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Archive for September, 2009

Afghanistan Camo Testing Announced

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

*UPDATED* Natick has been busy developing several new variants of UCP which retain the base pattern but replace individual colors. Word has it that some of them are down right ugly. It has recently been revealed by Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, PEO-Soldier that the new “UCP-Delta” which integrates Coyote Brown into the pattern along with Multicam will be evaluated in Afghanistan beginning in October. In response to the Congressional directive to field a new camo pattern for operations in Afghanistan two Battalions worth of uniforms will be tested.

Below are two photos of UCP-Delta. One with an IOTV and one without.

UCP Delta with IOTV UCP Delta
Photos courtesy of PEO-Soldier

According to sources at Natick, 30% of the pattern of the UCP-Pattern is Coyote Brown. One advantage exhibited in the photos is that UCP Delta offers the perception that current UCP field equipment will not need to be replaced.

Pro Patria Awarded Shotgun Enhancement Contract

Monday, September 14th, 2009

The United States Army Special Operations Command awarded contract H92239-09-P-0113 for 1,102 Mission Enhancement Kits for the Mossberg 500/590 to Pro Patria, Inc a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. The kit has been refined over a three year development process and contains an M-4 carbine-style collapsible butt stock, a sling system, a Picatinny rail equipped forearm, a shotgun retention system, a Picatinny rail, and a breaching barrel. Previously, 10th SFG(A)’s shotguns were enhanced by Pro Patria. Now, all Special Forces Groups both Active and National Guard will be similarly equipped.

Pro Patria Shotgun Enhancement kit

Interested parties should contact Pro Patria for more information.

Flight Deck Jerseys

Monday, September 14th, 2009

USN Deck Jerseys.

Deck Jerseys; the kind you see on the Airedales rushing to and fro on a carrier deck. Oddly enough, they are an item taken for granted. They aren’t very easy to find and a simple internet search will turn up more guides on their wear than sources of supply. However, Tidewater Tactical offers made in the USA Flight Deck Jerseys in a variety of colors. What’s more, they are 100% cotton meaning no melt, no drip.

Samurai Mind Training for Modern American Warriors

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Time magazine has published a great article on Warrior Mind Training. Steeped in Samurai Bushido mystique, Warrior Mind Training teaches Soldiers and Marines how to use meditation to reduce stress and improve focus.

Check it our here.

To learn more about the actual program visit warriortraining.us.

This Gives First Person Shooter a Whole New Meaning

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

Waterloo Labs has finally invented every first person shooter fan’s wet dream; the ability to use a real gun to shoot onscreen targets. To make it happen, four accelerometers, which can be used to triangulate a point of impact based on vibrations, were mounted onto a large piece of drywall, which in turn had a flash game based on Half-Life projected onto it. The accelerometers were connected to a data acquisition device which posted the data on LabVIEW, a program that used the data from the accelerometers to determine the bullet’s point of impact. The computer then then simulated a mouse click on the point of impact. The result was that a real bullet killed a virtual enemy. Such mashups are fairly easy if you have access to a few pieces of specialized hardware and could be constructed given adequate time.

British Troops Get New Sights

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

According a comprehensive article in the British website The Register published earlier this week, UK forces will begin receiving new weapon optics beginning in 2011. According the the article the Ministry of Defence announced during the annual DSEi arms expo that £150 Mil would be spent on new sights. The new kit will be purchased with Future Integrated Soldier Technology (FIST) funding.

New Weapon Sights
Photo: UK MoD

Somewhat awkward was a further assertion that the acquisition would “support the British defence industrial base”. Unfortunately, most of the equipment is actually made in other countries but prime Thales will at least be bringing home some bacon as they serve as integrator.

Quoting the article for information on the new equipment:

“• Underslung 40mm grenade launchers, which have been fitted beneath the rifle of one man in each fire-team of four since 2003, will now get new sights – and also new “fire-control systems”. The 40mm launcher is a low-velocity weapon and has to be pointed high above the target in order to lob its grenades any distance, a process which calls for range to be estimated accurately.
The new fire-control gadget to be mounted alongside the launcher will use a laser rangefinder to work out the correct elevation angle automatically – but our military sources say it makes the rifle/launcher combo unrealistically heavy for combat use, and that troops will find ways to get rid of it.
• Thermal sights will be provided for rifles, marksman’s weapons and light machineguns. These can be used to detect hidden enemies and bombs while on patrol, and function even in total darkness – when the regular light-amplifying night vision gear now in use doesn’t work. This stuff is already in use by some units, and is considered good by our sources.
• New Lightweight Day Sights will be provided, replacing the SUSAT* sights which came in when the SA80 weapons were introduced during the 1980s. SUSAT was very popular in its day (unlike the SA80s, which were only sorted out twenty years later in a German factory), but according to our sources the new sights are much better, offering improved field of view and a clearer picture. “A gleaming bit of kit,” we’re told.
*SSD Note: This sight is the Elcan Specter currently part of the SOPMOD program.
• The new thermal scopes, in a popular bit of good sense, have open Close Quarter Battle Sights mounted on top of them. This means that a soldier in a close-up gunfight doesn’t need to peer through a scope as he shoots, and lose track of what’s happening around him. This gets the thumbs up as well.
• Fire-team commanders will get new “Target Locating System” binoculars containing laser rangefinders and digital compasses, allowing them to mark things they see accurately on a map. This is actually quite basic stuff nowadays, and even in the British army forward artillery spotters and similar specialists have had such kit for some time. It’s new for ordinary infantrymen to have it, however.
There is the option to hook up the binos to a sat nav and a data net, so calculating the coordinates of a target and sending them to other units automatically, but it wasn’t clear at DSEi how much of this capability will be delivered to British infantry and our informants were also unsure. One does note that the only current option for infantry data transmission, the Bowman section-leader’s radio, has a very poor reputation.
• There will also be some ruggedised digital cameras and simple periscopes for peering over walls and round corners without getting shot. The FIST project was originally expected to include on-gun cameras feeding an image to a helmet display for this sort of purpose (those ignorant of shooting realities also thought the weapon might be fired usefully in such a position). It seems that an outbreak of realism has occurred in the MoD.”

Attention Gear Scout

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

When are you going to review those sweet-assed Wenger FBI SWAT Team boots you got at OR? We’re waiting. I bet Wenger is too.

Mayflower Releases Quick Detach UW Chest Rig

Friday, September 11th, 2009

The production version of the UW Chest Rig, QD is now available. Small runs of the design have been produced and refined over the last couple of years. As the name implies, the rig is intended for use as a general purpose mid-size vest platform to be worn with the detachable H style harness or attached directly to Mayflower’s Low-Profile Armor Carrier. This gives a great deal of flexibility to the user and the detachable H-style harness features loops to route antennas, comms wires, and hydration bladder tubing.

UW Chest Rig, QD UW Chest Rig, QD Mounted to Armor

Made in the USA from 500D Cordura, the UW Chest Rig, QD is available in Ranger Green (solution dyed), Coyote Brown (solution dyed), Multicam, UCP, and Black. Please note: Desert Digital is NOT available.

For more information contact Mayflower Research and Consulting, LLC or to order visit Grey Group.