Texas-based ammunition and weapon system manufacturer True Velocity Ammo and FN America, a global leader in the development and manufacture of military small arms, have announced a strategic licensing and manufacturing partnership for the production of True Velocity’s .338 Norma Lightweight Medium Machine Gun for U.S. and Allied military units.

The partnership positions FN America as a primary manufacturer of True Velocity’s .338 Norma machine gun, a recoil-mitigated weapon system designed to provide warfighters with range and terminal performance similar to that of the century-old .50-caliber M2 machine gun in a lightweight, functional profile comparable to that of the ubiquitous M240 machine gun also manufactured by FN America.

“True Velocity’s .338 machine gun will change the battlefield for our warfighters. We are thrilled that FN will join with us so we can equip U.S. and Allied militaries with this combat advantage,” said True Velocity President and Chief Intellectual Property Officer Craig Etchegoyen. “It very quickly became clear that FN is a world-renowned, reliable, and respected manufacturer of innovative machine guns, and we’re excited for them to join our mission.”

A lightweight machine gun solution chambered for the .338 Norma cartridge has been a focal point of requirements emerging from the U.S. Department of Defense and Allied militaries in recent years. In March 2024, the United States Department of Defense selected True Velocity’s .338 Norma Lightweight Medium Machine Gun for continued evaluation in a military program aimed at fielding a weapon system that would bridge the performance gap between the .50-caliber M2 machine gun and the M240 machine gun chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO. The combination of True Velocity’s recoil-mitigated .338 Norma Lightweight Medium Machine Gun and its advanced, lightweight composite-cased ammunition provides a turn-key combat solution capable of enhanced controllability, maximized maneuverability, and extreme precision at extended range.

“FN America is extremely excited to partner with True Velocity on this effort to deliver the next medium machine gun to the U.S. military,” said Mark Cherpes, President and CEO for FN America, LLC. “Both companies share that drive and desire to innovate and deliver game-changing technology to the warfighter. This has produced a really great team environment on this effort.”

Incorporating proprietary “impulse-averaging recoil mitigation” technology, True Velocity’s .338 Norma machine gun delivers a 300-grain projectile with enhanced range and precision, while optimizing controllability and maintaining a profile similar to that of the M240 belt-fed machine gun, which is chambered for the smaller, less energetic 7.62x51mm cartridge.

“True Velocity’s lightweight medium machine gun submission is the product of more than a decade of continued innovation and rigorous evaluation,” said True Velocity Senior Executive Vice President of Sales Kevin Sims. “This weapon system delivers unprecedented tactical and operational capabilities to our American warfighters. The sooner we bring it to the battlefield, the better.”

This honor reflects Elbit America’s unrelenting focus on acting with integrity in all aspects of its business. Satisfying basic regulatory requirements to do business is merely a starting point, and Elbit America invests to exceed customer expectations because it’s the right thing to do. The fact that this also has a positive effect on the company’s bottom line and its workforce is an additional benefit. 

“The Elbit America workforce believes that the way we do business is as important as the financial results of that business. We believe our customers share this viewpoint. Ethical practices and methodologies are ingrained into our culture and we are pleased that Ethisphere took note of the way our teams utilize this backbone to achieve the mission,” said Benjamin Kohr, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the company.

“It’s always inspiring to recognize the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Through the rigorous review process, we see the dedication of these organizations to continually improving their ethics, compliance, and governance practices to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Ethisphere’s chief strategy officer and executive chair. “Companies that elevate best-in-class cultures of ethics and integrity set a standard for corporate citizenship for their peers and competitors to follow. Congratulations to Elbit America for achieving this honor and demonstrating that strong ethics is good business.”

The “World’s Most Ethical Companies” assessment is grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary “Ethics Quotient”, an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide more than 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. That data undergoes further qualitative analysis by a panel of experts who spend thousands of hours vetting and evaluating each year’s group of applicants. This process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify truly best-in-class ethics and compliance practices from organizations across industries and from around the world.

Elbit America earned its first World’s Most Ethical Companies designation in 2014. 

To view the full list of this year’s honorees, please visit the World’s Most Ethical Companies website.

Civilian Classes:

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Go to training.hk-usa.com  to review and register for the classes.

“As part of our global strategic growth plan, SIG SAUER is solidifying several key partnerships to meet the increased demand for our products in Europe and other NATO countries,” began Ron Cohen, President, SIG SAUER, Inc.  “The alliance with Accuracy International affords SIG an expanded presence, greater customer engagement, and new collaboration in the UK to meet the diverse, immediate and future needs of the British military, law enforcement, and other security and defense organizations.”

