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Well the ole’ M67 has gone the way of the dodo bird.
Enter ET-MP Frag/Concussion Twofer.
Now our enemies get a 2 for 1 deal…Concussion and Shrapnel all in one big, bright and loud package.
Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!
Soldiers should not hold their breath on any of these, some of this tech has been “in the pipeline” for years.-SF
1. M4A1
How heavy is it? Unloaded and without accessories: 7.74 pounds
When might you have one? You might already. The upgrade of M4s (and replacement of M16s) is around a quarter complete and will continue until roughly 2020.
Why should you care?The upgrade offers a heavier barrel; some soldiers reported M4s overheating, becoming warped and then jamming during extended use, particularly in Afghanistan. It also adds ambidextrous safety controls and converts the weapon’s three-round burst option into fully-automatic.
Will this actually happen? Yes. Here’s what won’t happen, however: The Army also ran a market survey in March 2015 for additional M4 upgrades dubbed M4A1+. Ideas included: an extended Picatinny rail, a floating barrel for enhanced accuracy, and an optional sniper-style single-stage trigger for marksmen, flash suppressor, removable sights, and more neutral colors, among a variety of other enhancements. But the “plus” died with the survey; there’s currently no formal requirements, program of record nor funding.
2. XM17 (Modular Handgun System)
What does it do? This will replace the Beretta M9 as the Army’s sidearm.
How heavy is it? The 351-page requirement document does not specify a weight, but presumably similar weight to a standard striker-style handgun, between 1.5 and 2 pounds.
When might you have one? The Army plans for full-rate production in 2018.
Why should you care? The Army has used an iteration of the M9 as its standard sidearm since 1985. The new pistol will feature better modularity, ergonomics, and accuracy. The requirements require a striker-style firing mechanism. The modular aspect will include ability to adjust grip size, and to add accessories via a Picatinny rail. The competition is open caliber, so the 9mm NATO standard round could be upsized to a .40 or a .45 caliber weapon. In addition the Army, which has stuck with full metal jackets for decades, has not ruled out hollow-point or fragmenting ammunition.
Will this actually happen? Probably. But not definitely. Companies (the Army won’t say how many) have submitted their candidates for the contract for the Army to evaluate, so the wheels are in motion. But that was also true of the Individual Carbine program canceled in 2013, and soldiers still carry M4s with no replacement plans in sight. Complaints of cost/waste have already emerged: Army Chief Gen. Mark Milleyquipped he could find a new pistol with $17 million and a trip to Cabela’s, and Sen. John McCain slammed the MHS program in his series of “Americas Most Wasted” reports. If such complaints intensify in a tight budget environment, the Army could pull the plug.
3. Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System
What does it do? It shoots people from far away. The Army has selected a variant of Heckler & Koch’s G28 for the role, replacing the M110.
How heavy is it? Roughly 12.7 pounds, or 3 pounds lighter than the M110.
Why should you care? Because you like your marksmen to have sniper rifles as good or better than their current ones, but smaller and lighter. The Army wanted a rifle that was easier to use in close quarters that also offered better ergonomics, accuracy and reliability.
Will this actually happen? Almost certainly. The contract’s been awarded, so if the 30 rifles H&K provide for testing prove as effective as the ones tested, the Army will buy up to 3,643.
What does it do? The XM25 grenade launcher and its five-25mm grenade magazine offers a programmable round and fire control.
How heavy is it? Roughly 14 pounds, unloaded.
When might you have one? Perhaps as soon as 2017. Assuming funding (which the Army has requested for the coming fiscal year) and testing stay on track.
5. IRAP (Increase Range Anti-Personnel)
What does it do? Along with the separate XM25 weapon, the Army is pursuing a new 40mm grenade cartridge that can be fired by the M320, one with better range and accuracy as well as advanced fuze functionality (when and why it explodes).
How heavy is it? Roughly the same as an M433 grenade round.
When might you have one? It is planned to start as a program of record (a funded weapons program) in 2017.
Why should you care? The IRAP rolled in the technology from the Small Arms Grenade Munition smart grenade, which can sense a wall or building or obstacle and then automatically explode just after passing it. SAGM required no pre-programming; just point your standard grenade launcher and shoot. The requirements from a December market survey indicate the Army wants increased range, lethality and accuracy as well as increased fuze functionality and versatility compared to the M433. The survey asked vendors what would trigger an airburst or explosion, and whether any other equipment like fire control would be needed for a demonstration.
Will this actually happen? With plans to become a program of record next year: very likely. The Army says the round is not competing against the XM25 — although every defense dollar is competing against every other defense dollar, especially in at least a relatively similar functionality. Unlike the XM25, SAGM doesn’t require the Army to buy new guns. If the price-tag doesn’t vary too much from standard grenades, it’d be easy to imagine this supplementing or supplanting those purchases. Even if not, the Army still sounds like it’s fairly committed, though no solicitation has been issued.
