That's not a gun. This is a GUN!!!

Known on US Navy ships as the Close In Weapon System, or CIWS (or Phalanx), in Iraq somebody had the totally awesome idea to mobilize them and use them at ground facilities for. . . . . wait for it. . . . shooting down rockets and mortars!  Wicked!!  This version is goes by the much cooler name of Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar, or C-RAM.  Other countries have 30mm and 40mm versions, but the US CIWS/C-RAM is a 20mm gun.


Rate of fire for the latest system is reportedly 4,500 rounds per minute, and doing the math shows that to equate to 75 rounds per second!  That's nasty.  I guess it has to be to be able to shoot football sized objects down from several miles away while they're traveling at 3,000+ feet per second.  I didn't have this system where I was at, so all incoming rounds just landed wherever, but I would have been glad to have this beast shooting stuff down.  Now I wonder how much each round costs so that I can calculate how much a four second burst costs.

ETA:  And another one that shows thermal imaging where you can see the actual mortar taking hits and blowing up from the 20mm rounds. 

This one's even better!



ETA:  All right, so apparently this concept is way more high tech than the CIWS/C-RAM system.  The Germans have a 35mm "Revolver" that is way cool at shooting down incoming threats.  Hang in there towards the end of the video to see what the rounds do to missiles and such.  Awesome!

A waste of perfectly good armor

Pictures from an abandoned Ukrainian armor repair depot.  That's a bunch of tanks, and one can only imagine how many other abandoned facilities there are out there.

Cooooool.

I love it when a plan comes together

Some Brits and Afghanis were saved from Taliban execution this weekend by British SAS and US Navy SEALs.

The soldiers moved into the darkness shooting dead the kidnappers with silenced weapons. Several were dispatched with a “double tap” the preferred method of killing - two bullets in the centre of the forehead.

The US special forces cleared and secured their target, killing seven kidnappers in the process but no hostages had been found.

For an instant commanders faced the dreadful possibility that the four aid workers had been moved. Seconds later, however, the tension was broken when the SAS team commander’s radio crackled into life, reporting that all four hostage were alive and well, before adding that a further four kidnappers had been killed.

Sounds stealthy.  I imagine the hostages felt a good deal of relief when they were set free and flown back home.  I'm glad to hear that they were all good to go.

Dropping the case

The Marine Corps and Army are developing new caseless and case-telescoped ammunition that, when partnered with a new light machine gun also in development, could significantly cut the burden on troops in combat. And perhaps more significant than that, in the coming years this revolutionary ammo could drive production of the Corps’ next service rifle.

With modern technology, caseless cartridges don't look like they're far off.  Unfortunately, in order to get the Service buck$ to fully develop it, they have to run the gauntlet and survive the slayer of programs: a.k.a. the Acquisition Wall Chart.  Folks can whine all they want to about the cost of weapons systems, defense spending, and how icky contractors are pissing away US dollars, but it's my firm opinion that the atrocious wallchart of death is to blame for the inefficiencies, and it was created in a university and has been lovingly nurtured ever since into a dollar-eating leviathan.  The wallchart of doom is a mire of acronyms and techno-terminology that nobody can possibly understand, but they all act like they do just the same, and it swallows programs whole.  I hope new small arms programs survive the beast and grow into something beautiful.  I really do.

Back to the story though, the concept of caseless ammo is not new, and the challenges associated with it are well known.  First thing to understand is that when a brass cased cartridge (or plastic shotgun hull) is fired inside of a chamber, it seals off the expanding gasses at the chamber end which aids in velocity of the projectile down and out the muzzle.  Caseless ammo has to overcome this hurdle.  Secondly, when the case is ejected, it takes heat with it -- which it's good to expel the heat and all, but it also is mechanically complicated to have an ejection system in the first place, which is a major cause of malfunctions.  So that part is a double edged sword.  You may have heat problems (almost certainly), but you should have a huge boost in reliability since there's no expended case to eject, and less moving parts in the system.  The remedy for the heat issue may be in the use of a modern propellant, and I have no idea on how they would tackle the gass-sealing issue.

The main reason though for caseless ammo consideration is a reduction in weight.  This also is a double edged sword because, as veterans will attest, a reduction in weight in one area translates to an increase in weight in another.  Guaranteed.  You read it in articles all the time about "reducing combat weight for the poor overburdened Soldier," but that's all just a bunch of bullshit in reality.  Somewhere, in a secretive and non-descript room in a huge five-sided building, some heartless yayhoo with an evil laugh has a magic number bayoneted to the wall that shows the total average weight an 18 to 20ish American male in good physical condition can carry for four days without dying from exhaustion, and they approve a certain amount of weight above that number.  The upside is that you get to tell the Warrior that the reduction in weight will be filled with a corresponding increase in killing potential -- that will go over well, or at least much better than telling him or her that the weight will be made up for with sandbags or some other equipment -- batteries -- that won't be as useful for slaying enemies.

