Switzerland, long the neutral party of Europe with a deeply rooted gun culture, was recently confronted with a referendum to align its guns laws with…
Europe Discovers the Virtues of Personal Self-Defense While European Politicians Seek to Disarm the Continent. Gun control pundits have long extolled the virtues of an…
New Sanctions on North Korea Following the February 7, 2016 missile launch by North Korea, additional sanctions have been imposed by the US Government. The…
The ACE Secure Data Portal – Bringing International Transactions into the 21st Century. For many years, the import/export community has relied upon a combination of…
HIMARS achieves one million operational hours Lockheed Martin’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) recently achieved a significant milestone with U.S. military forces, reaching one…
Defense Distributed – continued. A brief synopsis of the events thus far: January 2013: Defense Distributed, a nonprofit, gun-design digital publisher headquartered in Austin, Texas…
As a rising superpower, China has entered the arms trade show circuit since 2002. The sixth Asia Pacific China Police show was held on May 22-25, 2012 in Beijing China. Situated within the China National Convention Center, the show is located within the Olympic Park Complex. The National Stadium (also known as the Bird’s Nest) and the National Aquatics Center (also known as the Water Cube) are within the same complex….
Freedom Group Announces George Kollitides as New CEO Freedom Group, Inc. (FGI) announced George Kollitides as its Chief Executive Officer. Kollitides, a lifelong hunter, shooter…
EPA Denies Latest Anti-Hunting Group Petition to Ban Traditional Ammunition The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied yet another frivolous petition by the Center for Biological…
Frequent readers of this column will note many comments and criticisms of the current U.S. brokering regulations- stating they are flawed; overly broad, difficult to…
There has been a cultural shift from the 20-inch barrel length in the AR-15/M16 weapon systems chambered for the 5.56×45 NATO cartridge to progressively shorter barrels for the purpose of producing an increasingly more compact assault/entry weapon without resorting to a bull-pup design. Simple usage of these short-barreled weapons has shown the necessity for both sound and flash suppression, the intensity of which (in exceptionally short barrel lengths) approached the intensity of a flash-bang diversion device….
With every passing year, technology and innovation make the world smaller, allowing for international business to move ever quicker. In the arms trade, offsets and…
Glock Announces Voluntary Replacement of Recoil Spring Assemblies in Gen4 Pistols Glock announced that it is voluntarily exchanging the recoil spring assembly (RSA) on its…
Those involved in the international arms trade are (or should be) intimately familiar with the International Trade in Arms Regulations, frequently known by its acronym,…
Former Bushmaster plant back in production Earlier this year, the Freedom Group, current owner of Bushmaster Firearms, moved operations from Maine to streamline operations. It…
The Colt CM901 weapon system proved to be a popular destination for many attendees. AUSA 2010 proved to be a great success, with attendance by…
Firing the Remington Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR) set up on .338 Lapua, with the Leupold Mark 4, 6.5-20x50mm Extended Range/Tactical (ER/T) optic. Leupold, the oldest…
Recent questions have arisen in the international arms community over retransfer assurances and end use restrictions on U.S. made products. While some of the U.S….
Bushmaster Manufacturing Moving to New York The Freedom Group announced a manufacturing relocation of the Bushmaster Firearms International manufacturing facility located in Windham, Maine, to…
The 40mm grenade launcher has seemingly become ubiquitous in the catalog of modern rifle manufacturers. It seems that no catalog is complete without a 40mm…
Recently, there has been a lot of press regarding the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA). Readers active within the small arms industry will recall…
Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson announced that Jeffrey D. Buchanan has been named executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Buchanan, 55, has…
Daewoo Precision, maker of the USAS12 combat shotgun, K1 and K2 battle rifles, and the K3 LMG, has manufactured well designed and robust weapon systems. …
The arms trade is a multi-billion dollar global international market, with arms being traded by both small and large entities. Unfortunately, like any trade, the…
U.S. Export Control Reform On December 9, President Obama announced that, as part of the Administration’s effort to reform the export control system, the Departments…
Defense Services Asia is one of the premier Asian trade shows for defense items and services in Asia. Held biennially in even numbered years, the…
Eurosatory 2010 was held at the Parc du Exposition, located outside of Paris, France on June 14-18, 2010. As one of the largest tradeshows in…
Previous articles regarding UN gun control measures have warned of current and pending actions at the United Nations that threaten to limit, or control an…
Maryland Probation Officer Convicted of Export Violations Emenike Charles Nwankwoala, a 49-year-old resident of Laurel, Maryland, pleaded guilty to charges that he exported shotguns, pistols…
Freshly loaded .50 BMG rounds. Each color used to seal the primers represents a separate loading machine, allowing defective rounds to be tracked back to…
On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the arrest of 22 individuals on allegations of violating the…
New Requirements for Commodity Jurisdiction Requests The U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (State/DDTC) has posted a message on its website that…
The Association of the United States Army held its annual meeting on October 5-7, 2009 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington DC. As…
The sale of defense articles worldwide is typically straight forward – the buyer coordinates with the seller, and each party secures the proper government licenses…
ATF Manufacturing and Marking Requirements Eased On November 19, 2009, ATF released Ruling 2009-5 that relieves subcontractors from marking receivers and/or other restricted parts manufactured on…
A relatively new product on the U.S. market, the Multi-Purpose Aiming Reflex Sight (MARS) has been on the international market for several years, and is reportedly…
The HK M320 40mm grenade launcher. Until recently, the field of 40mm grenade launchers was almost exclusively dominated by the M203. With the recent adoption…
Gun control efforts by the United Nations are well known. The Fredrik Reuterswärd sculpture of a revolver with its barrel tied in a knot is…
Law Enforcement International The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to Law Enforcement International (LEI) for the supply of a new 7.62mm semiautomatic “sharpshooter”…
Switzerland is well known for its exquisite time pieces, fine chocolate, and its highly professional banking practices. The firearms manufactured by the Swiss are of…
Historically, U.S. export control policy has served to restrict products and technology to potential enemies, to support foreign policy goals, and by limiting exports to…
Mark Westrom, owner of ArmaLite, Inc. and President of the DSAAC (Defense Small Arms Advisory Council), sat down with Small Arms Defense Journal to discuss…
U.S. Navy photo of pirates captured on Feb. 11, 2009 by the USS Vella Gulf, a guided-missile cruiser patrolling the Gulf of Aden to detect…
DoubleStar 1911 DoubleStar announced the release of their new 1911 pistol. Although DoubleStar is most widely known as a maker of high-quality gun parts for…
The Association of the United States Army held its annual meeting on October 6-8 in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington DC. As one…
Exporting defense articles or utilizing defense services from the United States? Like it or not, the U.S. State Department controls the export of all defense…
BAE Systems BAE Systems recently announced the Integrated Warfighter System (IWS). Still in the developmental stages, the IWS is BAE Systems’ first attempt to take…
The 2005 Lion’s Gate film The Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage, is well known in the international small arms industry. Allegedly based upon the acts of former KGB major Viktor Bout, the movie makes a political statement against the international arms industry and claims that the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council) are the world’s leading arms suppliers.
