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Protonex Launches Updated EOD Kit

April 4th, 2017

The Universal Power Kit, based on Protonex’ industry-leading SPM-622 Squad Power Manager, dramatically reduces the weight and clutter of batteries, chargers and power adapters currently used by military EOD teams.

The original SPM-612 EOD kit, pioneered by Protonex in partnership with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Naval Sea Systems Command (NavSea) and Navy EOD Training & Evaluation Team Two, was deployed to all Navy EOD teams in 2014. The teams subsequently reported a reduction in charger and adapter weight from 45-lbs. to 9-lbs., with a correspondingly large decrease in space taken up in the EOD team vehicle.

The Navy EOD teams were also the first to request that Protonex package each intelligent power manager kit in a rugged “roll kit”, keeping the equipment organized and ready for use while decreasing volume and weight. More than 90% of all power management kits shipped to every branch of the U.S. military and many allied militaries are now requested in nylon roll kits.

The updated EOD Universal Power Kit includes the SPM-622 Squad Power Manager, with additional power-handling and intelligence, as well as full waterproofing (the SPM-622 can be used while submerged up to 1-meter). Additional equipment support also now includes the latest Minehound® and other metal detectors, as well as DeWalt® and Snap-On® tool batteries and other EOD-specific equipment.

“The new enhanced EOD universal power kit builds on the capability established with the original SPM-612 kit and gives today’s EOD teams the most advanced universal power solution available,” said Michael Skinkle, Protonex EOD Account Manager. “When used in conjunction with our Adaptive Battery Charger, EOD teams have a total power management solution that is more efficient and rugged than other options.”

The SPM-622 EOD kit (Protonex part number 010-458) is available directly from Protonex or through GSA Advantage, the NSN Class IX Schedule from ADS, Darley Defense and Federal Resources.

For further information about the SPM-622 Squad Power Manager, and the full range of Protonex power management solutions, visit www.PTXnomad.com.

Tags: Protonex
Posted in Advertiser, EOD, Power, Press Release | 2 Comments »

TYR Tuesday – Huron Medical Assaulters Pack-X9

April 4th, 2017

Introducing The Huron™ Medical Assaulters Pack-X9. The MDX9 was designed to be low profile and extremely versatile. It’s engineered utilizing the revolutionary Patented TYR Tactical® PV® material which offers significant weight reduction with increased resistance to abrasion. Generous amounts of PALS/MOLLE webbing allow scalability for different mission sets and has several multifaceted adjustable internal compartments to fit different operator needs.

The inside of the X9 is completely lined with Velcro® loop. This design feature allows you to customize the internal pouch layout. It also gives the medic/operator immediate access.

Design Features:
• Qty. 1 Front Zippered Compartment
• Qty.1 Front Zippered Compartment with 1” Elastic which provides additional load carriage locations for tourniquets and other medical items.
• Qty.2 Removable Vertical Velcro® Pouches with expandable, 4-way stretch, Tweave sides and clear front. Dim: 8.5”H x 3.75”W x 1.5”D
• Qty.2 Removable Horizontal Velcro® Pouches with expandable, 4-way stretch, Tweave sides and clear front Dim: 3.75”H x 8.5”W x 1.5”D
• Qty.1 Removable Medical Bungee Platform for quick acquisition items Dim: 6.5”H x 8”W
• Qty.1 Removable Large Gusseted Velcro® Pouch with expandable, 4-way stretch, tweave sides and clear front. It also features internal bungees for tourniquets and other medical items. Dim: 3.75”H x 8.5”W x 1.5”D
• Removable shoulders
• Antimicrobial/FR treated padded spacer mesh is used on the internal portions of the vest for comfort
• Total System Wt: 3.5 lbs.
• Pack Dim: 17”H x 8.5”W x 4”D

www.tyrtactical.com/products/details/featured-products/huron-medical-assaulters-pack-x9

Tags: Tyr Tactical
Posted in Advertiser, Medical, Packs | 7 Comments »

