by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview first published info on CopterBox back in August (2004). The article was titled "CopterBox Expendable Airdrop Delivery System for Ammo, Food, Meds, and More". Your humble correspondent then wrote a much more in-depth article on CopterBox for Military.com SoldierTech (a DefenseReview.com content partner site) in September, 2004. The Military.com SoldierTech article is titled "SUPPLIES AWAY: …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com If you’ve already read my first article on CopterBox, titled CopterBox Expendable Airdrop Delivery System for Ammo, Food, Meds, and More, and found it interesting, you should definitely check out a more in-depth article on CopterBox at Military.com SoldierTech. Military.com SoldierTech’s editorial staff did an absolutely superlative job with the new CopterBox article’s layout, format and …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com May 27, 2004 This article was modified/updated on 12/16/04. Pinnacle Armor Inc., out of Fresno, California, is currently producing some of the most advanced hard and soft ballistic armor solutions in the world. This includes Pinnacle’s flexible hard armor systems, which employ a combination of highly advanced ballistic ceramic composite and titanium composite technology and ballistic …

by Charles Gaines This is the second in a series of reviews of US army equipment being used in Afghanistan. The first was on the M-4 carbine and it’s associated accessories, the PAQ-4 infrared laser and M-68 close-combat optic, and shoud still be up on the main page if you’re interested. First, the PVS-7D Night Observation Device, or NOD. This …

by Tim Chandler “You’re not a S.E.A.L. ‘till you have eaten Italian steel…” Anonymous Thus begins the sordid tale of the M9 that is oft repeated in gun shops and firearms related web-boards the nation over. Anyone who asks questions about the Beretta M9/92 pistol long enough will inevitably hear about how a bunch of S.E.A.L. team members were killed/maimed/deformed …

by David Crane I’ve been using Surefire combat flashlights for the last several years for one reason: they’re the best. No question about it, they are heads and shoulders above the rest of the competition on a number of levels. First, Surefire’s are brighter than everything else out there. These flashlights are specifically designed to be used in tactical situations, …

Back in September, I wrote a quick blurb on the Chinese QBZ-95(Type 95) infantry rifle, chambered for the proprietary 5.8x42mm cartridge. Now, while it’s true that I’m not a particularly big fan of the Chinese army, it must be noted that the Chinese are not stupid, and they decided on this caliber after conducting a rather extensive amount of ballistic …

Several months ago, in a phone conversation, Alex Robinson, owner of Robinson Armament, told me he was working on a new rifle project for the military. He couldn’t disclose very much at the time, but it certainly sounded very interesting. Well, it now appears that he was talking about the brand new Robinson Armament RAV02 MC (pronounced "RAVE") select-fire rifle/carbine. …

Looks like the U.S. Army and Marine Corps will soon be using magnetic fields to protect our troops in combat. It’s about time. We could have really used this technology back in Somalia in ’93(and right now in Afghanistan). It could have saved a lot of lives. RPG’s(Rocket-Propelled Grenades) continue to be an ongoing problem for us in small-scale conflicts, …

DefRev readers may remember a heads-up we posted a little while back on this weapon, before it even really had a name. Well, it does now. It’s called the SR-47, and it’s Knight’s Armament’s 7.62x39mm answer to the Kalashnikov AK-47/AKM. The ergonomics on this weapon are terrific(your humble editor had the opportunity to handle one at Shot Show 2002 in …