Accuracy International is a British firearms manufacturer based in Portsmouth, England with products fielded with military units and law enforcement globally.

“The benefits of the partnership with SIG SAUER are clear; our brand reputations are strong, the product lines and customer bases are complementary, and our company cultures are closely aligned,” stated Tom Irwin, AI Director; “SIG will benefit from AI’s extensive UK market expertise and manufacturing and logistical infrastructure to assist in the transition toward a fully independent SIG SAUER UK entity.” 

“This strategic partnership signifies our commitment and laser focus on the US-UK defence security relationship and our investment brings new opportunity to the British economy,” Cohen concluded.

But, we’re getting backchannels reports that SOCOM’s purchase of an unreported number of SIG MG 338s was for a small number of evaluation guns and that its LMG-M competition continues.

We are aware that the SOCOM competition was down to three systems offered by SIG Sauer, Lone Star Future Weapons, and Ohio Ordnance Works and we’d seen press about two of the entrants, but OOW had yet to reveal any information publicly about its weapon system until today.

Along with an public invitation to see the REAPR at the company’s exhibition booth 70405 at SHOT Show 2024, it also said photos and a specification sheet will be made available next week.

While OOW refers to the REAPR as, “a revolution in modern military general purpose machine guns (GPMG)” and not a “lightweight medium machinegun” per se, it goes on to say the weapon is, “Designed to exceed SOCOM military specifications,” a clear indication of the company’s positioning REAPR for use by Special Operations Command.

While few details were offered, OOW shared the following features:

• Lightweight Design
• Chambered in 338 Norma Magnum
• Compatible with a 7.62 NATO conversion kit
• Simple and robust receiver
• Tool-less field stripping
• One-handed barrel changes
• Modular, transportable design that breaks downs into three components in under ten seconds

OOW says REAPR is available now in small quantities with full volume production beginning April 2024.

“Federal continues to position itself as a trusted supplier for the U.S. Military and Special Operations,” said Peter Gillette, Federal’s Director of International LE & Military Sales. “We are excited for this contract win. It validates the quality of our products, thoroughness of our testing procedures, and dedication to hard work from our American factory workers.”

The cartridge selected during the two-year contract term is the Mk316 Mod 0, 7.62x51mm, 175-grain precision match rifle load.The ordering period is for a total of two years. The ammunition will be produced by Federal at the Anoka, Minnesota facility.

“In general, our match ammunition has a legendary reputation for extreme accuracy, shot after shot, lot to lot. It is trusted time-and-time-again by police and military marksmen,” continued Gillette. “MK316 Mod 0 fits in perfectly with Federal’s history of producing extremely accurate ammunition held to tight tolerances required by strict U.S. Military specifications.”

Federal ammunition can be found nationwide and online. For more information on all products from Federal, visitwww.federalpremium.com.

Elbit America received a five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the United States Marine Corps (USMC) to continue producing the Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggle (SBNVG). The competitive contract is worth up to $500 million, with an initial delivery order for nearly $127 million. The goggles will be produced in Roanoke, Virginia. The company has delivered more than 15,000 SBNVG systems to the USMC since 2019. 

The SBNVG has proven to be a game-changer in modern warfare, as it is lightweight without compromising capability. The goggles currently provide image intensification, with an enhanced clip-on thermal imager. The set-up allows Marines to operate at night, or in dark buildings and tunnels where one’s situational awareness is challenged.

The SBNVG is a helmet-mounted system that provides Marines with increased depth perception, enhanced clarity through high-performance white phosphor image intensifier tubes, a thermal-imaging capability, and more. These features, along with extra-long run times, provide Marines an added edge on the battlefield.

“No matter the light conditions or environment, Marines are tapped for challenging missions. Equipped with Elbit America’s Squad Binocular Night Vision Goggles, Marines can quickly understand their surroundings and act,” said Erik Fox, Vice President of Warfighter Systems at Elbit America.

“Elbit America is proud of our long history supplying Marines with night vision and electro-optic innovations,” said Raanan Horowitz, the company’s president and CEO. “We continue to refine our portfolio, offering solutions that enable the networked Warfighter of the future with sophisticated decision aids and display systems that work in all operational environments.”

More details about Elbit America Night Vision are available at  https://www.elbitamerica.com/night-vision.

