HDT Storm at IDEX.

I am amazed that what is essentially a trail rig has been selected as the Para-Rescue Vehicle of the future.

I just wonder how its going to fit into the Para-Rescue mission of landing at one location, fighting their way to the objective (up to 50 miles away) and then driving to a pickup point 50 miles in the opposite direction.

Its at IDEX and I'm sure it got plenty of attention from Middle Eastern countries looking for gear for their Special Operations Teams...no doubt DHS is trying to find a way to justify purchasing the same vehicle for their people (not counting the Border Patrol...they already operate a version of it) but the real question is what will the Rangers and Special Forces select for their next ride?

Russian Propaganda. R-77 vs. Predator UAV

Can you become an ace by shooting down 5 UAVs?

Tank training for Queen's Royal Hussars

Glaring weak spot on the Arma 8x8.

photo via Military Tech

I don't understand why such a modern design goes old skool Russia BTR-80 with a side door!

Unless you're willing to lose the door then any attempt to uparmor this beast is going to be for naught...and trust me, once these things hit the market every anti-armor grunt world wide is going to be waiting for the sweet spot---and quite a few are good enough to make hits there.

I really don't understand the thinking here.  Ideas?

Delivery of the Mechanized Raid Force to a Launch Point.

The Marine Corps doesn't need to re-invent the world.

All it needs to do is to tap into the institutional knowledge already present and shape the future with what equipment we already have.

It means getting back to our roots of doing more with less.

The main issue is this.  If AAV's, the future ACV or the MPC can't launch from over the horizon then how do we get them to a point where they can swim ashore?

The Navy/Marine Corps team has already figured it out.  You launch your LCAC's from over the horizon, you reach a designated point and then you launch your vehicles from the LCAC so that they can swim onto the beach.

Utilizing this one technique that has already been tested and is part of our playbook can solve the ship to shore problem quite nicely.  We'll still need a good swimming vehicle but it won't necessarily have to be burdened to also be a high speed swimmer too.

I highly recommend that everyone read the "LCAC Manual" here...

Note:  Yes I know I've already written about this technique, but it bears repeating.  Additionally I have found no images or video of this actually being tested, if you find some send it my way.  

Congressman Goodlatte is our secret weapon in the gun rights fight.

Do you know who Congressman Goodlatte is?

If not then let me fill in some blanks.

He is our secret weapon in this gun rights fight.

He is the guy that will stymie any efforts by turncoat Republicans to abandon gun owners on the alter of DC cool...

He is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee...All 2nd Amendment issues go through his committee.  If he chooses to let a bill die or allow it to go to the full House for a vote is entirely up to him.

If you're writing your Representative in the House then good for you.  But!  Add Congressman Goodlatte to your mailing list.

If I'm right, then he is the man standing in the breach against the gun grabbers. Those gun grabbers include both Democrats and Republicans.

Let him know that you support his efforts!

No Hesitation Targets...the latest viral sensation.

The above targets are the latest internet sensation.

What are they?  They're targets designed to desensitize police when it comes to shooting pregnant women and even children.

People wonder how and why conspiracy talk starts?  Its with buys like this from the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS has Golan Armored Vehicles.  They wear more body armor than our Marines and Soldiers in Afghanistan.  They're using drones and attempting to corner the market when it comes to ammo purchases.

And now they're buying targets depicting old men, pregnant women and small children as targets.

Get in shape, get training, get a gun, and get ready.  For what I don't know but if Homeland Security is getting ready shouldn't we?

G5 pics.

Inconvenient Marine Corps Procurement Fact...

The USMC is planning on using the AAV until at least 2020.

That's almost 50 years of service.

It would be like using the LVT-1 from the end of World War 2 until the mid 90's.

Is that inconvenient or pathetic?

H&K comes into the light?

The above pic is via TACBLOG and if you didn't notice it let me get you up to speed.  That G36 has a MagPul Mag sticking out of it. If the G36 is now MagPul compatible (or more likely the case, its a 4th Gen MagPul mag that will work in H&K products) then the USMC can come off the MagPul ban and let Marines carry magazines that work.

Note:  Some are saying that this is just airsoft at work.  If it is then this guy is hardcore into it.  I'm still betting its the latest gen MagPul.

Doosan DST and CMI team up...

via CMI Press Release....

