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John Williams III Retires As President/CEO Of U.S. Optics

Friday, December 13th, 2013

With 23 years serving the optical industry John Williams III is retiring as president and CEO of the rapidly growing U.S. Optics Inc. Although John is leaving U.S. Optics he will continue to remain as a partner and shareholder along with Nick Baroldi and Arnold Vonbargen in the business. We wish John well in this next chapter in his life. When interviewed John said: “It’s been a great ride with U.S. Optics and as much as I will miss the day to day aspects of the business and the amazing people with whom I work, I am incredibly excited about taking on new challenges and exploring new horizons.”

www.usoptics.com/

Tags: U.S. Optics
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Burlington Celebrates 90 Years

Friday, December 13th, 2013

December 12, 2013, Greensboro, NC – Burlington, a division of International Textile Group, Inc. (ITG), recently celebrated its 90-year anniversary. Founded in 1923 by J. Spencer Love, Burlington became the world’s largest textile manufacturer in the world. The Burlington brand continues today as a leader in technology and textile innovations, supplying advanced performance fabrics to the apparel, military, active wear, barrier, and contract markets around the world.

Joseph L. Gorga, CEO of International Textile Group commented, “Burlington’s successes came from its innovations with new products, new machinery, and new branding strategies, and we congratulate the men and women of Burlington, both today and generations before us, for their contributions to this great brand.”

“Burlington’s first success came from the ambition and willingness of Spencer Love to take a risk and try a new fiber, called rayon,” said Jeff Peck, President of Burlington. “Throughout the past 90 years we’ve overcome many challenges by returning back to our entrepreneurial roots, and today Burlington’s legacy continues on a global scale, focused on innovation and advanced performance fabrics.”

Burlington’s performance technologies and brands are found today across the military, outdoor, active wear, barrier, apparel and safety markets and include No Fly Zone, MCS, Maxima, Class C, Durapel Plus, Easywool, Synatural Cool, and Sigma 4 Star.

www.burlington.com/military_technical.html

Tags: Burlington
Posted in Industry | 1 Comment »

Vertx Signs Strategic Alliance With Victory First

Sunday, December 8th, 2013

A lot is going on with Matt Jaques, what with his new series, Make Ready TV and other projects for Panteo Productions as well as his full time training gig, Victory First. He’s been working for some time with Vertx, but now it looks like they’ve formalized the arrangement. Congrats Matt, it looks like that hard work is paying off.

Cincinnati, OH – 04 DEC 13 – Vertx Apparel is proud to announce the formation of a strategic alliance with Matt Jacques and the cadre of Victory First Consulting. Victory First’s Founder and Instructor Matt Jacques will be assisting Vertx with the development of both covert and overt operational equipment. He will also be involved in the ongoing evolution of “low profile” apparel designed for unremarked wear in the urban sprawl or non-permissive environment.

“Matt brings a unique set of skills and specific mindset to the design table,” says Vertx Business Development Manager Darrell Morrow. “His particular background and experience will help us completely change the way you go to the range and do the job–armed and unnoticed.”

Jacques is an SME with over twenty years of military, law enforcement, tactical and undercover experience. He has spent over the last two decades working in or providing training to specialized units and personnel of certain assignments that operated by necessity in low profile here and abroad. These have involved counter-narcotics, investigations, high risk fugitive apprehension, and dignitary protection/PSD and force protection. He has also overseen the development of several weapons systems and their training programs. He has previously worked with both Vertx and Industrial Alchemy on specific programs and is looking forward to working with Vertx on a developmental level.

“I am very excited about the working with Vertx,” says Jacques. “They’re a company that is making great strides forward in practical application discreet apparel and gear–you’re going to see their catalog grow with some phenomenal clothing and kit. I’m humbled by the invitation they extended to Victory First and honored to be a part of this development. I’m looking forward to growing with them.

Jacques is the host of the new Panteao Productions Make Ready TV, is an instructor on several of the Panteao Productions’ “MAKE READY” series of training DVDs, has been involved in the last 3 seasons of Trigger Time TV, is a contributing writer on RECOILWEB.COM and provides SME consulting to other publications. He and his staff continue to work with firearms and equipment manufacturers here in the US while providing specialized instruction to responsible civilians, law enforcement personnel and members of the military.

www.wearvertx.com/

Tags: VertX, Victory First
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More BAE Systems Body Armor Headed To Warfighters On The Battlefield

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

PHOENIX, Arizona — For more than four decades, BAE Systems has partnered with customers worldwide to develop affordable, practical solutions to protect warfighters in harm’s way and bring them home safely. Under several recently issued contracts valued at a total of nearly $18 million, BAE Systems will continue to provide hard armor inserts for soldiers on the battlefield.

“The body armor is designed with the specific purpose of stopping armor-piercing bullets,” said Ashoo Agarwal, a quality engineer at BAE Systems. “Our team of engineers works hard to ensure every plate we make meets a rigorous set of requirements and standards. This commitment to quality helps protect warfighters around the world.”

Among the contracts issued is a $10.2 million order from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency for Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts (ESAPI); an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract award for up to $6 million from the U.S. Department of Defense for SPEAR BALCS inserts and a $500,000 research and development contract from the U.S. Marine Corps for Enhanced Concealable Small Arms Protective Inserts.

Hard armor inserts are worn inside the fronts, backs, and sides of outer tactical vests and provide advanced torso protection against increased threats on the battlefield. They are fully qualified by the U.S. government through arduous and independent physical, environmental, and ballistic testing.