The contract has a value of over $2.1 million and features the same holster solution that was adopted earlier this year by the French Army and the Niedersachsen State Police of Germany.

“This contract is a testament to the craftsmanship of Blackhawk products and the brand’s commitment to equipping law enforcement officials around the globe,” said Jeff Sposito, who leads the Blackhawk and Stone Glacier brands of Vista Outdoor.

The Belgian Federal Police selected the Blackhawk holsters to carry their service pistol, the Smith & Wesson M&P9, while the local police zones in Belgium will have the ability to purchase new duty holsters compatible with their Glock 17/45 service pistols.

The USG noted that Blackhawk T-Series is a secure and versatile platform, with the T-Series L3D holsters coming standard with the Jacket Slot Belt Loop or being compatible with the agency-selected Blackhawk Micro Tac Platform. This modularity allows officers to select the form of carry most suited to their needs without sacrificing accessibility or security.

To date, T-Series holsters have been selected for duty use by over 3,200 law enforcement agencies both in the U.S. and abroad. As the world’s first thumb-driven, dual-injected molded holster, the T-Series is Blackhawk’s premier duty-rated holster.

Learn more about Blackhawk’s T-Series holster and other duty products at blackhawk.com

”Russian drone attacks on Ukraine have been a regular occurrence since the start of the war,” said Oleg Vornik, DroneShield CEO. “DroneShield is pleased to be supplying our drone detection and defeat systems to Ukraine under this sovereign aid package.”

DroneShield has received multiple orders from the Australian Government as part of a $20 million dollar military assistance package to Ukraine, with a total value to DroneShield of $10.4 million.

$5 million of cash receipts from the $10.4 million total was included in the record $48.2 million cash receipts YTD to 20 October, announced earlier this week in DroneShield’s latest quarterly 4C release. The remaining cash receipts are expected to be received prior to end of 2023.

DroneShield is pleased to share the ongoing support by the Australian Government for its cutting edge counter-drone capability, including the image of the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with DroneShield DroneGun Mk4 handheld counter-drone system, at the White House complex in Washington D.C.

”DroneShield continues to receive strong support from both Australian and U.S. Governments, being our two home bases,” Oleg Vornik, DroneShield CEO, commented. “This image of the Australian Prime Minister holding our flagship product is a showcase of this support. Most work we do, is under strict confidentiality due to the nature of our customers, and its pleasing to see this public endorsement of our work, as global tensions and hostile use of drones continue globally.”

“This contribution will provide Ukraine with some of the best capabilities in the world,” said Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese, “while investing in Australia’s sovereign defence industry and technology sector.”

Full details of the announcement are available under:

https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases/2023-10-25/australian-capabilities-continue-supporting-ukraine

The 12^th edition of the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exposition saw the return of the “new normal” post-pandemic with full exhibition halls and a record number of visitors and exhibitors. As has been the custom for many years the exposition was held at the EXCEL Centre in the London Docklands. According to statistics provided by the event organizers, attendance was up by 23% compared to DSEI 2019 (with DESI 2021 being something of a watershed mid-pandemic), the event hosting over 1,500 exhibitors, including more than 250 first-time exhibitors. As a globally recognized international event, it featured 36 international pavilions, that of the USA doubling in size from the last event. VIP visits topped 3,500 and international delegations exceed 100. The exhibition areas are two very large rectangular halls with adjacent docking facilities for visiting warships from several nations.

Many of the new exhibitors at DSEI 2023 were within “Future Tech”, including Sony, IBM, Oracle, Panasonic, and Palantir who were among the companies demonstrating the broad reach of DSEI beyond its traditional defense and industrial base. These companies exhibited alongside the traditional defense industry, including all the major manufacturers.

The exposition is sponsored by the UK Ministry of Defence which has large, single-service exhibition areas. The principal Army event of the show was the formal introduction into service of the Knight’s Armament Company (KAC) KS-1 5.56mm assault rifle (British nomenclature L403A1) as the Alternative Infantry Weapon (AIW) and the weapon of choice of the recently formed “Ranger” brigade. The KS-1 has a modified direct gas-impingement system and bucks the recent trend of piston-operated generic Armalite-type (AR-15) platforms.

Continuing a recent trend of Turkish manufacturers of sporting firearms moving into the production of military small arms, there was a large presence of the former at DSEI 2023. Among those exhibiting was Sarsilmaz with their 9x19mm SAR 109T sub-machine gun based on the classic M4 carbine type-chassis and yet another copy of the venerable soviet/Russian AKM, the SAR 15T which is reportedly in service with the Turkish armed forces.

