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August 6th, 2021Ft Bragg Defense Applications Expo – August 18th
August 6th, 2021Sponsored by Osprey Global Solutions, LLC, the 2021 Ft Bragg Defense Applications Expo is being held August 18th at the Osprey Training Facility, a private range not far from Fort Bragg, NC.
The event kicks off at 1100 and will include static displays of some of the latest warfighting technologies, a full mission profile live fire demo and a hands on round robin with the same gear used in the demo.
I have attended previous Osprey Global Range Days and they were fantastic. This promises to be even better.
DAX is open to military, law enforcement and invited guests only. For reservations, qualified personnel should email mgrange@ospreyglobalsolutions.com
There is limited capacity for additional industry partners. Contact mgrange@ospreyglobalsolutions.com for details.
FirstSpear Friday Focus: Rash Guards Back In Stock
August 6th, 2021Take a look at FirstSpear’s all American made short and long sleeve Rash Guards that are now back in stock!
Built from a premium poly/spandex blend the FS Rash Guard is an ultralight compression fit garment that helps to protect against abrasion and rub commonly found in a maritime environment.
• Ultralight compression fit
• Protects against rubbing and abrasion while wet
• Natural sun / UV protection
• Dries quickly
• Made in the USA
Quick to dry with natural sun / UV protection. Smooth flat seams, medium high collar, and integrated low profile thumb holes keep the sleeves in places when putting on equipment and other garments. Available and shipping now in short and long sleeve in charcoal and ranger green. Order your standard t-shirt size for a compressed fit and consider stepping up 1-2 sizes for a more relaxed fit. 100% Made in America.
For more information, check out www.first-spear.com/technical-apparel/rash-guard-7228.
Airless Tires Undergo Punishing Evaluation at Army’s Tropic Regions Test Center
August 6th, 2021
YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. — U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground and its constituent test centers test virtually every piece of equipment in the ground combat arsenal in extreme environments to ensure it will work wherever in the world American forces are serving.
To ensure gear can survive the unforgiving rigors of jungle warfare, the Army relies on Tropic Regions Test Center (TRTC), which conducts realistic evaluations in a variety of tropical locales.
Though the deserts of Southwest Asia have been the most common location of American military involvement for nearly twenty years, the majority of the world’s conflicts have occurred in tropical areas, which have ground conditions from dense jungles to savannas with 20-foot tall grasses. Testing equipment under inhospitable tropic conditions provides insights that may never be discovered in an environmental chamber. Will muddy, biomass-laden jungle terrain destroy the integrity of wheels and tires on a combat vehicle, for instance?
One recent TRTC test involved the Polaris MRZR, a military version of the popular off-road vehicle that American forces have used in places like Afghanistan in recent years.
“It is not as comfortable, but it is sturdier and heavier with a rolling cage,” said Carlos Mora, TRTC test officer. “It is more mission-oriented.”
The MRZR under test was outfitted with Tweels instead of standard tires. The Tweel, produced by Michelin, is an airless radial tire designed to work like an ordinary pneumatic tire. In addition to the obvious advantage of never having to worry about flat tires, utilizing Tweels has second order effects that are useful for Soldiers.
“One reason for this technology is to reduce weight on those small vehicles so you don’t have to carry a spare tire, jacks, or materials to fix a puncture,” said Mora.
The Tweels also have the ability to conform to multiple different terrain types, and can last three times as long as standard tires. Putting the Tweels through their paces on land deep within the jungle of the nation of Suriname that TRTC have utilized in previous vehicle tests gave the evaluation a particularly realistic operational flavor.
“All of these old mining roads and logging roads were the perfect scenario for the vehicle,” said Mora. “The customer also liked the composition of the soils.”
There was also the added benefit of microclimates and terrain features that are only sometimes associated with the tropics.
“We added a portion of savanna, which is a sandy terrain with small brushes,” said Mora. “It turned out to be very demanding.”
Tweels are also designed to power through serious damage for far longer than even run-flat pneumatic tires. Using a drill bit, testers damaged the Tweels to simulate as if they had been shot prior to some of the evaluations.
By necessity, TRTC provides substantially more assistance to its customers than other test centers, which are located in the United States and do not require complicated visa and country clearances from various embassies and the military for American visitors.
“We always have the support of the embassy and the national police, so everything we do is sanctioned and approved by the foreign minister and the U.S. embassy,” said Ernest Hugh, TRTC director. “That’s part of the process we take care of to ensure the visit is seamless for the customer.”
The American embassies and associated military groups within each delegation assist TRTC in securing the necessary permissions to conduct testing in a variety of countries.