Demand for Medium Tanks is increasing. At IDEX 2013 CMI Defence and Doosan DST present a new 120/105mm Medium Tank concept. The system integrates the Cockerill XC-8 turret and the Doosan K21  IFV chassis. With a  system weight of some 25 tonnes, the concept offers advanced 120mm or 105mm firepower with high operational flexibility and tactical mobility. The Cockerill XC-8 is a low-weight concept-turret that recognises divergent market requirements; specifically for the broad operational  flexibility demanded by the medium-tank requirement, and for the narrower, more specialised anti- armour requirement. Thus one of two low-recoil force guns may be fitted in the XC-8.

• The Cockerill 105mm high pressure gun provides commanders with a wide choice of  ammunition to suit the tactical situation; it fires all NATO-standard 105mm types and the Cockerill Falarick 105 Gun Launched Anti Tank Guided Missile (GLATGM). Elevating to +42° this  weapon delivers exceptional engagement capability in complex terrain, an indirect-fire HE  capability to 10km range, and the GLATGM permits heavy armour to be enagaged at extended  ranges.

• The Cockerill 120mm high pressure gun provides a strengthened anti-armour capability. This  weapon fires all NATO-standard 120mm smoothbore ammunition and the Cockerill Falarick 120  GLATGM, which permits the effective engagement and penetration of heavy armour to beyond  5km range.

Both guns are employed using a common high performance, digital, fully-stabilised, day/night weapon control system. Turret weight is kept low through the use of a bustle- mounted autoloader, which permits a two-person crew. The Cockerill XC-8 concept-turret draws  on the proven modular technology of the Cockerill CT-CV 105HP turret and may be realised at  low risk.
The Doosan K21 IFV chassis represents the latest-generation of vehicle technology. In service with the  Republic of Korea, the K21 offers outstanding tactical mobility through the use of hydro-pneumatic  suspension, a 750HP powerpack and advanced running-gear design. Tactical mobility and flexibility is  further enhanced by the vehicle’s ability to swim without assistance at full combat weight. A high- capacity digital data-infrastructure permits the functional integration of the Driver with the turret crew  by using shared imagery and control. The same architecture permits straightforward through-life  upgrade and low obsolesence risk.
The combination of the Cockerill XC-8 concept-turret with the Doosan K21 chassis promises a significant  advance in terms of medium-weight direct-fire capability. The combination of highly effective and  flexible lethality options with outstanding strategic and tactical mobility, opens up a new range of  operational possibilities.

Somehow I missed the real thinking behind the US Army's Medium Gun System.

Same applies to the CV9030.

I thought of them as Infantry Support Vehicles (which they are) but a better name for them would be...Medium Battle Tanks!

CMI and Doosan nail it.

Coloradans want MAGPUL to leave...

Most Coloradans want MAGPUL to leave according to this unscientific poll conducted by the Denver Post...

Post Poll - Gun Magazines

If Colorado passes legislation banning the possession of high-capacity gun magazines, should Colorado-based manufacturers of such magazines leave the state?

Total Votes = 3837

Yes. Let them carry through with their recent threats to leave. Colorado doesn't need them here.  2516 Votes, or 65.57 % No. HB 1224 makes it clear they could still legally produce high-capacity magazines to sell elsewhere, and Colorado needs the jobs.  1050 Votes, or 27.36 % Unsure. I'm somewhere in the middle.  271 Votes, or 7.062 %

Craziest multiple launch rocket system ever...

Seen at IDEX via Pakistan Defense Forum...

Yeah.  A flatbed truck (I think its Oshkosh too) loaded down with a quad pack of rockets.  Interesting.

No compromise. Gun grabbers exposed.

via Monderno.com
CBS 5 - KPHO

Uh.

Wow.

Now a foreign government is asking for a list of US gun owners?  With the Seattle Times reporting that their State Legislature introduced a bill that contained this provision...

“In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person possessing shall ... safely and securely store the assault weapon. The sheriff of the county may, no more than once per year, conduct an inspection to ensure compliance with this subsection.

With the mess that is going on in Colorado, New Jersey, New York, California and Maryland do  you think that any responsible gun owner would believe that compromise is a viable answer?

No.  Compromise isn't.

Supporters of the 2nd Amendment, not in name only but in fact, must draw a line in the sand and not give an inch on any proposal...to include back ground checks and closing the gun show loophole.

