New 7.62 MG - HK 121

These are the first public photos after the gun was presented at the "day of the infantry" in Hammelburg. The HK 121 is scheduled to replace the aging Rheinmetall MG3 for both mounted and dismounted use in the German Army.

SureFire releases their first AA battery flashlight.

SureFire, LLC, manufacturer of high-end illumination tools and tactical products, has released a new model to its popular Outdoorsman series of flashlights. Like other members of the Outdoorsman family, the new E2L AA features a dual-output, solid-state LED emitter; tailcap switching; a TIR lens, and a weather-resistant aerospace aluminum body that’s been Mil-Spec hard anodized. It differs, however, in its power source. The E2L AA, as its name suggests, runs on either two AA lithium or AA alkaline batteries-a first for SureFire.

The progression of LED technology has finally led to a reasonable output/runtime combination that measured up to SureFire standards. For nearly twenty years, SureFire was the only flashlight manufacturer to use lithium 123A batteries, the only sufficient compact power source to run the high-output incandescent lamps that made SureFire famous. However, 123A batteries aren’t as cheap as AA and are harder to find. AA batteries are still not as powerful as the 123A so the E2L AA Outdoorsman was designed primarily for outdoor use, but it’s built to the same standards as its battle-proven brothers.

Of course, a choice of batteries is not the only factor that makes the E2L AA a great fit for the Great Outdoors. Its power-regulated LED generates two output levels: 80 lumens of light on high (four times the light of a typical two-D-cell flashlight), perfect for searching or signaling, or three lumens on low, enough light for navigating, reading a map, or other close-range tasks without compromising night-adapted vision. The flashlight runs for nine hours on a set of AA lithium batteries at its high setting and 60 hours at its low setting, allowing a user to better manage runtime by switching between the two levels as needed. A Total Internal Reflection (TIR) lens gathers the solid-state LED’s light and shapes it into a versatile beam with plenty of reach and enough surround light to accommodate peripheral vision. And to protect the E2L AA from the elements, its Mil-Spec hard-anodized aerospace aluminum body is sealed with O-rings and gaskets to keep out moisture and dirt.

The E2L AA retails for $159 and is available now.

 

For more information visit  http://www.surefire.com

Army Upgrades M24 sniper system to .300 WinMag. Army snipers smile, wince

The Army today awarded a contract valued at up to $28.2m for Remington to upgrade up to 3600 fielded M24 sniper rifles from 7.62mm NATO to .300 Winchester Magnum. PM Soldier Weapons began the competition back in January, 2010, and has made other changes beyond the upgrade to .300 WinMag as outlined below (from Remington’s  press release) to come up with the new M24E1 Sniper Weapon System:

 

• A completely new chassis (stock) assembly, which maximizes the amount of physical adjustments for the sniper to provide a true customized fit. The chassis has a folding buttstock that radically shortens the system for easier transport and greater concealment during movement and accommodates the mounting of accessories via removable Mil Std 1913 Picatinny Rails.
• An improved 6.5-20×50 variable power Leupold rifle-scope with an enhanced reticle within the first focal plane and a .300 Winchester Magnum bullet-drop compensator (BDC)
• A quick-attach/detach Advanced Armament Corp. suppressor with muzzle brake
• A 5-round detachable box magazine
• Advanced corrosion resistant coatings throughout the system

Photo courtesy: Remington

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Leupold Tactical CM-R2 Reticle

Leupold’s Tactical Optics Division introduces the CM-R2™ reticle, which allows tactical and competitive shooters to quickly and accurately estimate range and engage targets.

By combining the ranging ability of Leupold’s Special Purpose Reticle (SPR®) with the quick acquisition of the Leupold Circle Dot reticle, the CM-R2 provides the flexibility necessary on the modern battlefield or 3-gun course. The CM-R2 preserves the instinctive fire capabilities of the Circle Dot for the short-range, low magnification needs of the 3-gun competitor or CQB war-fighter.

The CM-R2 is designed to allow the shooter to focus more attention on the target and less attention on the reticle. A boldly illuminated 0.5 MOA dot surrounded by a 5.0 MOA semi-circle enhance the shooter’s focus and combine precision with speed when the target is up close and personal. Hash marks on the horizontal stadia are calibrated for leading moving targets at 5, 10 and 15 mph, respectively. Vertical tic marks allow users to estimate ranges based on 18” wide targets at increasing ranges, while also providing precise holdover points for targets between 300 and 900 meters.

“The CM-R2 reticle makes our battlefield-proven Mark 4 MR/T® and CQ/T® line of rifle scopes even more versatile,” said Kevin Trepa, Leupold’s vice president of tactical sales and marketing. “American war fighters and civilian shooting enthusiasts alike will enjoy the fast-ranging capabilities of this reticle.”

For optimum results, rifle scopes with the CM-R2 reticle should be zeroed at 200 yards using M855 5.56mm NATO/.223 Remington ammunition producing a muzzle velocity of 2,810 fps with 62 grain FMJ bullets.

