by David Crane There is growing interest by the military in the 20mm cannon round for anti-material use, since it’s capability in this area significantly exceeds that of the .50 BMG. Special Operations units are particularly interested in the development of sniper/anti-material rifles chambered for a cannon round, since they offer significantly increased performance to even the Nammo/Raufoss Mk211 Multipurpose …

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 …

The U.S. Army is looking to significantly increase the lethality of its infantry forces. This involves not only modernizing its combat vehicles, but also the individual soldiers themselves. The Objective Force Warrior (OFW) program is designed to do just that. Here are whole bunch of great…links to info and stories about the program and the two LTI’s(Lead Technology Integrators) competing …

U.S. Ordnance, out of Reno Nevada, is now manufacturing and distributing(under license from Saco Defense) an updated compact version of the now classic M60 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun). Called the M60E4/M43 Mod. 0, the new compact 7.62x51mm machine gun, according to the company, "represents… significant reliability and user-friendly improvements over the M60, M60D, M60E3 machine guns." Combat training and …

by David Crane defrev@gmail.com September 03, 2002 Well, the folks at Leitner-Wise Rifle Co., of Alexandria, VA, have certainly been keeping busy over there. They’ve just come out with two new weapon systems speciifically geared for military Spec-Ops and LE tactical use. We’ll start with the Leitner Wise LW15.499 Mini-.50(or .499), a.k.a. Multi-Level Threat Response System (MLTRS). As this is …

It’s official. The Kimber Custom II single-stack .45 1911(5" Government Model) has apparently defeated all comers, and is thus slated to rest on the thighs of all LAPD SWAT operators in the very near future. For an LE SWAT/SRT contract, it’s a big one–160 guns(2 per operator). The significance of the Kimber Custom II’s adoption is magnified by the fact …

According to Scott Gourley, a "Jane’s Defence Weekly" correspondent, the U.S. army is reportedly close to formally selecting the Lead Technology Integrator for the revolutionary Objective Force Warrior(OFW) system. The goal of the OFW system appears be to greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of both individual infantry soldiers and whole squads, by utilizing lightweight integrated communications and target-identification systems, combined …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com The following article was written and published in June, 2002. It’s no secret that the performance of both the M4 Carbine and it’s 5.56x45mm caliber have, so far, been somewhat less than outstanding in the war against Al-Queda forces in Afghanistan. In short, the enemy hasn’t been dropping quickly enough when they are hit. Apparently, the …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com A little while back, we reported on Paul Liebenberg opening up his own custom shop, Pistol Dynamics, now located in Indialantic, FL. Well, the July/August 2002 issue of "American Handgunner" contains a rather lengthy article by Cameron Hopkins about both Paul and his new "Limited Signature" Model 1911 he created in retro Armand Swenson/Richard Heinie style …

My name is Kevin Donell Vance. In June, I will have been in the United States Air Force for eight years. I hold the rank of Staff Sergeant. I am currently married with two children, ages four and two. I was born on 3 September 1976 and am currently 25 years old. I entered into the USAF eleven days after …