Another Turkish manufacturer offering a number of small and large caliber small arms was Canik, previously best known for its handgun production.

Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWE), formerly Ordnance Factory Kanpur who were previously part of the former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) of India before the 2021 reorganization of the latter into seven private sector entities, provided a display of their current small arms and infantry weapon products.

Another AWE product is their belt-fed 7.62x51mm “LMG” with monobloc receiver the design of which is reminiscent of the Barratt LW240 design of some years ago.

Given the prominence of the show, market leaders in the manufacture of small arms and infantry weapons were in attendance.

The Germany-based manufacturer of small arms Heckler & Koch also previewed an example of their HK421, a compact lightweight version of their MG5 general purpose machine gun (GPMG), the latter is also thought to be contender in the forthcoming UK MoD competition to replace the in-service L7A2 GPMG.

SIG Sauer were present and showed examples of the XM7 automatic rifle, XM250 light machine gun, and 338 Norma Magnum (NM) caliber medium machine gun (MMG), with interest in the latter being expressed by several armies who wish to fill the gap between the effective range of 7.62mm NATO caliber weapons and the larger heavier .50 Browning (12.7x99mm) caliber heavy machine gun (HMG) with a man-portable weapon in the intermediate caliber approximating the size and weight of the classic rifle caliber GPMG.

The UK-based Steel Core Designs is an independent company traditionally offering a range of precision arms. At this show, the company unveiled a new rifle in a departure from its regular line, the “Black Widow” selective-fire assault rifle in 5.56x45mm NATO caliber. A new design that does not owe its origins to the generic Armalite AR-15 platform.

The SAAB AB Carl Gustaf 84mm recoilless gun system was available to view in the latest M4 configuration. First entering service with the Swedish armed forces in 1948, the M2 version saw widespread adoption during the Cold War period. It was a contemporary of the later Soviet RPG-7 grenade-launcher, both systems initially entered service in the anti-tank role. With the subsequent introduction of disposable, shoulder-fired anti-armor weapons the days of the “Charlie G” appeared to be numbered. However, the continuing need for a gun and selectable ammunition combination led to the introduction of the M3 variant and subsequent adoption as the Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System (MAAWS) by the U.S. armed forces. Much lightened from the M2 configuration’s 14.2kg (31 lb.) all-steel construction, the M4 bi-material barrel construction gun now weighs in at ~ 7kg (~15 lb). Another feature has been the development of multiple types of warheads. The latest HE 448 round when used with the fire control device (FCD) 558 can be programmed to burst on impact or air-burst, selection being made while the round is chambered ready for firing.

The Polish Armaments Group PGZ (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A.), a holding company established by the Polish government to unite Polish state-owned defense industry companies, were in attendance with a range of their product line, including the GX Warhead series for unmanned vehicles and UAVs developed by the Military Institute of Armament Technology. Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów (ZMT) of Tarnow have developed a new range of small arms based on the generic Armalite AR-15 platform.

On show floor was the AJAX tracked armored fighting vehicle (AFV), a replacement for the British long serving Warrior AFV that has been at the center of technical issues and program delays. The AJAX fleet will consist of a number of sub-variants, and should no further technical issues arise, the prime manufacturer General Dynamics is expected to begin deliveries sometime in 2025.

Much in evidence in media coverage of the Ukraine/Russia conflict is the BAE Systems M777 155mm Lightweight Towed Howitzer which has been sold in large numbers.

The South Korean armored vehicle manufacturer Hanwha has been successful with several major export sales of their K9 Thunder 155mm self-propelled howitzer (SPH). The British Army is looking to fill the gap in self-propelled artillery after a significant number of the fleet of ageing AS90 SPHs were transferred to Ukraine.

The present conflict in the Crimea between the Ukraine and Russia has, to the uninitiated eye, raised issues as to the viability of main battle tanks (MBT’s) in any future conflict and this edition of DSEI did not feature large, armored displays, reflecting perhaps a wait-and-see mood in regards to what equipment will be fielded over the next decade?

SHOW REGISTRATION:  Registration for DSEI 2023 was online-only. No facility for registration on-site was provided. Prior registration (online-only) is expected to become an established practice going forward.

NEXT SHOW: DSEi 2025, 9-12 September

LOCATION: EXCEL Centre, London Docklands