I'm all about caseless cartridges.  In fact, I'd kinda like to try my hand at reloading them, considering my addiction and all.  Instead of resizing brass cases until my fingers bleed, I could be molding my own rounds out of putty-like propellant on a miniature pottery wheel. . . . like in Ghost!  It would definitely be better for my nails!

82nd Airborne in Afghanistan

About 80 high resolution photos of the 82nd Airborne kicking ass in Afghanistan at theBrigade.  (***Graphic: blood)  There are about a half dozen photos of a Soldier carrying a suppressed Remington MSR with a Premier Reticles scope.  While I think it would be fun to shoot that rifle, I don't think I would want to carry it.  I've handled a suppressed one before, and it's a beast.  There's also a M110 sniper rifle in there, and I can't help but to laugh at the massive Trijicon ACOG on top of a M240 machine gun, with a huge reflex sight mounted on top of that.  It's like something from Doctor Seuss; the reflex is at least six inches above the bore, and closer to eight inches.

200 miles from nowhere

A sad but neat story about RAF Flight Sergeant Denis Copping who went Missing In Action in 1942 who apparently crashed his P-40 Kittyhawk in the Sahara, 200 miles from the nearest town.  It's deducted that his fate was wandering off into the desert until it claimed him, which is brutal.  There are excellent pictures of the aircraft at the link.

Found at Ace of Spades HQ

Won't BUFF out

Old NFO has a couple of videos and some information of the B-52 doing its thing.  I've always been in awe of this aircraft not only for its longevity, but also the massive payload the thing can deliver.  Whereas a F-16 can carry up to a dozen MK82 bombs, the B-52 can carry over 50, which is a whole lot of hurt to be delivered on target.  To give you an idea, here is 9 JDAMs being dropped at one time.

It's gonna happen! Cooooooool!!

Awhile back I noted the thread concerning the idea of what would happen if a Marine Expeditionary Unit went back in time and took on the Roman Empire.  I still stand firmly on the idea that it would be over within a few days if the Marines focused on taking out senior leadership and not trying to kill each and every Roman Soldier. 

Well, as it turns out there's a movie in the works on this very scenario.  I really hope they don't make it suck.  My guess is it'll be geared towards the viewing pleasure of the audience and less towards what would actually happen, which means there will be a scene or three where the Marines try to hold a line and fire rifles into the full mass of Romans, and not much in the way of a couple of forward observers annihilating the Romans with an artillery strike or two.  The latter is the tactic that would be chosen if this became a really real reality, to be followed up with a nightime raid by a few good Marines ricky-reconning into the bed chambers of the Roman Emperor and other leaders and killing them softly with Ka-Bars and suppressed rifles.

It's all in good fun, regardless!

I'm a super dork

So I was reading the bible story the other day about David and Goliath, and right off the bat some things stood out that didn't make any sense.  My view about many bible stories these days is that, while I don't have any evidence to doubt that something didn't happen specifically the way it's written, it all falls well behind the message, which to me is not only paramount, but timeless.  I don't see the story of David and Goliath as being about them, or that David was better suited as king than Saul, nor do I see it being about Israel or kings or time-periods for that matter, because all of us fight our own Goliaths each and every day, and that has application right now; in essence, it's a parable intended for every generation and not a historical fact.  What conclusively tells me that about this story are the weapons, armor, and tactics that are named; and as it turns out I'm not the only one who picked that up.

I'm a big dork for all things military, and when I'm told that a dude was frickin' nine feet tall (for reelz!  It says so!), who is a champion fighter trained from birth to kill for a living, that despite it being the iron age he's wearing bronze armor and an iron spear (that oh by the way is humongous for no apparent reason), I have doubts.  Not really doubts, because the whole thing is totally nonsensical.

To start, he's wearing a bronze helmet, and from my previous knowledge and recent research probably covered his forehead specifically to prevent the outcome mentioned in the story.  Goliath was an infantryman, a dismounted one, so his helmet would most likely have covered his face and nose.  Having picked a career where other savage guys swing edged weapons at your face all day within bad breath distances will definitely make you consider armoring the places on your head where you're vulnerable.  So how does a stone from David's sling find its way to the squishy part of Goliath's dome-piece?  Weird.