The CM-R2 is available in Leupold Mid Range/Tactical (MR/T) and Close Quarters/Tactical (CQ/T) rifle scopes. Leupold has offered precision optics for tactical applications since the 1983 introduction of Ultra rifle scopes, which were designed to excel under the most extreme battlefield conditions. Today, more long-range Leupold Tactical Optics are in service with the U.S. military than any other brand. For more information on Leupold Tactical Optics, go to Leupold.com or call 1-800-LEUPOLD.

Medal of Honor nominee shares credit with squad

Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta will be the first living service member to receive the medal since the Vietnam War

 

By Anne Gearan - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 11, 2010

WASHINGTON — The first living service member from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor said Saturday the medal honors more than a dozen fellow soldiers who were part of a deadly ambush three years ago.

“What I remember and what I would like to tell people is that it was not me doing everything,” Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta said in a telephone interview from Vicenza, Italy, where he serves.

According to the Army, Giunta, 25, of Hiawatha, Iowa, exposed himself to enemy gunfire to try to save two fellow soldiers.

He will become the eighth service member to receive the Medal of Honor during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The seven previous medals were presented posthumously.

Giunta learned of the honor when he got a phone call from President Obama on Thursday, he said.

“My wife was with me, and she heard me say, ‘Mr. President,’ so we knew then,” Giunta told The Associated Press.

Giunta was serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, when an insurgent ambush split his squad into two groups on Oct. 25, 2007, in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, the White House said in a news release.

Giunta went above and beyond the call of duty when he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a fellow soldier back to cover, the White House said. He engaged the enemy again when he saw two insurgents carrying away a wounded soldier, Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan, 22, of McFarland, Wis. Giunta killed one insurgent and wounded the other before tending to Brennan, who died the next day.

“His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American soldier from enemy hands,” the White House said.

About 16 soldiers fought alongside him, Giunta said, and all did their part.

“My piece of the puzzle is what everyone is interested in right now, but it was not the only one,” Giunta said.

Giunta still serves with the same unit. The rest of his unit is deployed in Afghanistan again, but he is based in Italy in a support role.

The White House has not scheduled a ceremony to present the medal.

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Improved Magazine Debuts on Armed Forces Network

PEO Soldier recently worked with Defense Media Activity to put together a “Hot Spot” on the 5.56mm 30-round improved magazine that delivers a significant increase in reliability for the battle-tested M16 and M4 weapons systems. The short, informative spot will appear on Armed Forces Network stations around the globe through September 26. The piece reminds Soldiers that “Tan is the plan. Green is good, but black? Send it back.”

The Army’s goal is to field approximately 7,000,000 improved magazines for the Army’s fleet of M16 and M4 weapons. They are currently free issue for deploying units and those in theater. All units operating in theater should contact their chain of command if they have not already received their improved magazines. The new magazines are available in the supply system now for replenishment and can be requisitioned under the NSN 1005-01-561-7200.

Special thanks to Defense Media Activity for helping spread the word on the improved magazine.

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MRAPs reducing IED deaths in Afghanistan

Vehicles have reduced deaths and injuries by 30 percent since 2009

By Tom Vanden Brook - USA TODAY
Posted : Wednesday Sep 8, 2010

WASHINGTON — The military’s new armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles in Afghanistan are significantly reducing troop deaths in roadside attacks at a time when insurgent bombings are at record levels, according to statistics provided to USA TODAY.

Deaths of U.S. and allied troops fell from 76 in July 2009 to 57 in July of this year, according to the military command in Afghanistan.

Nearly 80 percent of roadside bomb attacks on Humvees from January 2009 through the end of July 2010 killed occupants, according to Air Force Maj. Michael Johnson, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, the top command in Afghanistan. That figure dropped to 15 percent for attacks on MRAP vehicles, and an all-terrain MRAP model tailor-made for Afghanistan’s rugged terrain. The trucks are designed to shield people from roadside bomb blasts.

The military estimates that MRAPs have reduced deaths and injuries by 30 percent over that time. That amounts to dozens of lives saved each month.

More than $40 billion will have been spent by the end of September to build, ship and maintain MRAPs.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made the armored truck the Pentagon’s top priority during the most intense fighting of the war in Iraq in mid 2007. Humvees, the one-time workhorse vehicle of the military, have been mostly confined to bases in Afghanistan in recent months.

The trucks’ performance in Afghanistan, where IEDs have become the insurgents’ weapon of choice, has prompted Gates to continue to push for more of them, said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary. There are about 12,000 MRAPs in Afghanistan and about 100,000 U.S. troops.

“This is precisely why the secretary has been so adamant that we get as many MRAPs as possible to Afghanistan,” Morrell said. “In the counterinsurgency fight, one of the best ways to protect our troops has been the MRAP.”

