BAE’s Corona was on prominent display at AUSA. Finally, pictures reveal the intricate detail of the Corona design.
The blue cast on the pictures is from the booth’s mood lighting. I suppose it was to help you envision the future. Speaking of future, below is a photo of a BAE conceptual helmet with one of the shell panels removed in order to demonstrate the construction.
With Tim O’Neil involved of course it had to be digital. Here is a pic of Gore’s new optifade pattern compared with Realtree from Gizmodo.
Check out the story at Gizmodo.
Mayflower Research and Consulting has been the subject of several articles on Soldier Systems Blog. You can find them here. Mayflower tends to keep a low profile and in respect of that, we don’t post nearly enough about what they are up to. However, sufficed to say, they are working on a commercial line. In our last article on Mayflower (13 Sept 08) we claimed that their ecommerce site would be up in four weeks. Looks like we were pretty close.
The website is here. Check it regularly.
We spied this Tru-Spec Combat Shirt at the Invista booth at AUSA. It is a prototype and no word on when of even if it will go into production. The body is the Cordura FR base layer fabric we saw at OR.
Camelbak is switching their entire line to 500D Cordura from 1000D. This is a great move and will lighten the load with only a negligible compromise in durability. Not only that, but the 500D fabrics look “softer”. Unfortunately, some customers don’t get it and think that moving to 500D means a much lower level of durability. This isn’t the case at all. Equipment doesn’t all need to be manufactured from multiple layers of 1000D Cordura.
The Marines recently fielded a new Scalable Plate Carrier. At the time of the article we did not know the manufacturer but we can now confirm that it was designed and manufactured by Eagle Industries. At the recent AUSA annual meeting Eagle displayed a version of the carrier in UCP but while several units are interested in the product, there have been no overtures from PEO-Soldier. However, as more and more Soldiers see their Marine brothers in arms wearing the lightweight armor, we expect them to begin to request similar systems.
The Frontline Series of tactical pens has entered the market from Tuff Writer. Manufactured from 6016-T6 aerospace grade aluminum, The Tuff-Writer pen features both a sharp as well as round end, in order to be used as a defensive implement or a control device. The smoothly finished point also doubles as a PDA stylus device or even emergency glass breaking tool. The spring steel clip was designed specifically to avoid snagging clothing and is according to Tuff Writer, virtually indestructible. The Mil-A-8625 “F” black anodizing over a non-marking finish provides a rock hard surface finish. There is no doubt that the Tuff Writer pens were made in the USA. It is engraved on the shaft of every pen in addition to the pen’s serial number and logo.
Tuff Writer has applied a proprietary non-reflective / non-marking surface treatment to the pen in order to minimize fingerprint marks and reflection off the pen. This finish gives the pen a smooth, almost soft, look. It utilizes a pressurized cartridge which writes at any angle, including upside down, in the freezing cold or blistering heat, and can even function underwater.
The Frontline comes in Stealth Black, Sniper Grey, as well Desert Brown and features a lifetime guarantee.
For more information contact Tuffwriter Tactical Pens.
Photo property of Tuff Writer Tactical Pens.
With the E-FECT, Gerber has succeeded in combining all of the tools critical to operator level weapons maintenance of the M-16/M-4 family of weapons into one package. Designed to fit into the butt stock of an M-16, the tool features a 4 & 5 pin sight adjustment tool, a curved pick, nylon brush, flathead driver/scraper, a pin punch, and a multi-angled scraper. Like the excellent line of Gerber Multi-tools, the weapons maintenance toolheads all lock into position except for the sight adjustment tool which is held captive by a magnet. Leveraging a long-term partnership with Otis, all of the E-FECT’s toolheads come from the extensive Otis family of cleaning kits and are replaceable. The E-FECT will be released around SHOT Show.
Photo from Marine Corps Times.
