Late last year 3M purchased armor producer Ceradyne. At this year’s AUSA Annual Meeting & Expo Ceradyne displayed their wares in the 3M booth. This new helmet, the 3M “Defender” Ultra Light Weight Ballistic Bump Helmet caught my eye but I was not allowed to photograph it. However, they did hand me a brochure. It leverages the technology they developed for the USMC’s Enhanced Combat Helmet program. I though I’d share the brochure with you. Hopefully, we’ll be able to share more at SHOT Show.
The Spherical Amphibious Robot System looks like something the BC comic strip character Thor would have invented had his timeline been long enough.
The SARS does looks like a wheel with cameras (or other sensors) on either side but but that’s where the similarity ends. Unlike the BC wheel, SARS is amphibious and is propelled by an internal pendulum to control the center of gravity meaning forward and rearward movement as well as 360 Deg turns. It can be manually operated or preprogrammed with a GPS track and rolls along, in virtual silence. It offers about 4-6 hours of endurance and a top speed of 6mph on land and 4 mph on water. Finally, SARS can negotiate a 30 Deg slope.
We tried stopping by the Panacis booth a couple times during AUSA, but each time they were were swamped with meetings. Here, their Director of Business Development, Matt Fisher briefs the Norwegian Army Chief of Staff, Major General Rune Jacobsen, and Deputy Armaments Director, John Laugerud on the SharePack system.
Mark from Laser Shot speaks with ADS TV about their Small Arms Simulator, an affordable, portable simulator for smaller units with easier access. He also talks about their Indoor Modular Live Fire Range that can be scaled to your needs without obstructions.
Visit ADS for more information.
David Cozzone from Princeton Tec stops by to talk with ADS TV about the “Vizz” everyday carry headlamp.
Visit ADS for more information.
I picked up two coloring books at AUSA in the Small Arms Review booth; “Machine Guns of World War I” and “Machine Gun Inventors”. Pretty cool for the little guys, or if you are into that sort of thing.
H&K is always rolling something new out but we thought this new holster for the MP7 might pique your interest as much as it did ours.
But, let’s start with the MP7 itself. You may notice a few differences. One obvious item is the color. H&K now offers most of their models in Tan. Additionally, the MP7 now incorporates a 3-position stock rather than the old, in-or-out version. You may also notice that there is a notch in the Picatinny rail. This is for the holster and it is on either side’s rail for right or left handed use. This new Mil Std 1913 rail section is also reinforced. When mounting to the MP7 a metal insert is placed behind the barrel shroud and two additional screws are used in order to need up the rail that will bear the weight of the holstered weapon. H&K told me that they are also introducing a new forend that eliminates the fold down foregrip and instead features a removable 6 o’clock rail section.
This is the drop leg holster. It is injection molded and features three (!) leg straps for stability. The release lever at the top can be pushed forward or rearward making the holster ambidextrous. Additionally, due to the holster’s design, the weapon cannot be mounted to the holster unless it is safe or semi-auto. If the weapon’s selector lever is set to full-auto, it will not mate to the holster.
There is also a belt mounted version (not shown) as well as a vest mounted holster. As you can see, one side features PALS webbing. The magazine carrier is mounted to the vest via a PALS panel of pile tape offering more customization based on individual preference.
The vest model crosses in back like a traditional shoulder holster and attaches to the trouser belt on either side for stability.
As for the actual attachment of the MP7 to the holster; here it is, mounted. To holster the MP7, the bottom of the reinforced Picatinny rail is inserted into the recess in the holster and then it is rocked toward the holster into place so that the catch will engage. Due to this design, even with a mounted suppressor, the MP7 will still fit right to the holster.
