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MILITARY OPTICS SIG SAUER HEADS INTO MILITARY MARKET WITH TANGO6T
19 December, 2019

ARMAMENT RESEARCH SERVICES: DISPATCHES
15 July, 2020

CHINESE SECURITY FORCES’ WEAPON OF CHOICE
15 July, 2020

EDITORIAL SPECIAL: NIGHT VISION & THERMAL OPTICS
15 July, 2020

NEW GUNS FOR THE FRENCH ARMY
15 July, 2020

SHOW REPORT: SYMPOSIA AT SHRIVENHAM 2019
5 April, 2020

NEW PRODUCTS
5 April, 2020

ENHANCING THE AUSTEYR AUSTRALIA DEFENCE FORCE’S EF88/F90 RIFLE
5 April, 2020

Browse: Home   /   Robert Bruce
ORDNANCE ODDITIES

ORDNANCE ODDITIES

15 July, 2020
Robert Bruce
Editorials, Features, Search By Issue, V12N4, Volume 12

Cold War Conflicts and ‘Brushfire Wars’ 1970s–1980s By Robert Bruce   In the course of decades of researching various sources including military and museum archives,…

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U.S. ARMY/NAU.S. ARMY/NATIONAL ARCHIVESTIONAL ARCHIVES

ORDNANCE ODDITIES—LATE VIETNAM WAR

5 April, 2020
Robert Bruce
Editorials, Features, History, Search By Issue, V12N3, Volume 12

In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…

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ORDNANCE ODDITIES—EARLY VIETNAM WAR

ORDNANCE ODDITIES—EARLY VIETNAM WAR

13 February, 2020
Robert Bruce
Features, Search By Issue, V12N2, Volume 12

In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…

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ORDNANCE ODDITIES 1950s Fantasies

ORDNANCE ODDITIES 1950s Fantasies

18 December, 2019
Robert Bruce
Features, Search By Issue, V12N1, Volume 12

In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…

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ORDNANCE ODDITIES WWII and the Cold War

ORDNANCE ODDITIES WWII and the Cold War

18 September, 2019
Robert Bruce
Military Museums, Search By Issue, V11N6, Volume 11

In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…

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ORDNANCE ODDITIES The Early Days

ORDNANCE ODDITIES The Early Days

21 July, 2019
Robert Bruce
History, Search By Issue, V11N5, Volume 11

In the course of decades of research in various military and museum archives, Robert Bruce has acquired a treasure trove of photos of what might…

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Show Report: Modern Day Marine Expo 2018

Show Report: Modern Day Marine Expo 2018

25 October, 2018
Robert Bruce
Features, Search By Issue, Show Reports, V11N2, Volume 11

“Modern Day Warfighter: Ready, Lethal, Adaptable” Story By Robert Bruce, Military Affairs Editor “We’re going to go shopping; we’re going to put gear in the…

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Modern Day Marine 2015: Hard times.  Hard choices.

Modern Day Marine 2015: Hard times. Hard choices.

24 June, 2016
Damon Bolding
Features, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V8N3, Volume 8

ABOVE: Cased Telescoped. A useful comparison of the initial 5.56mm CT Squad Auto Weapon and a mockup of the 7.62mm Medium Machine Gun in the…

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The US Navy's Electric Weaponry

The US Navy’s Electric Weaponry

19 February, 2016
Damon Bolding
Features, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V7N6, Volume 7

ABOVE: Beam weapons in the battlespace. Envisioned in this 2008 illustration promoting the Navy’s Maritime Laser Demonstration feasibility project, a carrier task force fights off…

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What’s New at the New FN America?

What’s New at the New FN America?

10 July, 2015
Damon Bolding
Features, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V7N2, Volume 7

ABOVE: 14 March 2014, Alaska, USA. Soldiers on the range engage targets with M16A2 rifles during the 59th Signal Battalion Soldier of the Year Competition….

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Live Firing the HK121/MG5: The German Army’s New Universalmaschinengewehr

Live Firing the HK121/MG5: The German Army’s New Universalmaschinengewehr

10 April, 2015
Damon Bolding
Features, Search By Issue, V7N1, Volume 7

ABOVE: A useful comparison of similarities between the 7.62 NATO caliber HK121/MG5 in front, with its predecessor, the 5.56mm MG4 in the background. The 22…

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Machine Guns of WWI: SADJ Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of World War I

Machine Guns of WWI: SADJ Commemorates the 100th Anniversary of World War I

21 November, 2014
Damon Bolding
Features, History, Search By Issue, V6N3, Volume 6

ABOVE: Germans with Maxim MG08. Judging from their cloth-covered spiked helmets, this apparently posed photo was taken early in the war when quantities of their…

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Modern Day Marine 2013

Modern Day Marine 2013

30 January, 2014
Damon Bolding
Search By Issue, V6N1, Volume 6

Speaking at the invitation-only Report to Industry at MDM Expo 2013, Jansen‘s bleak assessment of the harsh realities facing the Marine Corps in light of draconian budget cuts and resulting necessity for sharply cutting manpower, went right to the heart of the matter. “Our Commandant’s priorities are to maintain our forward presence and current readiness,” he said. “To do that, we will have to accept risk in major combat operations….