Next, he's wearing bronze coat of mail -- or scale armor, which is more likely.  I think that if I were the ruler of a rich country who's ready to stake the future of my kingdom on a single fight to the death with my prized ginormous champion (he's ten feet tall!  Seriously!), I'd have him in mail made from iron, considering that technology was fairly mature in that time period.  But that's just me.  Same goes for his greaves and for his sword or javelin, depending on the variant of bible you're reading.  From what I've read, the word for sword varies from the Hebrew and Greek language, and can mean both weapons.  Most likely it was a sword because David took it and cut Goliath's head off with it.  The reason the sword/javelin thingy is so important is because of Goliath's spear: a spear is usually not a throwing weapon because it's not very suited for it like a javelin is.  Spears are more suited as a handheld weapon used to kill outside of the range of the sword, and it makes no sense whatsoever to have this massively heavy spear unless it's intended to be used as a projectile.  It also makes no sense to throw your medium range weapon at an enemy and then get in all close to him and hope he isn't more skilled than you with the sword.  That would be stupid.

Standing back now for clarity on Goliath's armaments, you have a guy who's a veteran fighter, a so-called champion, who's just this massive specimen (twelve feet tall, I tell ya), and he's outfitted with the same outdated armor as everyone else.  It makes no sense.  His sword (here we'll consider it over the javelin) is made of bronze as well, instead of much stronger iron -- bronze swords lasted longer when used as thrusting weapons than as slashing weapons, and here's this big somebitch with one trying to pick a fight with another champion with a weapon he will presumably break with the first strike against his opponent's armor.  Again, it makes no sense.  And to top it off, he has a spear that's so friggin' huge as to be cumbersome, instead of the easily manipulated weapon that it's supposed to be.  It's sounding more and more like a tall tale to me (pun intended).

As for tactics, it was common for a champion, knight, noble, or other esteemed fighter to have a shield bearer or squire to haul all his shit around.  He may be a big man but somebody else can carry it all when he's not dismembering his enemies.  Where it goes off the rails is where the shield bearer is pressed into the fight, or kinda shoved out in the middle of the fight with it.  To an infantryman, the shield is almost as much of a weapon as the sword, and you want me to believe that the thirteen-foot professional fighter would give it to a regular sized guy and trust him to stop an attack?  How big was the shield?  If I were forty two feet tall, I'd want a shield large enough to match the distance between the greaves on my legs and the chin-strap of my helmet, you know, for that total coverage thing that keeps me alive while others poke spears at me.  The only way I can see having someone else bear a shield for a soldier in combat would be for an archer, and only because they have to use both hands to use their weapon.  In the case of infantry, they have that shield firmly attached to their left arm so they can instantly stop a blow.

In conclusion, either Goliath was incompetent as a warrior, or Samuel or whomever had a poor sense of memory, or perhaps a big imagination.  On the latter point, there's a ton of correlating evidence that suggests that a Homeristic approach was taken to the story.  Correlation is not causation, but it is what it is.  The intended message is still loud and clear, and in my mind doesn't deduct at all from the scriptures.  But being the realist that I am, I have to raise the BS flag on that battle going down like it did.

Okay, this might qualify as a "high capacity" magazine

Browsing the latest wares on ARFCOM's USSOF thread (that's US Special Operations Forces), I found this pic of a MK48 fed by a MK19 ammo can and feed belt that's welded to the frame of a rucksack:



Who really neeeeeeeeds that many rounds of ammunition? That's just begging for J. Q. Public to buy for like $12 from a gunshow (or make in their basement) and use to terrorize places of peace and tranquility! Why are y'all laughing?

Ultra high velocity

And how do I get me some of it?

It turns out that tearing through the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound is bad for the skin, even if you're a super high-tech aircraft developed by the government's best engineers at its far-out research agency.

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, has made public its best guess about what might have caused its unmanned arrowhead-shaped Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) to suddenly lose contact and crash in the Pacific just a few minutes after slicing through the sky at Mach 20 last August: it was going so fast its skin peeled off.

Hmmm. . . .must not have had a J-4 copper jacket.  Thinking about it, most rifle cartridges struggle to break the Mach 3 barrier, and they're saying this classified flying thingy was going almost seven times that fast!  And that's only what DARPA will publically admit to!  Fantastic.  Now, how do we get this technology to Hornady?  I think it would be great to not have to dial in elevation on my scope to blast a doe at 3,698 yards.

Flex those muscles!

Countless F-15 Strike Eagles sitting on the flight line looking like they're about to go kick an invading alien army's ass!

Sometimes you've just gotta show the other dweebs in the gym who's boss.

FNH MK20 combat sighting

On the US SOF thread at ARCOM, page 47, is a picture of some SOF dude with a MK20 just like I oogled at the Modern Day Marine Convention two years ago. I hope it's doing well as a combat weapon.

