by David Crane david@defensereview.com While we’re on the subject of Russian assault rifles, we might as well mention a couple of their Polish cousins, the Z.M. Lucznik, Radom-made 5.56x45mm kbs wz. 96 Beryl assault rifle and kbk wz. 96 Mini-Beryl carbine/subcarbine. Basically just updated and improved versions of the Radom wz. 88 Tantal assault rifle and wz. 89 Onyks subcarbine, …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com U.S. military and law enforcement personnel may soon have a new high-tech, albeit small, weapon at their disposal in the "War on Terror". Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has teamed up with some graduate students at the University of Florida in Gainseville to create a small, ballistic "sticky" round/projectile, originally conceived to aid U.S. Armed …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com If you’ve already read my recent article, "AFJ Shoot-Out at Blackwater, the Milkor MGL Mk-1S, and the HK XM8 Rifle/Carbine", be sure to also check out the AFJ Shoot-Out at Blackwater 2004 videos page. There’s some really great stuff on there. DefenseReview has, in the past (over time), already written articles on most of the weapons …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com One of DefRev’s close contacts in the Mil/LE tactical training community just called our attention to this document. It’s an after-action report on/assessment of U.S. infantry small arms performance during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). The Soldier Weapons Assessment Team’s report focused on "current state of weapons, ammunition and accessories directly managed by PMSW: M9 Pistol to …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com O.k., this one looks legit. It comes to us straight from the U.S. Army’s PEO Soldier website. "PEO" stands for "Program Executive Office". DefRev was tipped to it by one of our readers. The article discusses the XM8 "Lightweight Assault Carbine" and the Army’s desire to field "the entire family of XM-8 rifles and not just …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Lauer Custom Weaponry has come out with an interesting hard-use black firearms finish for tactical weapons. It’s called DuraCoat. DefRev hasn’t tried this finish out yet. To date, the only high-tech black finish the DefRev team has experience with so far is Birdsong’s Black-T, and we’ve all been very satisfied with it. I’ve had Black-T applied …

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/investigators/wabc_investigators_111803gunlube.html "Weapons Lube Issued by Army May be Costing Lives in Iraq By Jim Hoffer (New York-WABC, November 18, 2003) — In a four-month investigation that reaches from the sands of Iraq to the halls of the Pentagon, we found that weapons given to tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers may not work in the desert. All because of a …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Defrev has received the second "card"-like edged weapon. This "card" is thicker than the one discussed in our previous story titled "Advanced Synthetic Edged and Pointed Weapons for Clandestined Carry: Reloaded" , but it’s every bit as sharp. Actually, it might be even sharper. This new item is sharpened in the same fashion as the thinner …

This week’s issue of the Army Times features two good stories covering the XM8/XM29 and XM312 programs: The OICW, now designated as the XM29, has been completely overhauled with an entirely new development and acquisition plan. The XM312, a .50 caliber heavy machine-gun born from the advanced XM307, is now set to replace the venerable "Ma Deuce" that has served …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Awhile back, DefRev reported on a very cool line of synthetic edged and pointed self-defense tools for clandestined carry being made by a certain as yet unnamed outfit. You can view that story by clicking on this link. Well, we just got the updated "new and improved" batch, and they’re even better than before. The new …