Jim Schatz – A Path To Overmatch – Next Generation Individual Weapon System

April 4th, 2017

Recently, I’ve shared quite a few briefings by Jim Schatz. It’s not only because he recently passed away, but also because they are so timely. We are currently in a period of potential growth for the US military and Jim was always on top of missteps in the opportunities we’ve had to modernize our small arms. His last briefing to NDIA’s Armament Systems Forum, on 27 April, 2016 was entitled, “A Path To Overmatch” and made the case for an immediate transition to an intermediate caliber, preferably with a telescoping cased cartridge, along with a new weapon individual weapon. The reason was simple; overmatch. Our troops are outranged by threat weapons using the 7.62x54R cartridge. While not every enemy is equipped with a weapon in this caliber, they’ve learned to use their PKM MMGs and SVD Sniper Rifles to keep our troops at arm’s length. In the briefing, Jim does a great job of laying out Russian and ISIS capabilities vis-a-vis our US M4A1 and M249.

Jim named five things that could immediately be leveraged to provide overmatch: Lightweight Intermediate Caliber Cartridge (LICC) Ammo, Disturbed Reticle Carbine Sight, Blind-to-Barrier Bullets, Lightweight Modular Weapons and Advanced Training.

He also wanted the most bang for the buck and identified 140,000 “Frontliners” in the US military, aka trigger pullers, who would be the immediate focus of small arms modernization efforts.

Jim urged a transition to two calibers, a 6.5-family intermediate cartridge for the individual weapon and a .338 cartridge for crew served weapons. I recently discussed the General Dynamics Lightweight Medium Machine Gun in .338 Norma Magnum. Jim used this example to make the initial case for the transition to LICC ammo for the individual weapon.

Right now, all of the cartridges being seriously looked at are in the 6.5mm family; .260, .264 USA, and .277 USA. While .260 is currently commercially available, .264 USA and .277 USA were developed by the US Army Marskmanship Unit, who has been conducting in-house evaluations. Unfortunately, the US Army has not planned a formal caliber study until the early 2020s. But interestingly, use of a 6.5mm cartridge isn’t new. 6.5×55 Swedish saw service in Europe for a very long time. Initially developed in the 1890s, it was still in service up to a century later.

This image came from The Firearm Blog’s article on the .264 USA cartridge by Nathaniel F. It depicts (L-R) 7.62 NATO, .264 USA, 5.56 NATO.

Jim was very passionate about this concept and did the homework. For example, he knew the costs to not only pay for the transition to a new caliber, but new weapons as well. The figures are there, for you to see.

Jim’s attention to detail was always keen. He even considered spare parts, manuals, training and ranges in his calculations.

Naturally, transition to a larger caliber, means heavier ammo and a smaller basic load. Here, Jim shows the tradeoffs for the amount of amm a rifleman would carry in his basic load, based in different calibers.

There is a difference, and this is why the transition to Polymer cased/telescoping ammo is so important.

To summarize, these are the takeaways. All of this, is available from industry, right now.

While I cherry picked several slides from this briefing to make certain points, you really need to read the whole thing. I’ve only scratched the surface here. It’s filled with gems like the examples I’ve given.

You can download it here www.dtic.mil/ndia/2016/armament/18260_Schatz.

Posted in weapons | 27 Comments »

Prometheus Design Werx – AR Hoodie DRB Staff Edition

April 4th, 2017

Updated American Classic Zip Hoodie with Technical & Performance Details, Built in the USA

This spring, PDW introduces their DRB Staff Edition AR Hoodie. Based on and inspired by the classic, American, full zip, athletic hoodie, their version has been updated with technical and performance Polartec WindPro 9504 polyester fleece w/DWR. The fit is a modern silhouette, streamlined, with engineered patterning for unrestricted movement. The classic styling behind this hoodie is good to wear pretty much anywhere and is “A.lways R.eady”. Small details such as loop swatches on the sleeves, built in dummy cord keepers, thumbhole cuffs, full wind flap, 2-way main zipper, and their signature MLH (Major League Hood) design, rounds of this hoodie. From basecamp, to the gym, after a session in the NorCal Pacific, or street the AR Hoodie has got you covered.

The AR Hoodie DRB Staff Edition is a part of their Built in USA CORE-Line of products by Prometheus Design Werx. Available in S.L. Black.