BREAKING NEWS!!!

It seems that the US military makes lots of noise on its bases while practicing the art of killing people and breaking their stuff! Shocking, I know. As far as I've heard, there's not a suppressing device to quiet 155mm artillery rounds when they detonate, and the suppressors for the guns themselves is a no go. Also, when you close bases and transfer personnel to other facilities, there ends up being more vehicles and noise. Again, shocking.

Well, the local rag has posted the annual "the US Army base is loud and disruptive" article, and it's just like all the others that have been posted since Fort A.P. Hill opened in 1941. To put this into perspective, it would be like me moving in right next to a farm and then writing the local paper because the air smelled whiffy.

"Calling Captain Obvious! Come in, Captain Obvious. . . .do you read me, over?"

"Gunny, I can't get him. There's no response."

I admit, I do whine a bit about all the traffic and morons flooding into this area, but I would sooner see the roads clogged with HETs and MTVRs than Camries and Explorers. And while I have no idea why all these folks would want to live here, I do understand exactly why Soldiers, Marines, Airman, and Sailors would want to have 75,000 acres of their very own to practice shooting their unique weaponry.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to write a letter to the paper to get whatever idiot(s) that keep putting yellow dust all over my cars and stuff to stop.

Lights, camera, action

I've got a whole lot of nothing for you this morning except this clip from the movie Proof of Life starring Russell Crow and David Caruso. ***NSFW Warning: Language, gore, bad-guy-getting-his-throat-cut-out-with-a-multitool, hostiles-getting-massacred-with-a-M249***




The tactics are pretty realistic, or I should say much more realistic than most militaristic action scenes out there. I found the clip in an ARFCOM thread and thought I'd pass it along.

There are various Colt M4ish carbines, an M203, an M249 SAW, some decrepit AKs, a LAW launcher, some M67 grenades, and my favorite - what looks like a Colt officer's 1911. Enjoy.

Whoa, dude!

If this Apache pilot had pulled this off it would have been way cool. From the caption, everybody came out of this alive, but I don't know how!


***ETA: I found the Apache video at this thread on ARFCOM, and this video was also on it:



I play inverted :(

Hump Day roundup

US Special Operation Forces operating in an operational training exercise. Jumping out of planes with all that gear on in the dark of night is bad ass. And, it's good to once again confirm via pictures that Marine Special Operations types are still being issued 1911s. Way cool.

Cannon fodder: a drunk dude uses a home-made assault thingie to shoot his girlfriend to death through the walls of their trailer. It sounds like the children made it out OK.

The contents of a can of Whoop-Ass poured out for the NorK's viewing pleasure: Countless F-16s sitting ready for war on the flight line in South Korea. That's a whole lotta mean sitting there!

Speaking of warbirds, here's an ARFCOM thread on the F4 Phantom. While I have said before that I believe the Spitfire to be the most gorgeous fighter plane ever, I have to say without a doubt that the F4 is the meanest looking war plane ever devised. Even while sitting perfectly still on the flight line, that sucker looks like it's fed demons to keep it from lashing out at the world.

Do you watch Top Shot? Season 4's Gabby Franco has bravely registered at ARFCOM and has a thread where you can ask her stuff about the show.

Combat AAR by those in-the-know on the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. I'm still not a big fan. I understand the principle of ammo efficiency and conservation in a firefight, I'm not convinced that this weapon is going to give fire superiority against a modern, well trained and equipped army with belt fed weapons. From reading the thread though, it does seem like the Marine Corps intent the whole time was to field a full auto battle carbine and not a replacement for a LMG.

Again from ARFCOM, a 50-some page thread on making Kydex holsters and stuff for the end of the world. It's arts and crafts skills for the crazy gun people!

Busy bee

I've been as busy as I can be, y'all. Sorry about the lite posting. To make up for this, please see this video of 9 JDAMs dropped on a compound in Afghanistan at the same time.


After all the immediate splody' stuff, look for all the big pieces of slag from the bombs hitting the water in the wadis several hundred yards from where the compound used to be. Scary.

Detroit or Afghanistan?

Tough call. Remember this video when you're whining about your commute home today:



There's a bunch more combat videos at MP.net.

If you're ever in Nevada

Nellis Air Force Base has an interactive commie weapon museum called the Threat Training Facility. If you've always wanted to sit in a Mig 29 and make machine gun noises with your mouth, here's your chance without going through Russian bootcamp and pilot training -- though getting paid in vodka doesn't sound all that bad.

***ETA: It's 'Nellis' not 'Ellis' Air Force Base. Thanks, Old NFO!