The London Metropolitan Police recently adopted the SIG SAUER MCX in 5.56mm. The configuration the chose was on display in the Edgar Brothers booth and we got a photo. As we understand it, the G36s in service will remain but will eventually be pushed to other LE organizations. Interest in the .300 variant of the MCX grows but the caliber must still be certified for LE use in the UK.
This is the FROG.PRO LC-AWPC (Laser Cut-Air Warrior Plate Carrier).
Their take on a PALS compatible system consists of a proprietary composite fabric called LAHYCO, made of Hypalon and Cordura 500D. It allows them s to add some special features such as utility holes for shock cord or slots for QASM buckles.
Its light weight (480g). The inner ballistic plates pouches, thanks to the Open Top design are suitable for any shape of rigid ballistic plates. The low profile design allows the wearer to use it as a concealed vest. The supplied adapters allow it to attach the new LC line chest rigs.
Available in Coyote Tan, Ranger Green, Vegetato EI, MultiCam.
Virtus is the British Army’s latest Soldier Protection initiative. During DSEI we showed you the helmet component of Virtus band 1, manufactured by Revision. We stopped by the Source Vagabond booth where we got a closer look at the armor and load carriage components of this new system that begins fielding this month to the British Army. Over the next seven years, the entire Army will be outfitted with Virtus which consists of over 50 items consisting of Head Subsystem, Load Carriage Subsystem, Hydration Subsystem, Extremities Subsystem, Torso Protection Subsystem, Chassis Subsystem and Pouches Subsystem.
The Scalable Tactical Vest is the heart of the system and allows the wear of concealable armor, wear as a plate carrier, combining the two as a body armor vest as well as the addition of extremity protection including neck, bicep groin and lower back armor.
The right side of the vest features a Velcro shoulder strap which is used by the wearer to don and doff it under admin conditions. Conversely, the cutaway system is located on the left side of the chest and only releases the left side of the vest. The cutaway consists of upper and lower molded plastic pins that fit through channels in hinge-like buckles, lining up at the left shoulder and left cummerbund area. There is a pull tab that must be pulled outward (perpendicular), away from the vest. To pull up or down means that the opposite pin will not be activated.
Attached to this Scalable Tactical Vest is the Dynamic Weight Distribution spine bar. The DWD is adjustable up and down allowing the wearer to transfer the weight of the STV to the hip belt. We have written about Source’s DWD in the past as it is licensed to Force Protector Gear here in the US.
This is the hip belt along with low profile suspenders for wear under the MTV.
This is the front buckle of the Hip Belt.
The DWD can also be used with any of the pack options. Below is the 90l version.
In addition to the 90l pack, there are 45l assault packs and leader packs.
Source specializes in hydration and they’ve offered two carriers with Virtus.
The program also offers a variety of PALS compatible pouches. All issue items are in Multi Terrain Pattern but there were a couple of items in Coyote in the booth which were easier to examine than the camouflage examples.
Virtus does not include clothing items. The current fielding of Band 1 incorporates existing soft armor and plates. Band 2 of Virtus which will commence soon examines new plates and armor. Band 3 will add power and a databus to the armor and load carriage.
During my recent visit to England for DSEI, I picked up a Wearable SplashMap of central London. It featured every street I needed, including what essentially were alleyways between major streets. Plus, it was easy to stuff in my pocket yet pull right out and use. No crazy map folding skills needed here.
Inspired by silk escape maps, Wearable Maps can be worn as a scarf or stuffed in a pocket. They won’t wrinkle and there’s no stretch. You can even write on them with Crayola washable markers and was the map clean later. They are printed on weatherproof, colorfast satin and are 72cm x 72cm.
In addition to a wide variety of ready made cloth maps featuring popular international destinations, SplashMaps will custom make a map for you (Make-a-Map), using native digital sources such as Ordnance Survey, OpenStreetMap and US Geological Survey. Maps of the UK are generally 1:25 000 scale and international maps 1:40 000. You even get to pick the title. Naturally, they’ll do limited runs for events such as races or training as well.
Hyperstealth has announced that the Naval Infantry of Mexico has selected the US4CES Transitional camo pattern for their uniforms, and have renamed the pattern Marina Trans Jungle. Objective tests were performed in three environments, Lowland Forest in Michoacan, Lowland Scrub Desert in Sinaloa, and Riparian Forest in Coahuila, which pitted the US4CES Transitional pattern against the current Digital Woodland pattern used by the Mexican Marines.
In all three environments, it took observers an overall longer period of time to locate the US4CES pattern than the currently fielded Woodland pattern. A second comparison was conducted, comparing the US4CES pattern to MultiCam in the same environments, again with the US4CES pattern taking an overall longer period of time to locate within the environments.