Read About The Remaining 13 Improvements at Army Times
In August the Army celebrated 75 years of airborne operations. Some highlights:
August 1940:
A test platoon from Fort Benning’s 29th Infantry Regiment executes the Army’s first airborne training jump less than 45 days after airborne was formed. The U.S. joined several world powers who had also developed the capability after World War I, including Italy, the Soviet Union, Germany, and Great Britain.
May 1941: Germany’s massive airborne invasion of Crete, Greece captures the island and thousands of British and Greek prisoners, but massive casualties convince Adolf Hitler to never use the tactic again. Allies, meanwhile, draw different conclusions and use airborne operations, with mixed results, throughout the war.
November 1942: The U.S. carried out its first major airborne assault of World War II during the largely-amphibious invasion of North Africa, Operation Torch . The U.S. 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment flew from Britain into present-day Algeria to capture two airfields near Oran. Bad weather and communications diverted aircraft and scattered the drop, and while some would participate in battle in Tunisia, the paratroopers were too disorganized to participate in the battle for Oran.
June 1944: Operation Overlord, the invasion at Normandy on D-Day, started with a 1,200-plane airborne assault into German-occupied France hours before the larger beach landings. American paratroopers from the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions achieved mixed results. They accomplished some key goals such as securing flanks for the amphibious invasion, though they also suffered missed landing zones and failure to meet other D-Day objectives.
March 1945: More than 16,000 allied paratroopers participate in Operation Varsity during the last major airborne operation of WWII and the largest one-day drop. The mission successfully overwhelmed the German opposition. Casualties for the two divisions totaled 2,700, with about 3,500 Germans captured and an unknown number of casualties.
March 1951: During Operation Tomahawk, the second of two Korean War jumps, about 3,400 ‘Rakkasans’ with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team jump behind enemy lines to trap enemy forces north of Seoul. But as with the first airborne drop in 1950 north of Pyongyang, most of the opposing Chinese and North Korean forces they hoped to corner escaped.
February 1967: About 800 paratroopers engage in America’ lone combat jump into Vietnam, Operation Junction City. While able to inflict significant causalities, the objective of finding and destroying the Viet Cong’s central command post failed. Most troops entered battle in Vietnam via air assault (helicopter).
October 1983: The United States invades Grenada with Operation Urgent Fury. Following an initial wave of 500 Rangers, about 6,500 troops enter in an amphibious, airborne, and helicopter assault of the Caribbean island nation with a population of about 90.000 that met minimal local and Cuban resistance.
December 1989: The 82nd Airborne Division makes its first jump since World War II when 4,000 paratroopers, along with the 75th Ranger Regiment, drop in to invade Panama and ultimately help remove dictator, drug trafficker, and former CIA-informant Manuel Noriega.
September 1994: Planes loaded with paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division were already in the air and on the way to invade Haiti during the UN-authorized Operation Uphold Democracy. Before they arrived, though, 1991 military coup leader and dictator Raoul Cedras decided to step down and restore the democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
March 2003: About 950 paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade jump into Northern Iraq into Bashur Airfield, which had already been secured by the 75th Ranger Regiment and Kurdish allies.
Read the Original Article with Full Color Photos at Army Times
Before you write off this movie, which is UBER Goofy and Full of bad language and corny jokes know that it stars Medal of Honor Recipients Leroy Petry and Clint Romesha. Plus fellow Texan Marcus Luttrell makes a cameo…..nuff’ said. -SF
Watch the trailer below. This should go without saying, but it’s not safe for work.
The new blood-soaked, belligerence-filled trailer for “Range 15” went live on Jan. 26, and it’s what you’d expect from the Ranger Up and Article 15 internet personalities behind it.
Meaning, it’s fucking awesome.
The premise of the movie provides an answer to the question many veterans and service members have asked one another over drinks and during smoke breaks: “What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?”
he two-and-a-half-minute teaser includes at least one blow-up doll, a mostly naked and blood splattered Tim Kennedy, in a ring with what looks like a zombified Randy Couture, and a reference to the final scene from “The Rock.”
There are cameos from stars like William Shatner, Danny Trejo, and Keith David, and at one point, Navy SEAL veteran Marcus Luttrell becomes zombie fodder as Mat Best quips “looks like we’re the lone survivors now.”
The independent film, is veteran made, starred, and largely paid for through crowdfunding. It was also shot in just 13 days.
“Range 15” will debut at the G.I. Film Festival in Washington, D.C., in May, but the trailer premiered on Jan. 25 at the Indie Lounge in Park City, Utah, during the Sundance Film Festival, reports Army Times.
From the outset, the project has had the feel of a million-dollar inside joke, put on just for service members and veterans and is a far cry from typical depictions of the military community, which are oftentimes serious and somber, if not downright tragic.
“It’s for the veteran community, it’s not for anyone else if they don’t want it to be,” said Nick Palmisciano, an Army veteran and founder of Ranger Up, during a behind the scenes look at “Range 15.
“I hope that it does a lot to bridge the veteran and military divide,” said Palmisciano, before adding, “but if it doesn’t and the only thing that happens is that our community has a movie that they love, then we succeeded.”
Read the Original Article at Task and Purpose
