Bamberg-based Maxtac offers Made in Germany Kydex products. One of their main customers is B&T. They are displaying in the S4 Supplies Booth.
Archive for 2018
IWA 18 – Maxtac Tactical
Saturday, March 10th, 2018IWA 18 – Spuhr AB
Saturday, March 10th, 2018
Spuhr is introducing a new line of optic mounts for the hunting market. They are a bit sleeker and have fewer features, like only one accessory mounting point. Consequently, they are less expensive as well. Look for AR15 models in the future.
They also have a new adapter to mount their V2 stock to an MP5.
Direct Action 2018 Catalog
Saturday, March 10th, 2018
KAZAKHSTAN Testing 8X8 Combat Vehicle
Friday, March 9th, 2018Astana | 7 March 2018 – Paramount Group, the African-based global defence and aerospace company, and its joint venture in Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), announced that the Ministry of Defence of Kazakhstan is in the final stages of the evaluation of the Barys 8×8 combat vehicle ahead of acceptance into service by the country’s armed forces.
The Barys (Snow Leopard in the Kazakh language) which is based on Paramount Group’s Mbombe 8 represents the pinnacle of land system technologies and was developed to meet the increasing demand for multi-role, high mobility and mine hardened platforms.
The winter trials included day and night firing and the Barys 8×8 vehicle was equipped with a Shipunov 2A42 30 mm automatic cannon and a 7.62mm machine gun jointly manufactured by Kazakhstan’s ‘KAE’, which manufactures electro-optic defence equipment and Turkish defence company, Aselsan.
Winter trails of Barys 8 started during early December 2017 with a series of intensive factory acceptance tests to finally evaluate and optimise the complete weapon system, platform and turret. The trails were conducted at a Military tank test polygon in central Kazakhstan.
Johan Delport, Director of the KPE factory in Astana said: “The most severe winter conditions prevailed during testing, similar to conditions found in Siberia. During this period the temperature dropped to -45 Celsius with a chill factor of minus 60 Celsius, resulting in serious challenges to man and machine while conquering up to 750mm of soft snow.
“During such conditions every smallest detail and subsystem could be evaluated extensively. Items such as glass heating for de-ice and de-misting, engine heating before starting, batteries, cabin heating, electrical functions, steering, and suspension have been successfully tested. The vehicle performed exceptionally throughout the trials.”
The design of this vehicle allows for the fitment of a very large array of weapon systems. This enables the vehicle to be customised for armed forces all around the world.
The weapon system has been evaluated during both day and night firing sessions, static as well as firing on the move using the stabilisation mode. The 30mm canon which has ranges beyond 2000 meters has been demonstrated successfully under the severe ambient conditions.
The 8×8 combat vehicle and other Paramount armoured vehicles will be produced at the 15,000m2 KPE armoured vehicle factory in Astana – the largest armoured vehicle factory in Central Asia and the first defence manufacturing plant with this scale of capability in Kazakhstan. It has a capacity of more than 200 vehicles per year for the production of the full range of Paramount’s armoured vehicles with bespoke modifications for local conditions.
Ivor Ichikowitz, Founder and Executive Chairman of Paramount Group said: “Building our combat vehicles through local partnerships in Kazakhstan shows that we can produce highly advanced technologies anywhere in the world. One of the most significant trends in today’s defence industry is the increasing requirement of sovereign nations to develop their own defence equipment.
“Building defence industrial eco systems, inside our customer countries, through strategic alliances have been the cornerstone of our industrial philosophy. Our partnerships have driven innovation, technology transfer, local manufacturing, skills development and jobs around the world.”
The Barys 8 is the winterised version of Paramount’s Mbombe 8 that employs an innovative new form of construction to give unprecedented levels of protection, while keeping profile to a minimum. The 8×8 also draws on the company’s experience of designing the highly advanced Mbombe family of armoured vehicles.
The Mbombe family of 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 vehicles share over 80% of common components to reduce through life costs. This commonality offers significant cost benefits to armed forces due to greater efficiencies and significant savings in maintenance and logistical support.
In addition to the Barys, KPE has been ramping up production and deliveries of the Arlan (the localised version of Paramount Group’s Marauder APC) to the armed forces in Kazakhstan. In November 2017 Paramount Group delivered more Arlan armoured vehicles to Kazakhstan’s Special Forces. The latest delivery of the Arlan will see the vehicles in operation with the Ministry of Defence, Special Forces and other law enforcement agencies.
