Time magazine has published a great article on Warrior Mind Training. Steeped in Samurai Bushido mystique, Warrior Mind Training teaches Soldiers and Marines how to use meditation to reduce stress and improve focus.
Check it our here.
To learn more about the actual program visit warriortraining.us.
Waterloo Labs has finally invented every first person shooter fan’s wet dream; the ability to use a real gun to shoot onscreen targets. To make it happen, four accelerometers, which can be used to triangulate a point of impact based on vibrations, were mounted onto a large piece of drywall, which in turn had a flash game based on Half-Life projected onto it. The accelerometers were connected to a data acquisition device which posted the data on LabVIEW, a program that used the data from the accelerometers to determine the bullet’s point of impact. The computer then then simulated a mouse click on the point of impact. The result was that a real bullet killed a virtual enemy. Such mashups are fairly easy if you have access to a few pieces of specialized hardware and could be constructed given adequate time.
According a comprehensive article in the British website The Register published earlier this week, UK forces will begin receiving new weapon optics beginning in 2011. According the the article the Ministry of Defence announced during the annual DSEi arms expo that £150 Mil would be spent on new sights. The new kit will be purchased with Future Integrated Soldier Technology (FIST) funding.
Photo: UK MoD
Somewhat awkward was a further assertion that the acquisition would “support the British defence industrial base”. Unfortunately, most of the equipment is actually made in other countries but prime Thales will at least be bringing home some bacon as they serve as integrator.
Quoting the article for information on the new equipment:
“• Underslung 40mm grenade launchers, which have been fitted beneath the rifle of one man in each fire-team of four since 2003, will now get new sights – and also new “fire-control systems”. The 40mm launcher is a low-velocity weapon and has to be pointed high above the target in order to lob its grenades any distance, a process which calls for range to be estimated accurately.
The new fire-control gadget to be mounted alongside the launcher will use a laser rangefinder to work out the correct elevation angle automatically – but our military sources say it makes the rifle/launcher combo unrealistically heavy for combat use, and that troops will find ways to get rid of it.
• Thermal sights will be provided for rifles, marksman’s weapons and light machineguns. These can be used to detect hidden enemies and bombs while on patrol, and function even in total darkness – when the regular light-amplifying night vision gear now in use doesn’t work. This stuff is already in use by some units, and is considered good by our sources.
• New Lightweight Day Sights will be provided, replacing the SUSAT* sights which came in when the SA80 weapons were introduced during the 1980s. SUSAT was very popular in its day (unlike the SA80s, which were only sorted out twenty years later in a German factory), but according to our sources the new sights are much better, offering improved field of view and a clearer picture. “A gleaming bit of kit,” we’re told.
*SSD Note: This sight is the Elcan Specter currently part of the SOPMOD program.
• The new thermal scopes, in a popular bit of good sense, have open Close Quarter Battle Sights mounted on top of them. This means that a soldier in a close-up gunfight doesn’t need to peer through a scope as he shoots, and lose track of what’s happening around him. This gets the thumbs up as well.
• Fire-team commanders will get new “Target Locating System” binoculars containing laser rangefinders and digital compasses, allowing them to mark things they see accurately on a map. This is actually quite basic stuff nowadays, and even in the British army forward artillery spotters and similar specialists have had such kit for some time. It’s new for ordinary infantrymen to have it, however.
There is the option to hook up the binos to a sat nav and a data net, so calculating the coordinates of a target and sending them to other units automatically, but it wasn’t clear at DSEi how much of this capability will be delivered to British infantry and our informants were also unsure. One does note that the only current option for infantry data transmission, the Bowman section-leader’s radio, has a very poor reputation.
• There will also be some ruggedised digital cameras and simple periscopes for peering over walls and round corners without getting shot. The FIST project was originally expected to include on-gun cameras feeding an image to a helmet display for this sort of purpose (those ignorant of shooting realities also thought the weapon might be fired usefully in such a position). It seems that an outbreak of realism has occurred in the MoD.”
When are you going to review those sweet-assed Wenger FBI SWAT Team boots you got at OR? We’re waiting. I bet Wenger is too.
The production version of the UW Chest Rig, QD is now available. Small runs of the design have been produced and refined over the last couple of years. As the name implies, the rig is intended for use as a general purpose mid-size vest platform to be worn with the detachable H style harness or attached directly to Mayflower’s Low-Profile Armor Carrier. This gives a great deal of flexibility to the user and the detachable H-style harness features loops to route antennas, comms wires, and hydration bladder tubing.
Made in the USA from 500D Cordura, the UW Chest Rig, QD is available in Ranger Green (solution dyed), Coyote Brown (solution dyed), Multicam, UCP, and Black. Please note: Desert Digital is NOT available.
For more information contact Mayflower Research and Consulting, LLC or to order visit Grey Group.
*Updated* I received a call the other day asking of I had seen the new Patagonia Combat Uniforms. I hadn’t and the last word I had received was that Patagonia was out of the contract game. But just when you think Patagonia has called it quits, they up and release new military products. Apparently, some prototypes of a hard shell were produced in Viet Nam and photos of this garment’s tag have shown up on the web incorrectly purporting to be from a Level 9 garment. But really this is just the tip of the iceberg. The plan is to develop an entirely new Berry compliant clothing system and most of it is already done. Apparently however, the combat uniform piece is still in development and won’t be the same as the PCU Level 9. The whole system is sort of a “Son of MARS” only leveraging the latest Patagonia technology. Prototypes of several of the pieces are floating around some of the units already so it won’t be long before we see photos.
Patagonia did participate in the development of the Level 9 component of PCU which is produced under contract by Ready One. Thus far, all currently issued PCU components carry a Patagonia tag and the new Level 9 garment will as well. Commercial versions of Level 9 are currently available from Beyond Tactical.
We are hoping to see photos soon and wondering how much they will go for once they hit eBay.
Thanks to Rob for confusing the hell out of me.
215 Gear has just released new Horizontal and Vertical Shotgun Shell Holders. They provide a low-profile option to carry shotgun shells at the ready on any PALS equipped platform. Mil-spec elastic holds six shells on the Horizontal panel and five on the Vertical.
Both are available in Coyote and Black and Berry Compliant (of course). Coming soon from 215 Gear or Grey Group Training.
The Defense Logistics Agency has awarded Tactical Assault Gear a DoD Emall contract with a $5 million ceiling. What is unique about this contract is that organizations will be able to purchase TAG’s entire offering of products using MILSTRIP (Military Standard Requisitioning & Issue Procedures) funds. This essentially makes ordering TAG products as easy as using the standard stock system and is a boon for units that tend to only order equipment with MILSTRIP funds. The contract goes into effect 21 September and DoD Emall should be fully updated be the first week of October.
