OTB Boots gave us a preview of the upcoming expansion of their line to include civilian colors.
While the Abyss is currently available in Black and the initial run of Pirate are on the way, these off-duty colors are coming late this year.
SOF Select 25 – OTB Boots
May 9th, 20252025 B.E. Meyers & Co. Catalog
May 9th, 2025As they come to the end of their 50th Anniversary celebration, B.E. Meyers & Co. has released their latest catalog and it’s the best one they’ve released.
In addition to some great information on the company’s past and present, they break down their excellent line of lasers and accessories.
Download your copy here.
FirstSpear Friday Focus: LaserFrame M4 Triple Shingle
May 9th, 2025
- Holds three 30 round M4/AK style magazines
- 6/9 attachment style
Our patented LaserFrame hemless construction method allows the FirstSpear LaserFrame M4/AK Triple Magazine Pocket to be extremely lightweight while not sacrificing durability. This pocket can hold three 30 round magazines and is backward compatible with PALS/MOLLE. It uses our patented 6/9 attachment system which also works with our patented 6/12 Laser platforms.
FirstSpear is the premier source for cutting edge-tactical gear for military, law enforcement and those who train.
For more information visit First-Spear.com.
Special Operations Forces Week Comes Together to Focus on the Warrior Ethos
May 9th, 2025Delegates from more than 60 nations to include the King of Jordan Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and current and retired senior military leaders attended Special Operations Forces Week, May 6-9, 2025, in Tampa, Florida. The conference had 52 speakers, with 23,000 in attendance.
“Looking out at this crowd, I’m reminded of the First SOF Truth: ‘humans are more important than hardware.’ More than any other military formation, SOF is about people,” said Hegseth. “It starts and ends with troops downrange, but each of you in this room contributes to their success. Each of you — your commitment, your shared sense of mission, and your teamwork — is more important than all the cutting-edge hardware on display in the convention center. “
USSOCOM ensures the force is well-prepared for current and future challenges through 3 priorities: People – Win – Transform. The command’s philosophy is people are SOF’s comparative and competitive advantage. Special operations have eight decades of experience making the command tailor-made for this era. SOF’s warrior ethos is people-centric, and it starts with our partners.
USSOCOM focuses on deterrence, crisis response, and counterterrorism simultaneously. Through deterrence, SOF is prepared to address and deter potential threats before they escalate into full-scale conflicts. SOF Week provides the opportunity for attendees to engage with one another to exchange ideas and concepts on potential multifaceted SOF approaches that contribute to integrated deterrence and, should deterrence fail, enable the joint force to prevail in conflict.
The final pillar of the command’s philosophy is transformation, SOF places heavy emphasis on innovation and technology adapting to the fluid nature of warfare. SOF’s lethality is exemplified by speed of innovation, power of adaptability, and comfort in chaos. SOF is building an enduring advantage by the continued investment in people, technologies, and organizations – marked by a commitment to evolve, modernize, and optimize for future operating environments.
Gen. Bryan Fenton, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command and Command Sgt. Maj. Shane Shorter, command senior enlisted leader followed the Secretary of Defense.
“You heard the Secretary of Defense … we win by staying true to what makes us different— asymmetry. We offer decision-makers precise, fast, low-signature options across the spectrum—from crisis to conflict,” said Fenton. “And we’ve got an antidote to that fusion of foes. It’s right here in this room. The Global Special Operations Network. When we talk about winning… we talk about our obligation to this Nation to be the asymmetric scalpel – to not just be fast; but also, strategic. And to not just be lethal; but purposeful… tailor-made for this era.
“What does SOF transformation look like? What’s the blueprint? Because let me tell you what I am seeing: The innovation cycle has never been so compressed… when I came in the Army, we modernized across generations… I still used equipment from Vietnam… I’m old but not that old,” said Shorter. “Now we need to modernize in weeks… sometimes within days. This isn’t just about keeping pace; it’s about setting the pace. And when you think about how SOF fights against a fusion of foes… I think we better be going after these game-changing advances.”