Gentex Corporation Awarded Helmet Services and Support Contract for Bristow Helicopters U.K. SAR Bases
Friday, March 9th, 2018Carbondale, PA, March 7, 2018. Gentex Corporation, a global leader in personal protection and situational awareness solutions for defense forces, emergency responders, and industrial personnel announced today it has been awarded a three-year contract from Bristow Helicopters Ltd (U.K.) to manage and perform maintenance on their U.K. inventory of Gentex’s ALPHA 900 Cross Platform Helmet Systems. Bristow provides Search and Rescue (SAR) services to the private sector worldwide, and to the public sector for all of the U.K. on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Under the terms of the contact, Gentex will have responsibility for the airworthiness of the Bristow inventory of aircrew helmets, which are exclusively ALPHA 900 Helmets. Support was customized to meet the Bristow SAR specific needs and includes technical services (helmet fitting, records management, and training) and sustainment support (preventative maintenance; repair, and spares inventory management).
“In addition to supplying Bristow SAR crews with our advanced ALPHA 900 Helmet Systems, we’re proud to now support them with technical services and sustainment support through our European operations,” said Robert McCay, vice president aircrew and aircraft maintainer systems, Gentex Corporation.
With customizable, on-site support, customers can be assured of responsive, flexible, quality service, and continuity of their supply. Additionally, this approach allows customers to maximise their inventory’s performance, while reducing overall stock holdings; reduce their cost of ownership with a fully integrated supply chain (one-stop-shop); and improve capabilities through Ad-Hoc tasking.
“Our SAR operations have relied on the consistent, high performance of Gentex’s ALPHA 900 Helmets for over 4 years,” said Russ Torbet, Director of U.K. SAR, Bristow Helicopters Ltd. “Now, with the addition of the complete helmet management and service support provision, we expect to be able to better meet and maintain our operational needs, while reducing our costs, and enhancing the safety of our SAR crews, operating in the most demanding environments.”
Technical services and sustainment support is available for all of Gentex’s brands, directly or through their authorized global distributors.
Gentex’s advanced, scalable, and highly configurable ALPHA 900 military helmet systems line includes the new ALPHA 900 Search and Rescue (SAR) Helmet System which was developed in partnership with Bristow. Adopted by the U.K. MoD, ALPHA 900 is the only aircrew helmet platform that supports both fixed and rotary wing applications, reducing the logistics trail for those responsible for supporting both helmet platforms.
BivyPack on Kickstarter
Friday, March 9th, 2018BivyPack is billed on Kickstarter as the backpack that transforms into a bivy tent. On the upside, you’ve got both shelter and load carriage in one package. The opposite is that you’re always carting your shelter around.
The 40 liter pack section is manufactured from hex grid ripstop nylon. It is a flapped too loader with front packet as well as two side pockets and includes a carbon fiber frame along with shoulder, waist and chest straps.
The poles are integrated into the head section. Now, here’s another issue to consider. While the body is a laminate, the head section is noseeum mesh. In inclement weather this could be a real issue. Their solution is to place your coat over the head area when you need the extra protection. That’s one way to keep weight down, I guess. It’s only about one pound all told which isn’t bad.
While it’s innovative, a few design choices make it only applicable for a narrow set of circumstances.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/111493935/bivypack-the-backpack-that-transforms-into-a-bivy
Enforce Tac 18 – TPG Black
Friday, March 9th, 2018TPG Black is Tactical Pro Gear’s Made in USA line. In fact, it’s all made right there in Boynton Beach, FL. At Enforce Tac they showed their new Rapid Deployment Plate Carrier, the RDPC1.
It incorporates 3 built in magazine slots at the front as well as an Admin pocket.
The shoulder and waist attachments are their new SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) Buckles. The vest is available with the full cummerbund seen here featuring built in armor panels, or an elastic version with built in mag pockets.
IWA 18 – FibroTex Camouflage Kit Sophia
Friday, March 9th, 2018This is a sneak peek of the new Kit Sophia, a completely new way of providing individual camouflage from FibroTex.
Each kit is 50cm x 50cm and comes loaded with a cartridge containing 30 running meters (3 meters wide) of mesh material.
It is a crushed 2D, reversible net which offers Viz, NIR and TIR concealment. Because it’s reversible, it can be used in two different environments. Because of the material’s flexibility, it can be used to camouflage individuals, fighting positions, static vehicles, sensors, supplies, etc.
Look for full details soon.
