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 Pictured Below: FERFRANS SOAR Gas Piston/Op-Rod SBR

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 defrev at gmail dot com All photographic images contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com, and are the exclusive property of DefenseReview.com. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. All photos were shot with an Olympus Stylus 790 SW 7.1-megapixel digital camera, which is advertised as "shock + waterproof". March 2, 2009 DefenseReview has been publishing …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 24, 2008 Updated on May 6, 2009 Ever since he won the presidential election, the press has been following President-Elect Barack Obama around Chicago like a bunch of hungry (and annoying) puppies. Whether he’s going to his transition office in the Kluczynski Federal Building in the Loop (dowtown Chicago professional district, …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com August 14, 2008 A couple of brothers—twins, actually—out of North Brunswick, Maine, Geoffrey and Michael Howe of Howe and Howe Technologies Inc., have developed a relatively large tracked tactical UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) for military applications called the Ripsaw Military Spec 1 UGV (a.k.a. Ripsaw MS1 UGV a.k.a. Rip Saw MS1 UGV). …

by David Crane defrev at gmail dot com August 4, 2008 While we were reading through the June 2008 issue of Defense Technology International (Dti) magazine, we came across an ad for the Guardium UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle), which is made by G-NIUS Unmanned Ground Systems (GUGS) Ltd. out of Israel. The Guardium UGV, being billed as "the world’s 1st …

by David Crane defrev at gmail.com November 21, 2007 FERFRANS Specialties, manufacturer of the select-fire FERFRANS SOAR series AR-platform 5.56mm NATO/.223 Rem. weapons and new Fast Acquisition Sight (FAS) combat optic, is developing a semi-drop-in gas-piston/op-rod system for AR-15/M16-variant carbines and subcarbines/SBRs (Short-Barreled Rifles). In fact, the company has sent us photos of a prototype 6" test weapon (displayed below) …

By GySgt Will Falcon, USMC (res.) Tampa, Florida October 16, 2007 One of the primary challenges of MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) / Urban Warfare Operations (a.k.a. Urban Combat Ops) is how to use the urban surroundings so that the physical environment becomes an advantage rather than a handicap to our soldiers. Accomplishing this goal will provide both defensive …

by David Crane defrev at gmail.com Ever since the recent active-shooter incident at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA), DefenseReview has been thinking about any/all technologies that could help law enforcement personnel–both SWAT and 1st Responders– deal with this type of threat. You may remember video footage of law enforcent 1st Responders (patrol officers, as usual) positioned outside the building–hiding behind trees …