Phantom Lights

Revision Acquires Panacis

February 25th, 2014

Canadian company Panacis has been making quite a bit of buzz over the past 18 months or so with their battery products for military applications; particularly the SharePack. Looks like they caught the eye of Revision which has been doing quite a bit of work in the Soldier Systems arena.

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REVISION EXPANDS INTEGRATED SOLDIER SYSTEM CAPABILITY THROUGH ACQUISITION OF POWER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

Montreal, QC (February 25, 2014) -– Revision Military, a world leader in protective soldier solutions, has expanded its capabilities by adding power management to its roster of integrated technologies, through the acquisition of Panacis, an Ottawa-based company focusing on Lithium ion rechargeable energy storage systems.

Advanced, electronic battlefield equipment such as networked radios, night-vision systems, GPS, smart phones and laptops, while increasing situational awareness and capability within smaller units, comes with the challenge of sustaining power for these devices, ideally without the weight and complexity that numerous types of batteries present.

“The opportunity for an integrated power management system that provides flexible storage and power management that can be easily adapted to a wide range of mission scenarios is extensive” said Jonathan Blanshay, CEO of Revision. “We are pleased to add power management – the ability to store, deliver, harvest, and share energy – to our roster of technologies in support of fully
integrating electronic equipment while lessening the battery burden on soldiers”.

Revision has been working collaboratively with Panacis on several projects, including reviewing power support for the “Prowler” Human Augmentation system and development of a conformal battery housed on the helmet developed for Natick under the HEaDS-UP ATO program, among a number of other initiatives where next generation energy management is crucial to soldier performance.

“We are delighted to be part of Revision Military and are looking forward to bringing our technological expertise, intellectual property, engineering strength and global program experience to provide highly efficient energy management and storage systems to the warfighter”, said Steve Carkner, founder and CTO of Panacis. “We welcome the opportunity that Revision offers to further commercialize our current products as well as new product ideas in support of Integrated Soldier Systems”.

“The expertise the Panacis team brings to the Revision portfolio of capability will allow Revision to offer a much more complete solution package to both users and partners such as Prime contractors” said Richard Coomber, Revision Military’s VP of Integrated Systems. “By integrating power, data management and protection in flexible ways Revision aims to become the solution provider of choice on a range of platforms. The history the Panacis and Revision teams bring in working together means that we can hit the ground running and deliver on our current projects and the exciting new ones our team can tackle, many of which are already in the pipeline”.

The acquisition is effective February 21, 2014, and the energy solutions team will continue to operate from Ottawa.

AG? What’s That?

February 25th, 2014

This photo is for those Big Green guys who’ve never heard of an Assistant Gunner. Apparently, the Rangers have figured it out.

The guy on the left is called an AG

Rangers from the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment lay suppressive fire during a live fire exercise at Fort Hunter Liggett, CA Jan. 31, 2014. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Cortez/ Released)

Alexander Arms ‘Alexa’ AR-15 At The Range

February 25th, 2014

Alexander Arms is a company that is best known for the .50 Beowulf cartridge developed by the company’s founder, Bill Alexander. They also manufacture parts, components, AR-15-style uppers, and full rifles for their proprietary cartridge in addition to the 6.5 Grendel (also co-developed by Alexander) and .17 HMR cartridges. Only relatively recently have they expanded their product line to include the NATO standard 5.56 cartridge.

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We were recently invited out to C2 Shooting Center to try out the new Alexander Arms 5.56 ‘Alexa’ AR-15. The ‘Alexa’ features a fluted, chrome lined, mil-s-11595 steel cold hammer forged barrel, 16″, 1:7 twist. The upper is a flat top with extended feed ramps, and an M-16 style carrier group, chrome lined bores with fully staked gas key. The model at the range had the MK10 vented hand guard, made of G10 composite with corrosion resistant threaded inserts spaced to attach 3-inch Picatinny rail sections. Additional components included military specification stock extension tubes, an M4-style stock, and a military style trigger. The rifle was also outfitted with Manta rail covers and grip sleeves as well as an ACOG.

The Editor of SSD first fired the weapon at 50 yards in the prone position.

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The left target resulted from using an unsupported rifle. The right target resulted from the rifle supported with a GPS.LE Grip Pod. As you can see, the Grip Pod was very successful in assisting with stabilizing what is an already accurate weapon.

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The Editor also practiced a couple of standing-to-prone transition drills, deploying a separate GPS.LE with light rail to stabilize the rifle while prone.

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While our time with the ‘Alexa’ was brief, Alexander Arms seems to have a winner on their hands. It’s a solid, accurate rifle with a crisp trigger pull that makes a fine addition to Alexander Arms’ product list.

www.alexanderarms.com

Tactical Fanboy

More On The CROPS CTR Belt

February 25th, 2014

CTR 1

There have been inquiries regarding color options for the CROPS CTR Belt aside from Black. Unfortunately, the CTR Belt will be available only in Black through the first production run. We were, however, sent images of a CTR set up for a sniper role and sprayed to match the operational environment.