You can read the full release at www.hyperstealth.com/Mexico.
Slovenian tactical clothing company UF PRO offers some impressive products, however they have been difficult to procure for the North American customer, until now, that is. Canadian company SEALS Action Gear has become the North American distributor for UF PRO, and will be carrying their full line of products in the full colorway UF PRO offers, including PenCott patterns. Last month, we featured a story on SEALS Action Gear and their adoption of PenCott patterns for several of their in-house designs.
Additionally, German tactical gear company Tasmanian Tactical is now offering various packs and load carrying gear in PenCott GreenZone, including, but not limited to, the TT Raid Pack MK III PC, TT 3 SGL Mag Pouch BEL PC, and TT Tac Pouch 4 PC horizontal.
Earlier this month, Arc’teryx opened its first European brand store in the heart of London. I was fortunate enough to visit the store yesterday and several friends asked me to take photos.
I’ve visited the brand stores in Seattle as well as Washington, DC and this is the largest of the three, with two floors.
Shoppers are greeted with a daily update of weather conditions at several mountain destinations.
Upstairs is Women’s Wear.
In addition to multiple mannequin displays of the clothing and gear, Arc’teryx wants its customers to participate and there are several ways to do that.
I am most impressed by Arc’teryx’s effort to incorporate the brand story into the store. First and foremost is pride in their relationship with W.L. Gore & Co.
This includes interactive displays on the materials they use.
Arc’teryx takes pride in their color offerings and there are some hands on displays to help you see what they are all about.
The store is well staffed and they are both friendly and knowledgeable.
You walk down a large, open staircase to reach the lower level. This massive, floor-to-ceiling display is at the foot of the stairs and showcases some amazing artifacts.
Having visited the factory in Vancouver several years ago I can tell you that in the past, several of these custom jigs and molds were trade secrets, closely held by the company. They give you a real behind-the-scenes look at the ingenuity of their designers.
The basement floor is well stocked with Men’s wear and broken up into different types of clothing.
There is even a Veilance section as well as footwear (not pictured).
All-in-all, the London Arc’teryx store is a great experience and I highly recommend you visit, if you’re in town.
Hvidovre Denmark 15th September 2015: A recently tested lightweight small arms ammunition case is on display on the PPD stand, S7-261, during DSEI. Utilising composite materials and innovative design it reduces the weight of a standard NATO ammunition case by 70% and increases the number of rounds that can be carried on a standard NATO pallet by 10%.
The PPD LWAC (Lightweight Ammunition Case) completed various UN tests in Feb 2015 and was accepted by the end user in May 2015. The LWAC is now certified for use in non-operational areas such as training, paving the way for initial orders for training ammunition etc. The operational area tests (STANAG 4423) are underway. So far the LWAC has passed all of those it has faced such as the bonfire and being “fired at” tests.
The significance of the weight saving is demonstrated by the savings that Denmark would have made during its deployment to Afghanistan in 2012. It would have represented a saving of 8 C-130 flights (and €1.14M) just in entry flights let alone savings on in theatre transport. The US is striving to achieve a 10% reduction in theatre/combat zone transport. It has been calculated that such a saving would have saved the US 7 lives a year in Afghanistan. Shifting ammunition is a very large part of the logistic requirement so any weight saving has an instant human return not to mention savings in costs, CO2 emissions and other green issues etc. For the humble infantryman the weight saving will reduce future medical costs for damaged knees and backs.
PPD’s LWAC can be safely packed and stowed with no requirement for modification to platforms, stowage systems or weapon mounts. Different colours can be incorporated into the composite LWAC case to signifying the type of ammunition within it, blue= training, green=operational etc. As the LWAC cases can be made transparent, still with the colouring pigment, the number of rounds can be counted without having to open the case saving time during stock checks. An RFID tag can be built it allowing each case, its content and its movement to be tracked from the moment the LWAC case is made to the moment it comes out of service.
“The LWAC has undergone a series of rigorous tests conducted by NAMMO Raufoss and watched by independent observers. LWAC® performed exactly as we predicted and wanted,” said Jan Engmann, CEO of PPD.
“The effort put in by our specialist advisers and experts has been vindicated and the benefits of using composite in this way are there for all to see. The weight savings we have achieved with the resulting cost reduction make it a simple decision for logisticians,” added Engmann.
“Our strategy has been global from the beginning and the LWAC is already under evaluation by the MoD´s of UK, US, Singapore, UAE, Denmark and Norway,” he continued
The LWAC is fully recyclable without any preparation and meets all the EU requirements for “green gas” emissions out to 2040. Other cases and lightweight pallets are in design.
