The United States Special Operations Command (US SOCOM) is looking for a new variable-power rifle optic to allow users to engage targets out to 600 meters, while still preserving close-in capability. The solicitation, released last week on Fed Biz Opps, announces a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) supply contract for up to $33.2 million dollars worth of the new optics. The draft requires offerors to provide 12 sample optics before December 8th of this year. The solicitation follows a pre-solicitation notice issued in July.

Alliant Techsystems’ (ATK) spinoff company Vista Outdoor has won a contract worth $52 million for Mk. 311 Mod 3 frangible ammunition to supply the US Army, with a completion date of June 22, 2022, according to the June Department of Defense contracts press release. The contract is likely for 100 million rounds of ammunition or more, which will probably be used mostly for training at ranges with limited backstops.

The Portuguese Army has recently put out a tender for a procurement of 10,225 light machine guns, rifles, submachine guns and handguns according to a recent report by Jane’s Defense (in an article very poorly edited for what they usually put out). The procurement will be in the ballpark of $90.2 million, and is intended for the Army to replace three entire battalions worth of small arms. The report states that the Army previously canceled its former standing tender from 2005 wherein the service declared it needed 30,000 small arms, and is now going with this current one. It also mentions that gear procurement and “light armament”  are being looked at as well. It looks like this means personal Infantry equipment and with that it seems the plan is to bring the Army up to speed across the board. From the report-

At the 2016 SHOT Show, Troy introduced their first retro AR-15 replica, the Air Force’s GAU-5A/A Colt carbine as used by the Sơn Tây raiders in Operation Ivory Coast. Now, at the 2016 NRA Annual Meeting, Troy has introduced its US Army counterpart: The XM177E2 model, with a forward assist.

In a recent broadcast by a channel called France 24, French reporters in Syria unexpectedly came across a coalition special operations unit, coordinating air strikes and working with Kurdish YPG units in the fight against Daesh in Shaddadi (northern Syria). Somewhat untypical of these types of units in going this long without realizing that a video crew was at work directly behind them. But we saw this in the early parts of the invasion of Afghanistan with a film crew capturing SAS operators in a firefigh t.

In what is looking to be a real blast from the past, a group of individuals are putting together something called Resurgence 3-Gun. It is a 3 gun competition, but the similarity with current 3 gun competitions is where it ends. Unbeknownst to me, the sport of 3 Gun as we know it today, got its origins in the early 1980s with the Soldier of Fortune Magazine competitions that initially started the activity, basing it on realistic fighting conditions, using the three disciplines. The last Soldier of Fortune 3 gun match happened in 2001, and there hasn’t been one since. A number of folks have reinvented the matches, using the same rules as the original match, but there hasn’t been anything put on that level of organization. This “Resurgence 3 gun” match will be from September 21-25 of this year, in Logan, New Mexico, at the Blue Steel Ranch. The emphasis will be on military/LE rifles, military equipment, and physical fitness. It doesn’t seem that this is a Soldier of Fortune magazine officially sanctioned and sponsored event, but instead is taking the spirit of the original competitions as an avenue for competitors who may want something more than today’s 3 gun matches, or for those who want something more from the match.

A report by Janes Defense has highlighted the purchase of 24 additional 5.56x45mm HK416A5 rifles and four 7.62x51mm G28 (HK417) rifles by Portugal for their Rapid Reaction Brigade (SOF). This is in addition to 18 rifles in November of 2014, and 22 HK416s in February of this year. This recent purchase brings the total amount of HK416s to 64 that have been reported to the media, or essentially enough for a reinforced platoon. Now, seeing that these purchases are more or less in sets of 20, I’m assuming that each batch is going to a separate and new team of their SOF, with each team retiring the service rifles they had before, at the rate that they are going with now. The rifles come equipped with a number of goodies, to include bipods, PMags, Aimpoints, AN/PEQ 16s, suppressors with Manta M700 shrouds, and the picture appears to have a high power optic with Accuracy International scope caps (not sure if these are made by AI, because I’ve seen Schmitt & Bender scopes with AI adjustment caps). Barrel lengths are ranging from 14.5 inch barrels for some batches and 16.5 for others. It is interesting to see a number of features on their weapon systems that imitate some American tendencies. Such as the PEQ16s, zip tieing their attachments, and their choice in accessories.

WeaponsMan has begun a project that I personally find very interesting: Recreating a SOCOM M4A1 from the initial 2002 Afghanistan campaign. Hognose’s goal is to recreate with as high a fidelity as possible the weapon he served with during that period, using a 14.5″ SBR Colt LE M4.