By C. Todd Lopez U.S. Army News Service October 31, 2008 WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 29, 2008) — The Army announced today the awarding of three contracts for technology development on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Together, the three contracts are worth a combined total of approximately $166 million. They have been awarded to: BAE Systems Land & Armament …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 28, 2008 According to a recent Air Force Times article, the F-22 Raptor has the lowest pilot-retention rate of any U.S. fighter or attack aircraft measured, at a rather abysmal 33%. Compare this to 81% for F-15E Strike Eagle pilots and 68% for F-15 Eagle pilots respectively, and, gentlemen, we’ve got …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 24, 2008 DefenseReview recently mentioned Singapore Technologies Kinetics a.k.a. ST Kinetics in our article on the GDATP IAR/Ultimax 100 Mark V (Ultimax 100 MK5) LMG/SAW is offering an interesting and pretty slick-looking little lightweight, multi-calber submachine gun (SMG)/personal defense weapon (PDW) called the Compact Personal Weapon (CPW) for CQB/CQC applications and …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com All of the photos contained in this article were taken by Chen Lee a.k.a. "SMGLee" at the 2008 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, and he owns the copyright on these photos. Additional photos may be added to this article, later. October 21, 2008 Speaking of IARs, General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com All of the photos contained in this article, with the exception of the first/top photo, were taken by Chen Lee a.k.a. "SMGLee" at the 2008 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, and he owns the copyright on these photos. Colt Defense, LLC provided the first/top photo. October 20, 2008 While I was visiting …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 16, 2008 In our article on the Colt Sub-Compact Weapon a.k.a. Colt SCW, DefenseReview discussed the upgraded direct-gas-impingement (DGI)/gas piston/op-rod Hybrid Operating System that’s available as an option for it. Well, the Colt Advanced Hybrid Carbine a.k.a. Colt AHC select-fire carbine (5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem.) utilizes a dedicated hybrid DGI/piston …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 13, 2008 The Colt SCW (Sub-Compact Weapon) isn’t the only potential "HK416 Killer" (a.k.a. "416 Killer, for short) in Colt’s new product arsenal, or the only new Colt Defense weapon offering shown at the 2008 AUSA Meeting & Exposition. Colt Defense is also now offering the Colt Advanced Piston Carbine (APC) …

By David Crane defrev at gmail.com All of the photos contained in this article, with the exception of the first/top photo, were taken by Chen Lee a.k.a. "SMGLee" at the 2008 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, and he owns the copyright on these photos. Colt Defense, LLC provided the first/top photo. October 10, 2008 While I was visiting with Colt …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 9, 2008 On August 22, 2008, the U.S. Army issued a sources sought notice for an "Improved Carbine and Subcompact Individual Weapon System" (Solicitation #: W52H0908CARBINESV) to replace the Colt M4 Carbine, since Colt Defense’s M4 Carbine sole source contract will end in 2009. On September 11, 2008, I got a …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 9, 2008 A company called Numa Sport Optics is manufacturing and marketing a line of tactical eyewear called Numa Tactical, the purpose of which is to provide military and law enforcement (LE) tactical operators with eyewear that’s resilient and rugged enough to withstand combat operations. The key to this is Numa …