The MRAP’s ability to reduce casualties is important, said Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. But other factors are also considered in determining its usefulness.

“Ultimately it will be judged more on whether it helped U.S. troops accomplish their mission in Afghanistan than on its ability to reduce casualties,” Krepinevich said in an e-mail. “Right now the war’s outcome is still in doubt. If we succeed, the MRAPs, despite their high cost, will be seen as worth it. If we fail, some people will likely question whether we could have succeeded by adopting a different strategy and employing our resources differently.”

Meanwhile, IEDs remain deadly in Afghanistan. Last week, seven troops from the U.S.-led coalition were killed by roadside bombs.

Military officials rarely release data regarding attacks on vehicles, citing concerns about providing information of use to insurgents.

Johnson, the military spokesman in Afghanistan, said there has been a drop in deaths and injuries from IEDs in the last 12 weeks compared with the same period in 2009. “This period covers what is historically the enemy’s last offensive push before retreating for the winter,” Johnson said in an e-mail.

NATO: Taliban outnumbered around Kandahar

By Slobodan Lekic - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 7, 2010

BRUSSELS — The NATO-led coalition has overwhelming numerical superiority over the Taliban around the key southern Afghan city of Kandahar and expects to clear the area of insurgents by November’s end, a top commander said Tuesday.

Whether the operation’s success will last, however, will depend on the Afghan government’s ability to offer the area long-term security, Maj. Gen. Nick Carter said.

The operation to firm up security in Kandahar, with a population of about a half million with another half million in the hinterlands, is by far the biggest in the nine-year war.

The city served as the capital of the Taliban when the Islamist militia rose to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden used it as his base during the 9/11 attacks. Now, the insurgency draws its greatest strength from the province and the neighboring region, dominated by the ethnic Pashtun majority who form the Taliban core.

Carter said there were 10,000-12,000 Afghan national army troops in the region along with 5,000 Afghan police, besides about 15,000 international troops. They face about 1,000 guerrillas, said Carter, who heads Regional Command South, where Kandahar is located.

Coalition forces have been trying for years to pacify villages around Kandahar City, which the insurgents use to infiltrate the biggest urban center of the south.

Although the international force has always been successful in clearing the militants, they have managed to return within months because the NATO-led coalition didn’t have the forces to hold on to the areas.

“You need to dominate the population and dominate the ground ... in order to secure the solution,” Carter said.

He said most of the coalition effort was aimed at clearing the Taliban from the surrounding districts of Zhari and Panjwai and along Highway 1, “where they operate ... with a degree of freedom of action.”

“I can’t go into the timing of all this, suffice it to say it will happen in 2-3 months,” Carter said during a video conference from Kandahar. “Our expectation is that by mid- to the end of November we will have rid those areas of the Taliban.”

The NATO force in Regional Command South consists mainly of Americans, British and Canadians, along with Slovak, French and Belgian contingents.

While acknowledging that the ultimate success of the operation depends on the Afghan government’s long-term security capabilities, Carter suggested patience.

“These things take time, and if you give (the government) time there’s a sporting chance it will prevail,” he said.

———

Associated Press Writer Robert H. Reid contributed to this report.

M14 7.62mm Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR)

Click picture to enlarge

Mission
Provides infantry squads with the capability to engage enemy targets beyond the range of M4 Carbines and M16 Rifles.

The M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR) is an air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed, shoulder-fired weapon. It is a rack stock M14 rifle mated to an enhanced aluminum billet stock, Mark 4 tactical scope, and cantilever mount. With its new adjustable buttstock and cheek rest and M4-style pistol grip, the rifle is effective in close quarters combat and in the Squad Designated Marksman role. The EBR can be returned to its original configuration with no permanent modifications.

Five thousand M14 EBRs were reconfigured and assembled at TACOM Lifecycle Management Command (LCMC ) at Rock Island Arsenal in response to Operational Need Statements requesting a longer range capability. The upgraded weapons are currently in service with select Army units.

Specifications

Caliber: 7.62mm

Semi-automatic

Weight:

–14.9 pounds (empty)

–16.6 pounds (with loaded magazine)

Barrel length: 22 inches

Magazine: 20 rounds

Maximum effective range: 600 – 800 (shooter dependent)

Muzzle velocity: 2,600 feet per second

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Force recon Marines return to MEUs

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Aug 31, 2010

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — As part of continued efforts to enhance the Corps’ ship-boarding capabilities, Force Reconnaissance Marines are set to deploy next year as part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The MEU’s 2,300-plus Marines and sailors will be a multi-mission, rapid-response force equipped and prepared to do more maritime missions — including amphibious raids, assaults on ships or oil platforms and boat operations.

The addition of a platoon of force reconnaissance Marines, along with added rigid-hull inflatable boats borrowed from the Navy, will position the 13th MEU through its six-month workup and shipboard deployment to join in the Corps’ ongoing efforts to the VBSS, or visit-board-search-seize, mission.

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