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Modern Day Marine 2012

Modern Day Marine 2012

6 June, 2013
Damon Bolding
Features, New Products, Search By Issue, Show Reports, V5N2, Volume 5

ABOVE: We first spotted this polymer and brass .50 caliber BMG ammo at MARCORSYSCOM’s display at MDM way back in 2009. We’re pleased to report…

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USMC Precision Weapons Section

USMC Precision Weapons Section

2 January, 2013
Damon Bolding
Features, History, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V4N4, Volume 4

There’s nothing else like it in any of the other branches of America’s Armed Forces.  Its uniquely lethal products, the work of a small and tightly-knit group, must function flawlessly and consistently 24/7 for the Corps’ Scout Snipers and other hard-chargers in some of the world’s most harsh terrain and weather.  Other weapons and custom loaded ammunition created there must also consistently deliver pinpoint accuracy for world class shooters of the USMC’s Competition In Arms Rifle and Pistol Teams….

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

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M27, Part Two: From BAR to IAR - How the Marines Finally Got Their Infantry Automatic Rifle

M27, Part Two: From BAR to IAR – How the Marines Finally Got Their Infantry Automatic Rifle

20 November, 2012
Damon Bolding
Features, History, New Products, Search By Issue, V4N4, Volume 4

Friends and foes of the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in the U.S. Marine Corps’ infantry fire teams have been engaged in often fierce verbal firefights dating back years before this innovative light machine gun entered Leatherneck service; soon after the Army adopted FN’s MINIMI in 1984. While the reasons for this are many and varied, astute observers often cite two main points of contention: Advocates of belt fed weapons like the M249 admire their relative portability and high volume of fire…

Pages: 1 2 3 4

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The U.S. Marine Corps' New M27 IAR: Part One

The U.S. Marine Corps’ New M27 IAR: Part One

10 September, 2012
Damon Bolding
Features, Interviews, New Products, Search By Issue, V4N3, Volume 4

For the past several years SADJ has been following progress of the US Marine Corps’ program to identify and field a suitable alternative to the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.  While the 5.56mm belt fed SAW is touted as a relatively portable weapon that can pump out a high volume of fire, many of the Leatherneck MOS 0311 grunts who have been humping this twenty-plus pound package since 1985 have been asking for something lighter, simpler and more reliable….

Pages: 1 2 3

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Devil Dog Days: Modern Day Marine 2011

Devil Dog Days: Modern Day Marine 2011

22 August, 2012
Robert Bruce
Ammunition, Grenades & Rockets, New Products, Search By Issue, Show Reports, V4N2, Volume 4

“…that’s going to require us to replace an awful lot of gear that’s been used very hard over the last ten years or so. We know what we need and we‘re going to work with you to get it.” – Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Mills, the three-star general who heads the Corps’ concepts and capability command, was offering a glimmer of hope to a large audience of high level defense industry representatives attending the exclusive, invitation-only Report to Industry briefing at the 2011 Modern Day Marine (MDM) Expo….

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MARSOC, Part 2: Training SOCOM'S Devil Dogs

MARSOC, Part 2: Training SOCOM’S Devil Dogs

26 June, 2012
Robert Bruce
History, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V4N2, Volume 4

The focus of our visit to MARSOC‘s Schoolhouse was Special Operations Training Branch, currently housed in an orderly formation of a dozen or so modular classrooms while construction is underway nearby on a more traditional campus. There, Lieutenant Colonel Clark Watson, SOTB’s Director, walked us through the high points of the Initial Training Course, a comprehensive SPECOPS basic training program that is the next step following Assessment and Selection for those seeking to become CSOs….

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

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MARSOC, Part 1: Devil Dogs of SOCOM

MARSOC, Part 1: Devil Dogs of SOCOM

10 February, 2012
Damon Bolding
Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V4N1, Volume 4

It defies logic that United States Special Operations Command did not include the Marine Corps until a little over five years ago.  All the more so because the Corps is arguably the most nimble, aggressive and experienced component of the U.S. Armed Forces in the dirty and demanding business of fighting “small wars” in remote corners of the world….

