Colt M4 Carbine’s Future Uncertain: Dark Clouds Forming

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com Perhaps the single most exciting thing that happened at NDIA International Infantry & Joint Services Small Arms Systems Symposium 2008–away from the firing range, of course–was a confrontation between Jim Battaglini (Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James R. Battaglini) of Colt Defense and U.S. Air Force Col. Robert Mattes, the director of …

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DuPont Kevlar XP: Next-Gen, Lightweight Aramid Ballistic Fiber for Soft Body Armor Panels

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com June 23, 2008 Imagine having a 100% Kevlar high-strength woven aramid ballistic fiber solution with 15% less backface deformation signature (BDS), yielding reduced impact trauma a.k.a. blunt force trauma, along with a 10% reduction in overall (OA) weight. This is the promise of DuPont Kevlar® XP™ woven ballistic aramid fiber for military …

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Army Acquisition Capos Fraudulently Alter Body Armor Test Results

By Roger Charles, DefenseWatch June 12, 2008 Thanks to an Air Force debarment action against Pinnacle Armor, manufacturer of Dragon Skin body armor, documents have been obtained, and witnesses deposed that provide hard evidence that the Army Acquisition capos fraudulently altered test reports to reflect the results desired by this band of criminal knaves. And, they did so knowing full …

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Stealth Sensor for Stealthy Body Searches on Bad Guys

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com June 9, 2008 Paradigm Tactical Products Inc., maker of the FriskerPRO hand-worn metal detector/search device, has reportedly just received an order from U.S. Army 5th Special Forces Group a.k.a. 5th Group for its latest discreet metal detector/covert body search device called Stealth Sensor. Looks like the 5th Group operators wanted a more …

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Eurofighter Typhoon: Can Thrust-Vectoring and Low-Observability be Added?

by David Crane defrev at gmail.com May 30, 2008 DefenseReview has been hearing some pretty great things about the Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role combat fighter aircraft’s performance, from its excellent flight characteristics to its pilot-friendly cockpit, to its helmet-mounted display and targeting system. What’s interesting is that it can perform so well acrobatically, even without thrust vectoring. Advanced electronic fly-by-wire flight …

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2008 NDIA Small Arms Systems Symposium Firing Demo: Initial Report

by David Crane defrev at gmail.com May 25, 2008 Aaaand we’re back. Sorry for the delay in reporting in, but we’ve been fighting the travel demons and illness (minor and temporary) simultaneously. We shot some good video at the 2008 NDIA International Infantry & Joint Services Small Arms Systems Symposium, but we’re not sure how much of it we can …

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