By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com October 6, 2009 Speaking of silencers/sound suppressors

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com October 1, 2009 What do you get when you combine a (wheeled) manpackable mini-UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) / ground robot with a flee-type (or grasshopper-type) jumping capability? You get the Precision Urban Hopper (PUH) jumping UGV. The Precision Urban Hopper, brought to you by the friendly folks at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com <p> September 23, 2009 <p> In the embedded video below, DefenseReview.com owner/editor-in-chief David Crane demonstrates the FERFRANS Specialties SOAR (Special Operations Assault Rifle) 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem. select-fire/full-Auto AR SBRs (Short Barreled Rifles)/subcarbines at the range. The two guns featured sport 10.5" and 11.5" barrels, respectively, operate via direct gas impingement (DGI), and utilize …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com July 27, 2009 On July 7, 2009, Army Times published an article by Matt Cox (Matthew Cox) titled Army acquires rights to M4. It’s an interesting piece on the Colt M4 Carbine (Colt M4/M4A1 Carbine).  However, according to one of DefenseReview’s contacts at Colt Defense, Cox’s article is…how can I put this …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com Pictured Below: FERFRANS SOAR Gas Piston/Op-Rod SBR

By Mike Pannone June 15, 2009 In the early months of 2006 while I was helping to write and refine the curriculum of the Asymmetric Warfare Group’s Combat Applications Training Course (CATC) I took it upon myself to research performance enhancements and reliability upgrades as an integral part of educating the soldier on how to maximize his M4/M4A1 carbine. The …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com May 29, 2009 While Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to halt production of the costly Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor low-observable/stealth fighter aircraft is perhaps not the best long-term strategic decision he could have made, it’s certainly understandable. Given the U.S. government’s–and thus DoD’s–current money crunch vs. the program’s high cost and lack …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com May 20, 2009 According to Army Times magazine, The 75th Ranger Regiment is scheduled to battle test the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) very soon. The Rangers will reportedly be taking 600 FN SCAR rifle/carbine/subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) weapons packages into battle, but DefenseReview doesn’t know how many of these are the …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com Photo(s) Credit: Doug Richardson, Special Weapons for Military & Police (SWMP) May 13, 2009 Updated on 5/15/09 And, speaking of Charlie Cutshaw articles, we might as well mention Mr. Cutshaw’s cover gun article on the Vltor/POF 6.5 Grendel (a.k.a. 6.5mm Grendel a.k.a. 6.5G a.k.a. 65G) semi-auto-only direct-gas-impingement (DGI) AR-15 tactical carbine/rifle for …

by David Crane May 6, 2009 The April 2009 issue of Special Weapons for Military & Police (SWMP) (Gun Buyer’s Annual #74) has an article on the Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P15R 5.45x39mm Russian (a.k.a. 5.45x39mm Soviet a.k.a. 5.45x39mm Kalashnikov) semi-auto tactical AR-15 carbine. It’s an interesting offering, since the 5.45mm Russian is an interesting little cartridge, and combining it …