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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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….
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…
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….
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…
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….
“…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….
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….
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….
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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….
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….
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….