Throughout the week, international SOF commanders discussed ways to improve interoperability, increase lethality, and optimize how SOF sources global requirements and various training venues. SOF Week is a way for the global SOF community to meet, learn from each other and advance a coordinated effort to meet global security challenges.
Melissa A. Johnson, the acquisition executive for USSOCOM, who is responsible for over 1,000-plus personnel providing lethal, rapid and focused acquisition, technology, and logistics support to SOF also gave a keynote speech.
“The name of the game is multi-domain. It’s integration, its interoperability, its interchangeability,” said Johnson. “If we are going to make an investment and close kill chains to ensure SOF forces are capable, lethal and resilient, we have to have interoperable mission systems.”
SOF Week provided the opportunity for USSOCOM personnel to network with defense industry professionals and government attendees. Attendees viewed the latest in SOF equipment and capabilities from more than 800 exhibitors.
Conference attendees from the global SOF Community were provided a unique opportunity to strengthen enduring relationships, share current technologies, enhance cooperation, and identify commonalities and challenges. These events supported USSOCOM’s ongoing efforts to formalize and strengthen existing international network partnerships and engage with key stakeholder publics.
SOF Week is the premiere conference for the special operations community to interact with industry and collaborate on the challenges, initiatives, and way-ahead in delivering the most cutting-edge capabilities to SOF operators. The week provides educational sessions, demonstrations, interaction with exhibitors and many networking opportunities. The conference is the single most important opportunity for developing, nurturing, and exercising the growing network across industry, government, academia, and international partners.
Story by Michael Bottoms
U.S. Special Operations Command
UK Certifies Protector As First of Its Kind Remotely Piloted Aircraft
May 8th, 2025SAN DIEGO – 08 May 2025 – The UK’s Military Aviation Authority has issued a Military Type Certificate to the Royal Air Force’s Protector RG Mk1 uncrewed aircraft, also designated the MQ-9B, certifying that it has passed a rigorous airworthiness assessment and verifying it’s safe to operate without geographic restrictions, including over populous areas. This April 29 decision was a first-of-its-kind milestone for a large, unmanned aircraft system. It’s a huge accomplishment for the UK and a technological watershed in the history of unmanned aircraft systems. GA-ASI is the first manufacturer of large, unmanned aircraft to receive an MTC based on rigorous compliance with STANAG 4671, the NATO standard for unmanned aircraft system airworthiness.
Obtaining the MTC has been a goal of GA-ASI since the inception of the MQ-9B in January 2014. The company took its proven UAS platform, the MQ-9A, and added performance enhancing features while ensuring that the design was capable of meeting NATO’s STANAG 4671 Edition 2 airworthiness requirements. To meet those rigorous requirements, the aircraft incorporates numerous enhancements not found on other large UAS. These include lightning protection, fire protection, anti-icing systems and a fatigue-and-damage-tolerant building block design approach. All flight critical software was designed in compliance with the rigor of Do-178/254. Mission software is rigidly separated from flight critical software. These features not only address the aircraft’s airworthiness but also enhance its reliability and operational flexibility to levels unmatched by other UAS.
“Earning an MTC for MQ-9B was a herculean effort and a seminal achievement for our company,” said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue. “We invested over $500 million as part of an 11-year effort to develop an unmanned aircraft that meets NATO’s rigorous airworthiness standards. This included three flight test aircraft, full component and system-level environmental testing to Do-160 and Mil-Standards (system level environmental testing at Elgin and Pax River), full scale static test airframe test to ultimate ground and flight loads, bird strike, hail protection and full-scale fatigue testing to three lifetimes (3x 40,000 notional aircraft flight hours = 120,000 hours total). Our engineers developed over 140,000 pages of detailed technical data verifying that the MQ-9B met those demanding requirements. I congratulate our team for this outstanding accomplishment, and I know our customers need this type certification, which will open civil airspace for their flight operations.”
The Royal Air Force continues to take delivery of new Protector aircraft at their home in the North of England at RAF Waddington. The UK has 10 aircraft of the 16 it has ordered.
