by David Crane david at defensereview.com – Vltor Weapon Systems is now manufacturing Russian-type 7.62mmx54R (7.62x54mm) PKM General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG) for U.S. military forces. It’s our understanding that the Vltor PKMs will be used for familiarization training, and possibly OPFOR (just seems logical). DefRev got to view and handle one of these guns at the Vltor booth, and …

by David Crane david at defensereview.com DefenseReview.com has received video footage of a weaponized version of the AutoCopter self-stabilized unmanned mini-helicopter being tested for the first time in sunny Huntsville, Alabama (The download link for this video is further down in this article.). The AutoCopter is made by Neural Robotics Incorporated (NRI), and the armament/weapons portion of the package is …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview is going to be publishing articles (with photos and possibly even audio interviews) on a good number of technologies that interested us at SHOT Show 2006. But, just to get the ball rolling, the following are some "quick hits" on these items, just to get the ball rolling: — Vltor Weapon Systems blew a lot …

by Bob Taubert October 19, 2005 Let me start out by saying that I’m an unabashed fan of assault rifle/small arms systems that provide relatively long barrel lengths in compact packages. Troops in the Afghan and Iraqi theaters of operation want agile shoulder weapons that they can fight from vehicles with, clear buildings and rooms and at the same time …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com This article was published on Sept. 8, 2005. The Advanced Gunner Scanner Simulator II a.k.a. Aerial Gunner Scanner Simulator II system discussed in this article has since been renamed. It is now designated the Advanced Generation Simulator System II (AGSS II). As a door gunner in a MH-60K Black Hawk (U.S. Army) or MH-60R Sea Hawk …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com June 20, 2005 The following story is a DefenseReview.com exclusive. All digital photos accompanying this article were taken by, and are the exclusive property of, DefenseReview.com. Click on photos to view them full-size. Back in July 2004, DefenseReview wrote about the Milkor MGL Mk-1S 40mm multiple grenade launcher, which is an improved version of their original …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Back in March, DefenseReview published a short article and press release on U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) contracts that were awarded to Symbionics Inc. and Icuiti Corporation to develop Modular Wearable Computers (MOWC) for the future Marine Corps warfighter, which could be integrated with the Marine Corps’ unmanned vehicle programs. The article was titled Next-Gen Modular Wearable …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview readers might remember the article we wrote on Patriot Arms, Inc. high-end custom sniper rifles back in May, 2004, titled "High-End Silenced Sniper/Long-Range-Interdiction Rifles from Patriot Arms Inc.". That article was basically a recap of Al Paulson’s excellent article on Patriot Arms that he wrote for "Special Weapons for Military & Police". Patriot Arms Inc. …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com This just in: DefenseReview has been told by one of its sources that FN Herstal’s/FNH USA, Inc.’s SCAR/SOFCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle) program competition winner utilizes an updated/upgraded FN FNC upper receiver w/M1913 Picatinny rail system, mated to a modified M4/M4A1 Carbine-config/type lower receiver. Supposedly, the M4/M4A1 Carbine-config/type lower features an HK M4 (a.k.a. …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefRev had the pleasure of running into Caleb Crye of Crye Associates/Crye Precision and the boys from Michaels of Oregon at IACP, and taking a look at the product(s) of their new collaberation, Blackwater Gear™, at the Blackwater Gear™ booth. Definitely some cool stuff. We’ll report more on the new Blackwater Gear™ later. In the meantime, …