Pages: 1 2

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Project Manager Soldier Weapons

Project Manager Soldier Weapons

11 January, 2012
Damon Bolding
Ammunition, Grenades & Rockets, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V3N3, Volume 3

By the time you read this, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System with its uncannily accurate airburst ammo will undoubtedly have drawn its first blood in Afghanistan. This sci-fi looking individual armament, initially the “grenade gun” upper half of the ill-fated Objective Individual Combat Weapon, has been in combat operational test mode for several months now with selected elements of US Special Operations Command….

Pages: 1 2

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Guns & Gear of the U.S. Navy's Riverine Forces (Part Two)

Guns & Gear of the U.S. Navy’s Riverine Forces (Part Two)

14 October, 2011
Damon Bolding
Industry Profiles, Interviews, Search By Issue, V2N4, Volume 2

10 April 2009, Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. A Riverine Patrol Boat executes a low speed turn in preparation for another pass in support of the…

Pages: 1 2

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Guns & Gear of the U.S. Navy's Riverine Forces (Part One)

Guns & Gear of the U.S. Navy’s Riverine Forces (Part One)

26 August, 2011
Damon Bolding
Industry Profiles, Interviews, Search By Issue, V2N3, Volume 2

Note: Part Two of this article is available here. The “Brown Water Navy” is back in force and elements of Captain Kruger’s command have been…

Pages: 1 2 3

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Modern Day Marine 2009

Modern Day Marine 2009

23 August, 2011
Robert Bruce
Search By Issue, Show Reports, V2N1, Volume 2

8 July 2009, Afghanistan. First Lieutenant George Saenz, along with two members of the Afghan National Police, provides security during operations in Helmand Province. His…

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NDIA 20th Annual Special Operations Symposium

NDIA 20th Annual Special Operations Symposium

16 August, 2011
Robert Bruce
New Products, Search By Issue, Show Reports, V1N2, Volume 1

March 2009, Brazil. Soldiers from the elite Ipiranga Special Border Platoon, armed with license-built 7.62mm NATO caliber FAL rifles, march in formation to honor US…

Pages: 1 2

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Mr. Metal Storm

Mr. Metal Storm

10 August, 2011
Robert Bruce
History, Industry Profiles, Search By Issue, V1N1, Volume 1

Going Ballistic, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television documentary from 2000, has a collection of fascinating interviews with O’Dwyer himself and key persons in his life and work. Through it we learn that the inventor admits to being “not a particularly good student” during his high school years in a small town in Queensland, Australia.  Interested primarily in the odd combination of physics at school and working on cars in his stepfather’s auto repair business, after graduation he chose to enter the workplace rather than continue on to college….

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Metal Storm Update

Metal Storm Update

10 August, 2011
Robert Bruce
Ammunition, New Products, Search By Issue, V1N1, Volume 1

Metal Storm is a radically different concept for weapons and ammunition, the brainchild of a self-educated Australian inventor with brilliant intuition for practical applications in engineering, physics and electronics. Following its genesis in the early 1990s, this novel electronic ballistics technology has suffered from what might charitably be termed unrealistic expectations. Early claims of a rate of fire capability at 1 million rounds per minute inspired some fanciful applications ranging from covert wrist guns to missile defense….

Pages: 1 2

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Life and Times of the M60

Life and Times of the M60

10 August, 2011
Robert Bruce
History, Interviews, Search By Issue, V1N1, Volume 1

Developed in the aftermath of WWII and fielded in 1957, the light and handy 7.62mm NATO caliber M60 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) has been alternately praised and cursed by GIs who have carried it combat from Vietnam to Iraq and beyond. Inspired by the WWII German MG42, the M60 was intentionally designed for mass production – cheap and fast on a stamped sheet metal receiver that houses a clever gas operated, carrier-cammed bolt mechanism first seen in the Lewis Gun of WWI….

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The U.S. Ordnance MK43 Mod 1 Machine Gun

The U.S. Ordnance MK43 Mod 1 Machine Gun

10 August, 2011
Robert Bruce
Interviews, Reviews, Search By Issue, V1N1, Volume 1

What’s not to like about a real machine gun that’s significantly lighter than a chunky M240, about the same size as a puny SAW, pumps out powerful 7.62mm rounds with reliability and accuracy, and has long been a force multiplier in elite Navy SEAL Teams? GIs who’ve tried ‘em love ‘em, they’re comparable in price to buy and sustain as the FN guns, they’ve been in the logistics and combat doctrine chains for ever, and they’re 100 percent American designed and built. Slam dunk? Sorry….

Pages: 1 2

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Distributed at trade shows worldwide, Small Arms Defense Journal is a bimonthly publication that focuses on small arms, accessories, gear for the soldier, new products, industry news, and defense trade shows. The first issue of SADJ was Spring 2009, which launched at the LAAD show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. SADJ (pronounced “sage”) is targeted toward military, law enforcement, and defense industry professionals. Our job is to reach these groups and tailor content to their interests while producing a publication that is applicable to an international audience.
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