“Achieving the award of a first in class Military Type Certificate has required years of dedication and perseverance and is a testament to the hard work of all involved. It is a privilege to be the first to be awarded an MTC for the Protector Air System,” said Gp. Capt. Neil Venables, Type Airworthiness Authority and holder of the Protector Type Certificate.
MQ-9B is the world’s most advanced medium altitude, long endurance UAS. MQ-9B includes the SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian® models as well as the Protector operated by the RAF.
In addition to the UK, GA-ASI has MQ-9B orders from Belgium, Canada, Poland, Japan Coast Guard, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Taiwan, India, and the U.S. Air Force in support of the Special Operations Command. MQ-9B has also supported various U.S. Navy exercises, including Northern Edge, Integrated Battle Problem, RIMPAC, and Group Sail.
For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com
Roke Redefines Electromagnetic Attack with a New Portable SOSA-Aligned, Modular EW System
May 8th, 2025EM-Vis Deceive is the dismounted Electromagnetic Attack platform that ushers in a new frontier for electronic warfare. Modular, open-standards based, and mission configurable, it delivers operational advantage at the edge
The system is light enough for a single soldier to carry, and has been designed so that even an unskilled operator can deliver battlefield impact
Launched at AOC Europe 2025, EM-Vis Deceive is STICS/SOSA aligned
Romsey, UK, Wednesday, May 7, 2025?- Roke has launched EM-Vis Deceive, a new portable electronic warfare system that brings electromagnetic attack (EA) capabilities directly to troops on the ground. The lightweight system, something a soldier can carry like a backpack, helps military forces detect, track, and disrupt enemy communications, drones, or other electronic signals.
EM-Vis Deceive is the first fully integrated person-borne system of its kind to be designed and built to modular open standards – providing a flexible, upgradable and tailorable solution for different missions. EM-Vis Deceive is also STICS aligned. STICS is a suite of open standards and specifications enabling modularity and interoperability in C5ISR and Electronic Warfare (EW) systems.
The system can disrupt a wide range of enemy targets – from drones, to missiles and communication systems – and can be operated by skilled light, medium or heavy EW specialists or by general troops with minimal training.
It marks a major step as electronic warfare moves closer to the frontline, responding to the growing need for faster, more flexible responses to threats on the modern battlefield.
Roke, a UK company that stands at the forefront of defence and security, delivering cutting-edge intelligence and engineering solutions that protect nations, troops, borders, and businesses, launched EM-Vis Deceive today at AOC Europe 2025 in Rome.
Paul MacGregor, Roke Managing Director, said: “EM-Vis Deceive marks a major turning point in electronic warfare. For decades, most EA systems on the battlefield were custom-built, one-offs, made to counter specific threats. These were expensive, slow to upgrade and hard to integrate with other technology. And with weaponry, and the battlefield in general, evolving so quickly, these clunky systems were leaving troops at a severe disadvantage.
“Let’s take drones as an example, Ukraine has had to defend itself from 18,000 drone attacks in the last year alone according to UK intelligence. An army squad could be using an electronic warfare system to jam enemy drones – but what happens if a new enemy drone model appears that uses different frequencies? A new custom build would have to be designed, tested and deployed – it could take months or even years.
EM-Vis Deceive changes all of that, it can be quickly upgraded, software updates can be pushed faster and it can easily communicate with other systems.”
Experts in electromagnetic warfare
Roke has been at the forefront of Cyber and Electromagnetic Activity (CEMA) technology for more than 40 years. This experience has been integrated with technology gained from small form factor radio system development to produce a highly agile system in a modest package, with a range of integrated support functionality. Key attributes of EM-Vis Deceive include:
Modular by design – easily configured to meet the full spectrum of EW missions through swap in/swap out Software Defined Radios (SDR).?
Open standards driven – uses OpenCPI generated Applications and open APIs to develop new techniques or port existing IP onto the system?
Scalable and multifunctional – initial release will be person-borne based on demand for increased survivability in peer threat environment, but scalable and stackable to support high mobility and platform mounted deployment?
At AOC Europe 2025, themed “EMO in Transition – Learning from the Ukrainian/Russian War”, Roke will:?