CTR 2

As a reminder, the CROPS CTR Belt was designed as a lightweight rig, enabling the operator to carry their kit in a ‘low-profile’ manner. It has seen action in a covert role within Northern Ireland and Libya, worn underneath civilian clothing, in addition to Afghanistan on multiple compound raids.

CTR 3

No word on what color options will be available for the second run.

Those interested in purchasing a CTR Belt can contact Ben Wall of CROPS directly at info@crops.uk.com. The cost of the belt is £116, including postage. Be sure to mention the email associated with your PayPal account in the message, as that’s how the payment will be processed.

www.crops.uk.com

New Home Defense DVD From Panteao

February 24th, 2014

Columbia, SC, February 22, 2014 – Panteao Productions introduces a new DVD on home defense called “Make Ready with Paul Howe: Home Defense”.

Taught by Paul Howe and drawing from his personal experiences, this video will give you the advantage. Paul is a high-risk training instructor that served 20 years in the US Army, ten of those in Special Operations. He served as a Tactical Team Leader and Senior Instructor while assigned to Army Special Operations. During his tour in special operations he was involved in several combat actions. One of the most notable was the battle of Mogadishu that was later portrayed in the motion picture Black Hawk Down. In this video, Paul takes you step-by-step through alarms, cameras, and gates for your home, what to do when you leave or arrive at your home, staging equipment, home invasions, mindset, movement and engaging threats, calling 911, and more.
The DVD is available for pre-order from the Panteao website. The video will be available streaming to Panteao subscribers shortly.

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Direct link to product page: http://panteaoproductions.com/products/home-defense

Gauer Garage

February 24th, 2014

Gauer Garage

Look, I’m a huge fan of the Pinzgauer High-Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle. If you know anything at all about them, you probably are too. They have a huge civilian off-road following who refer to these 4×4 and 6×6 vehicles as “Pinzies” but the Astrian-built Pingauer is affectionately known as the “Gauer” by their military users. When I found out that some of my former military friends in West Virginia were turning a hobby into a business, of course they had to call it the Gauer Garage.

In addition to offering fully customized Pinzgauers, upgrades, parts, and maintenance, Gauer Garage also offers driving instruction. If I had to name the number one attribute of the Gauer, it would be ‘Mobility.’ You aren’t doing that with many vehicles out there.

Pinzgauer 712

You’ll notice several different variants of these Gen I vehicles built in the 70s and 80s. Thanks to rolling 25 year DOT and 21 year EPA moratoriums on the importation of out-of-spec vehicles these can be brought into the country once the reach the proper age. Gauer Garage finds them and customizes them for civilian use. Because there are so many variants of these 4 and 6 wheeled trucks, as of late, several have become self-contained prepper bug-out vehicles like the 712 you see here. It features a hard sided cabin at the rear and 360 degree cameras for enhanced security.

gauergarage.com

Vertx Partners With Dakota Meyer To Develop Apparel In Support of FTWGA

February 24th, 2014

Cincinnati, Ohio – Vertx is proud to announce a partnership with Dakota Meyer to develop a co-branded line of apparel in support of For Those Who Gave All. (www.ftwga.com) FTWGA is the brainchild of Meyer, the first living Marine in three decades to receive the Medal of Honor. The overarching goal of FTWGA is to create awareness for our nation’s military and first responders while providing support to various related non-profit charitable organizations. Vertx Managing Director Joe Yorio commented: “We are both honored and humbled to be collaborating with US Marine veteran and Medal Of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer to launch a cobranded line of apparel endorsing For Those Who Gave All. This was a perfect fit for Vertx being that many of our employees are veterans and our parent company, Fechheimer, has been making uniforms for the last 170+ years. Our sister brand Flying Cross currently produces several uniforms for our military, as well as numerous government agencies and many law enforcement departments.” Yorio goes on to add, “A major contributing factor to this overall partnership was that Dakota was not just attaching his name to this endeavor; he wanted to be heavily involved in product development, marketing and sales and is committed to the success of FTWGA. This hands-on style is very complimentary with our vision for the expansion of the Vertx brand and the engagement of our Pro Staff to contribute to our overall product design and wear testing. We look forward to a successful partnership and are privileged to be an advocate for the For Those Who Gave All brand.” The first launch of products is available for pre-order with future collaborative designs in the works. Five new t-shirt designs can be found at www.ftwga.com and http://www.wearvertx.com/FTWGA-For-Those-Who-Gave-All.aspx.

Warrior Protection & Readiness Coalition Appoints David Costello as Executive Director

February 24th, 2014

The Board of Directors of the Warrior Protection & Readiness Coalition (WPRC) has announced that they have unanimously voted to appoint David L. Costello as the Executive Director of the WPRC. Congratulations!

WPRC Announcement

(Click to view announcement)