“We work closely with the United States embassies in all of the host nations in which we conduct tests,” said Hugh.
GeoLanes Distributes Microdrones Surveying Equipment in Austria, Switzerland, and South Tyrol
August 5th, 2021Rome, NY – GeoLanes, an Austrian company in the construction industry and the digitization of construction machinery is now an official distributor of Microdrones integrated systems, offering drone surveying products and solutions to their surveying, engineering, and construction customers throughout Austria, Switzerland, and South Tyrol.
The GeoLanes team, who have more than 10 years’ experience, will now offer the full portfolio of drone surveying equipment that a commercial user needs to get started using drones for surveying, mapping, 3D modeling, and creating digital twins. The integrated systems from Microdrones reinforce GeoLanes’ focus on enabling their customers to make the construction industry more efficient, economical, and safe by implementing digitization solutions.
“Adding the integrated systems from Microdrones really completes our product portfolio,” explains Christian Tschann, CEO of GeoLanes. “We specialize in sales and consultation for high-quality excavating assistance systems. The Microdrones LiDAR systems and data processing modules from mdInfinity work together seamlessly and help strengthen our mission to provide added value and benefits for our customers in order to save costs and promote efficiency.”
Samuel Flick, the Central European Sales Manager for Microdrones, sees great potential for the partnership in this region. According to Flick, “GeoLanes is now ready to help further the advance of drones in the construction sector, where professionals are putting Microdrones systems to work monitoring progress, measuring materials, and surveying sites more efficiently. The customers of GeoLanes will find the Microdrones as a Service sales model affordable and convenient to use for both the drone surveying hardware and software processing modules.”
UK Veteran Establishes Talisman Triathlon To Raise Awareness of Physical Resilience, Mental Health and Suicide
August 5th, 2021
Former Royal Marines Commando and current RAF Physical Training Instructor Frankie Tinsley is setting out to do something extraordinary; establish the “Talisman Triathlon” which is the 1st Great British Triathlon. It is achieved by cycling Lands End to John O’Groats, linking swimming the longest lakes and climbing the highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland in 14 days.
Tinsley’s motivation is two mates from the RAF, Andrew Shepherd from Ballachulish – Scotland who took his own life in 2016 and Andrew Morris, originally from Falmouth – Cornwall, who took his own life in 2017.
As Tinsley undertakes this amazing feat, he will be supporting the charity CALM in the movement against suicide
You can follow his progress on INSTAGRAM – @talismantriathlon or Twitter – TalismanTri
To donate, go here.
Tinsley is supported in his effort by CALM, HUUB, Ribble and ThruDark.
OTTE Gear Introduces LVZ / OVT Plate Carrier
August 5th, 2021OTTE Gear Todd Fairbairn showed me his new LVZ / OVT (Low Viz / Overt ) Plate Carrier a few months ago and I was impressed. After all, they had never done load carriage or armor carriers in the past and this laser cut carrier is well designed.
Intended for Low Viz wear under an outer garment, it can also be used in an overt role as it doesn’t sacrifice modularity. It’s designed to hold 10×12 Level III or Level IV hard armor plates as well as 10×12 soft armor style plate backers if plates are not needed.
It is constructed of 500D Cordura with Hypalon shoulders which have removable covers and 3D style spacer mesh inside. There’s also an elastic cummerbund with four slots on each side for radios or magazines.
It comes with a removable triple rifle mag shingle and there are two areas of loop for identifiers as well as integrated nylon vertical strips to accommodate QASM buckles (not included).
Offered in Coyote, Grey, Ranger Green, MultiCam, MultiCam Black and my personal favorite, Poppies of War.
Vest sizing is based upon plate size.
ottegear.com/products/lvz-ovt-plate-carrier
Warrior East 21 – Tomahawk Robotics
August 5th, 2021Tomahawk Robotics displayed several technologies at Warrior East but the one that caught my eye is the Grip S20 Controller. It is based around the Samsung Galaxy S20 End User Device and offers controls for unmanned systems. This protective case also incorporates an integral USB hub.
Another item is the Mimic Spatial Controller which is a tactile trigger-style device many in EOD prefer to use. It is Intra Soldier Wireless compatible and provides haptic feedback of payload control.
Additionally, Tomahawk Robotics offers the MXC Family of Micro Datalinks which can be had as a stand-alone battery powered model or a more streamlined version which uses radio battery juice. With this datalink, the user can not only receive ISR feeds but also retransmit them to others in their network.
Units and agencies can procure Tomahawk Robotics products shown during Warrior East by contacting Atlantic Diving Supply.