Since 1998, BAE Systems has produced more than 1.2 million hard body armor inserts, including ESAPI and other SAPI derivatives, under various Department of Defense contracts. BAE Systems manufactures body armor at its Phoenix, Arizona facility. Deliveries on these orders are expected to be complete by April 2015.

www.baesystems.com/

Tags: BAE Systems
Posted in Armor, Contracts, Industry | 1 Comment »

Remington Arms Awarded $50M Contract

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, has announced that Remington Arms Company was recently awarded a nearly $50 million direct commercial sale contract to supply the Armed Forces of the Philippines with more than 50,000 R4 carbines. The work will be completed at the Ilion Firearms Plant located in Ilion, New York. Components will be sourced from Remington’s facilities and suppliers across 20 states. In addition to the rifles, the contract also includes accessories and spare parts for the rifles. Work is scheduled to begin immediately and will continue through 2014.

www.remingtonmilitary.com/en/Firearms/Carbines/R4

Hat Tip: www.uticaod.com/

Tags: Remington
Posted in Industry | 4 Comments »

Polaris Ranger To Assist In The DARPA Robotics Challenge

Friday, November 29th, 2013

Minneapolis MN, November 26, 2013 – Polaris® Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII), the leading manufacturer of off-road vehicles, today announced that Polaris RANGER® XP 900 EPS vehicles will be used as part of the DARPA Robotics Challenge to be held December 20-21, 2013, at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Fla.

In the early stages of a number of recent disasters, it was clear there were limitations to what mitigation steps humans could take due to dangerous conditions. The DARPA Robotics Challenge was created to spur development of advanced robots that can help humans to better respond to future disasters. The Challenge includes eight tasks that simulate the duties a robot might have to perform in such a situation. DARPA will use the RANGER XP 900 EPS in one of the eight tasks to help demonstrate robots’ ability to operate vehicles, since they are among the tools commonly on hand in disaster zones. The Polaris RANGER XP 900 is the best-selling vehicle in its class and widely available across the U.S.

“We have found off-road vehicles are some of the most useful vehicles in disaster relief due to their ease of transport and ability to traverse challenging terrain,” said Patrick Weldon, product manager for Polaris Defense. “Our specialized vehicles are designed to the end user’s specifications. For the DARPA Robotics Challenge, the RANGERs were built to accommodate the robots and provide mobility at the mock disaster site.”

The RANGER XP 900 EPS was customized for the Challenge with a remote SafeStop Electronic Throttle Kill and Brake Actuation technology. A 1000-lb./453 kg. capacity bed provides space for the robot’s power supply, and inside the cab, the bench seat and tilt steering provide ample room for robots to operate the vehicle.
The driving task requires the robots to drive the RANGER XP 900 EPS through a 250-ft/76-m course with obstacles and varied widths, and exhibit the ability to turn the vehicle in a full circle.

In the future, the versatility of the RANGER platform would allow a robot to transport tools, equipment, supplies and power around a disaster site, while traversing the difficult terrain often found in disaster situations.

www.polaris.com/en-us/home

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PCP Ammunition Company Set To Release Limited Production Of .308 Polymer Cased Ammunition

Thursday, November 28th, 2013

This is an announcement from PCP Ammunition Company regarding an opportunity to test their .308 polymer cased ammunition so it ‘s written from their POV. Register at the link below for a special invitation only purchasing opportunity. We are honored that they have offered this to SSD readers first.

After several years of engineering research, development, testing, and productionplanning, PCP Ammunition is pleased to offer its .308 polymer cased ammunition to the commercial market. This is the first time in history that a ammunition manufacturer has offered high performance polymer cased rifle ammunition to the commercial market. Prior to this initial civilian release PCP Ammunition was recently awarded contracts with the US Government Department of Defense to deliver advanced lightweight polymer sub-sonic ammunition and an improved .50 caliber precision round.

We are offering this limited release of production to a select number of consumers. We are limiting the production initially to allow for user feedback that validates our test results. PCP Ammunition and certified third party testing facilities have performed thousands of tests on this product and we are confident in it’s safety and performance. The ammunition is loaded to SAAMI specifications. We are extremely interested in the feedback of our first group of civilian consumers. Although we have tested the ammunition in numerous weapon platforms, we have by no means tested them all.

Please use only in firearms that are in good condition and free of defects. If you have any questions about the compatibility of your firearm with our ammunition, please contact us prior to using it.

If you are interested in purchasing our initial production of polymer cased ammunition please register at the link below. If you are selected to participate in this initial release, you will be contacted with instructions to purchase.

www.pcpammo.com/limited

Tags: PCP Ammunition Company
Posted in Industry | 5 Comments »

Strategic Armory Corps Acquires McMillan Firearms Manufacturing and Announces New CEO

Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

It seems Strategic Armory Corps is hard at work. Just this summer they purchased ArmaLite. Now, they’ve acquired McMillan Firearms Manufacturing, LLC. McMillan announced in late September that they were selling the manufacturing side of the business but not who was purchasing. As we understand it, this will not affect their new McMillan Merchant Solutions. However, Kelly and Ryan McMillan will continue to serve as consultants to McMillan Firearms.

Additionally, SAC announced John Spurrier as their new CEO who came from the same position at Kriss USA. Spurrier brings an interesting background including time with CISCO/Scientific-Atlanta. He is also a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point.

Tags: McMillan Firearms Manufacturing, Strategic Armory Corps
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