The Design and R&D Team at PDW states:

“Many of us often live in the classic American style full zip athletic hoodie for everyday wear. We wear versions of this hoodie in our workshop and the office almost everyday. While from a distance this hoodie looks like your classic full zip hoodie, it’s the engineered pattern making for unrestricted movement, high performance-technical Polartec WindPro fleece, and the numerous functional designs details which makes our take of the classically styled hoodie stand out for the user. The DRB Staff Edition features loop swatches on each sleeve for morale patches and handy for us a trade shows or events. The AR Hoodie is exceptionally comfortable and dare we say even cozy, by virtue of the wetsuit style flatlock seams which are smooth and flat, and the best in class Polartec fleece material. When creating this style, we wanted an everyday wear mid-layer which could be easily worn around town, before and after a workout, emerging after a chilly session in our NorCal Pacific waters, and still hold it’s own at a wilderness basecamp to inside Outpost 31. The modern tailored cut of this hoodie mirrors the most popular heavy weight cotton styles out there these days, is perfect over a tee shirt or long sleeve base-layer, and the streamlined silhouette fits perfectly under our Solo Jacket and most technical style shells. We also proud to say that we build these locally in San Francisco. This is going to be a full zip hoodie you’re going to live in.”

The AR Hoodie DRB Staff Edition will be available for purchase for $149.00 on Wednesday, APR 5, 2017 at 1:00pm PDT via their website, prometheusdesignwerx.com.

Tags: Prometheus Design Werx
Posted in Clothing | 4 Comments »

You Never Know Where They’ll Show Up

April 4th, 2017

Thanks for this photo from Tactical Polish Sniper VII at Wedrzyn, Poland, sent to us by Grzegorz.

Posted in KCRF | 6 Comments »

I Kilt You Not: 5.11’s Popular Tactical Kilt is Back

April 3rd, 2017

With the wrong clothes, a day at the range can be a real pain in the butt (pun intended). And if you’ve ever worn jeans while practicing, you know that mobility and flexibility goes out the door. Fear not! 5.11 has created the perfect piece of apparel to take your training to the next level—the Tactical Duty Kilt. Back by popular demand, 5.11 has reintroduced its rugged, manly, limited edition Tactical Duty Kilt.

Designed to meet the demanding needs of fitness, shooting, and outdoor enthusiasts across the nation, 5.11 also released a new video to reveal to you the ins and outs of the popular kilt.

Featuring CrossFit Athlete, Josh Bridges, this funny (really, it’s funny) video shows Josh (along with a few other manly men) put the 5.11 kilt to the test. And no, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The once fictitious Kilt (oddly enough, it started as an April Fools’ joke in 2012) is again available for purchase in the U.S. while supplies last.

A portion of the proceeds of every
kilt sold will benefit the FBINAA.

The FBI National Academy Associates, Inc. (FBI NAA) is a non-profit, international organization of nearly 17,000 senior law enforcement professionals dedicated to providing our communities, states, countries, and profession with the highest degree of law enforcement expertise, training, education and information.

Tags: 5.11 Tactical
Posted in Clothing, Press Release | 4 Comments »

UF PRO Presents – Former Israeli Special Forces Member Talks About UF PRO Gear

April 3rd, 2017

UF PRO talked with Eli from Project Gecko at this year’s IWA about his experience with the Striker XT pants and the Striker Stealth Smock.

Tags: Project Gecko, UF PRO
Posted in Advertiser | 2 Comments »

Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 Heading Towards Manned-Unmanned Teaming Ops

April 3rd, 2017

Vienna, 30 March 2017 – Schiebel and Patria have been working together to integrate Patria’s sophisticated Compact Airborne Networking Data Link (CANDL) communication network onto the CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS).
The two European companies’ joint effort is the first step of an ongoing program of work examining how the CAMCOPTER® S-100 can be deployed to directly support manned helicopter operations.

Patria’s CANDL provides a solid backbone to explore the benefits of Manned-UnManned Teaming (MUM-T) operations, where the combined strengths of each air asset can be optimized to increase overall situational awareness and enhance decision making.

As Schiebel’s Chief Technical Officer Chris Day points out, “using the unmanned element of a MUM-T operation to provide both the forward and higher altitude view will help to keep pilots and the manned assets safe as well as improve overall mission effectiveness.”

www.schiebel.com

Tags: Schiebel
Posted in ISR, Press Release | Comments Off on Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 Heading Towards Manned-Unmanned Teaming Ops