Launch and demonstrate its new targeted attack EW capability, giving attendees a first-hand look at this game-changing technology.?
Exhibit a suite of EW and EMSO solutions, reinforcing its position as a trusted partner in electronic warfare innovation.?
Engage with partners and defence leaders, sharing insights on collaborative approaches to developing resilient and agile EMO strategies.?
Visit Roke at Stand B06 to meet the team, explore the new EW product’s capabilities, and learn how Roke is helping reshape the electromagnetic battlespace.?
For further information, please contact:?info@roke.co.uk
Leading Australian Defense & LE Contractor Aquaterro Launches Their New E-Commerce Store, Broad Arrow Tactical
May 8th, 2025May 8th, 2025
Aquaterro, a respected name in Australia’s defense and law enforcement industry, has officially launched Broad Arrow Tactical – an e-commerce platform delivering premium tactical gear, outdoor equipment, and apparel to both civilian and professional users.
Leveraging three decades of experience in defense and law enforcement innovation, Aquaterro bridges the gap between military-grade reliability and consumer accessibility. The online store features a curated selection of field-tested products, from the world’s best brands, including rugged backpacks, multi-tools, high-performance clothing, and advanced personal protective equipment.
“Our goal is to make high-quality, mission-ready gear available to Australians who value durability, performance, and design,” said Graeme Bulte, CEO and founder of Aquaterro. “Whether you’re an outdoor enthusiast, first responder, or someone who appreciates gear built to the highest standards, Broad Arrow Tactical delivers.”
Broad Arrow Tactical will also support Australian manufacturing by prioritising locally made products and partnering with veteran-owned businesses.
With the launch of this online store, Aquaterro expands its footprint beyond defense and government contracts, embracing innovation and entrepreneurship in the consumer market.
To explore the range or learn more, visit: broadarrowtactical.com.au
USSOCOM Issues NSN for B.E. Meyers & Co.’s Squad Aiming Laser – Ultra High Power (SAL-UHP) with JETDS Designation as LA-30
May 8th, 2025MAY 5, 2025 (Redmond, WA) – B.E. Meyers & Co., Inc., a Defense Technology Manufacturer specializing in advanced photonic solutions and Laser Aiming Devices for military, law enforcement, consumer, and aerospace applications worldwide, is proud to announce that USSOCOM has designated their Squad Aiming Laser – Ultra High Power (SAL-UHP) with the Joint Electronic Type Designation System (JETDS) number LA-30.
Additionally, the SAL-UHP has been assigned NSN 5855-01-724-3043 as part of this Program of Record. The Squad Aiming Laser – Ultra High Power (SAL-UHP) program by US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), as part of the Miniature Aiming Systems – Laser (MAS-L) contract (H9240324D0009). This indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract is being awarded with a maximum total ceiling of $49,900,000 and a $500,000 minimum ordering guarantee in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
The SAL-UHP is a variant of the B.E. Meyers & Co. DAGIR®-V1 Multi-Platform Advanced Laser System, and is based on therevolutionary new Vertical-Cavity, Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) MINIRVA™ (Mapped Integrated Near InfraRed Vertical-Cavity, Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) Array) diode core, which enhances beam function and clarity to support the widest range of platforms during advanced night operations.
The SAL-UHP contract kit configuration includes proven system accessories such as remote activation components from Unity Tactical™ as well as modular storage pouches from Spiritus Systems™.
The SAL-UHP as part of the DAGIR® laser series joins a variety of other B.E. Meyers & Co. trusted product lines including the IZLID®, MAWL®, MILR®, KIJI®, GLARE®, DIAL®, BOARS® series of defense systems products, as well as an established line of optoelectronic components for unmanned aerial vehicles and other integrated sensor systems.
B.E. Meyers & Co. will be exhibiting SAL-UHP and more this week during USSOCOM’s “SOF Week 2025”. Please visit them at Booth 341 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida from May 5-9, 2025.
For more information on SAL-UHP (LA-30), the DAGIR® series, and other innovative laser solutions from B.E. Meyers & Co., please connect with us at info@bemeyers.com or visit www.bemeyers.com.