We give an inch, they'll take a mile.  We must say NO to every proposal. 

Emirates Defense Technology Heavy Equipment

Another hat tip to Madmusti for the vid.

Mizrak 30mm

Major hat tip to Madmusti for the pics!

We've covered this turret before and I'm going to have to search the blog for the post but I think this is a refined version of what we first saw.  I'm gonna have to verify it but I'm almost sure.  Note the coaxial gun?  Moved.  Additional sensors for what I'm assuming is a remote for the gunner and vehicle commander....

The hatches confuse me though.  I'm wondering if its purely for maintenance/weapons feeding or if this might be a move toward an optionally manned turret.

One thing I do know is that they're following the current trend of keeping everything under armor...feed chutes and the ability to reload while protected.  A major consideration for a vehicle that's expected to go into and remain in harms way.

Streit Group comes out with the the Veran 6x6.

Above photos by Andre Forkert

A few things...

*IDEX isn't being covered by ANY major defense news source here in the US.  Pity.

*Streit Group is working hard to become a player in the armored vehicle market.  First their Jaguar MRAP type vehicle and now this?  Impressive. 

The sequester has everyone's attention in the US but the rest of the world still spins.  From the overseas coverage that I've seen IDEX is bigger than ever and major US firms ARE in attendance.

What has to be asked is why the stealth participation by defense firms?  Why the lack of coverage by US defense media?

What is the game?

Otokar Arma 8x8 pic...

I lost the e-mail of the guy who sent me this pic.  Sorry buddy but the pic is great.  Send more.

Sidenote:  I've got to get more info on that turret!

Gun confiscation bill in Missouri

Gun owners always said it was about confiscation and this news from Missouri proves it...

Missouri Democrats are trying to rid the state of assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines.
Democrats in the state House have proposed a bill that would force gun owners to either surrender or destroy weapons including semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines and semi-automatic pistols with a fixed magazine that can shoot more than 10 rounds before being reloaded.
Ammunition-feeding devices that can hold more than 10 rounds also would be banned. Owners also could send their weapons to another state instead of surrendering or destroying them and would have 90 days after the bill’s passage to make a decision.

It occurs to me that the Democrats might be sowing the seeds of their own mid term election slaughter.

Payroll taxes are biting.  Gas is at record highs.  Unemployment is still high.  Obamacare is going to give everyone sticker shock.  Sequestration is going to pummel an already weak economy....

Cameron hopes to shoot down Rafale deal.

via Indian Research Defense Wing...

British Prime Minister David Cameron will attempt to “steal” a six billion pound Indian defence contract from under the nose of French President Francois Hollande when he visits New Delhi this week, according to a media report.
“The Prime Minister will use a trip to India to try to persuade the New Delhi government to buy more than 100 Eurofighter jets after the French President left empty-handed this week,” the Daily Mail reported ahead of Cameron’s three-day official visit which begins from Monday. 
French contractor Dassault Aviation was chosen last year as the preferred bidder for the contract to supply Rafale jet fighters to the Indian Air Force under a USD 10-billion deal – a blow for the UK-German-Spanish-Italian consortium, which includes Britain’s BAE Systems, which builds the Eurofighter.
But Hollande’s hopes of signing a final contract came to nothing this week – despite him squeezing in a visit before Cameron. The French premier also failed to secure any major trade deals, the British paper claimed.
“That has sparked hopes in Downing Street that Mr Cameron can persuade the Indian authorities to rethink the deal and buy the Eurofighter instead,” it said.
“Officials made clear that the Prime Minister wants to steal a march on Mr Hollande, who has repeatedly clashed with Mr Cameron,” the paper said.
Cameron angered the French by offering to put out a “red carpet” for entrepreneurs fleeing Hollande’s new 75 per cent top rate of tax, while the French government retaliated with the same offer for British businessmen if the UK quits the EU in the referendum Cameron has offered.
Quoting a British government source, the Daily Mail said: “Hollande was in India this week and a deal has not been signed so we will want to find out from the Indians how their talks are progressing with the French.”

I've always found this fascinating.

In reality it should be the Brits, Germans, Italians and others pushing the Eurofighter but instead the UK stands alone in that role.

Additionally I wonder what this will do to British-French moves to forge closer military ties.  For the French they're one and the same and the Brits are moving down that same road.

This might turn messy before its all over.  I can't wait.