Glenn Dean's Blog, page 15
April 10, 2012
101st Airborne fields M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun
From Army.mil ... the 2d Brigade 101st Airborne becomes the first units to field the new M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System.
M26 in underbarrel mode. US Army photo.The MASS has been a long time coming. The Army first validated the requirement in 2004 as a Soldier Enhancement Program project to provide some greater flexibility in shotgun application. I worked in small arms at the time and was involved in both the requirements development and subsequent program.
M26 MASS in stand-alone...
Remember Bowe Bergdahl!
We still have a missing soldier in Afghanistan -- SGT Bowe Bergdahl, missing since July 2009.
War zone reporter Michael Yon of MichaelYon-online.com has been trying to reach Bergdahl via Taliban contacts, and though so far unsuccessful has at least received messages from the Taliban indicating that Bergdhal is safe.
Here's one message; see the rest at Michael's site:
===Begin Taliban message===
dont worry , we are not like Americans who are doing to bad with their presnors in their preson , may...
Afghanistan buying additional ASVs
Here's something I bet you didn't know: the Afghan Army is buying a family of vehicles based on Textron's M1117 Armored Security Vehicle. The systems, known as the Medium Armored Security Vehicle (MASV) are stretched, up-armored, and have different mission packages than the US military police/escort M1117, allowing them to serve in roles as infantry carriers and reconnaissance vehicles.
[image error]US M1117 Armored Security Vehicle. US Army photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Report: Army not yet interested in cargo UAS
An article at DoD Buzz reports that the Army is not interested in pursuing the K-Max unmanned rotary wing cargo delivery aircraft that is delivering cargo to remote locations in Afghanistan for the Marines. According to the article:
Army aviation leaders have paid close attention to the Lockheed Martin controllers who have flown about 750,000 pounds of cargo for Marines in Afghanistan since Dec. 17 aboard the company's K-MAX unmanned helicopter.
The service, however, remains non-committal to...
April 9, 2012
Will the last MRAP out of Iraq please turn off the lights?
The picture below, from Defensetech.org, claims to show the last MRAP out of Iraq being loaded abord ship.
OK, if they say so. It's a Caiman Plus fully outfitted with side EFP armor and overhead wire mitigation kit.
Supposedly, it's enroute to the 1st CAV museum at Ft. Hood. And while MRAPs certainly deserve to end up in museums, I'd think this one is in pretty good shape, and probably could get a few years of use yet when the vehicles get redistrubted to other uses.
Certainly, it's the end...
April 8, 2012
New Ground Combat Vehicle or JLTV?
A blast from the past. Should it be the new Ground Combat Vehicle? Let's see: Fits a full Squad? Check. Available in seven years? Check. Growth Potential? Check. Protection? Well ...
.. maybe it will be better as a JLTV alternative. Watch the "Super Jeep" 10-man vehicle video above.
Soldier/Geek now on Facebook
In order to make it easier to connect and follow, I've decided to catch up to last decade and get a page up on Facebook. Link is too the right on the main blog page. I'll probably do the same to Google Plus just to cover all bases.
Observation: what monkey coded Facebook? It's one of the most non-user friendly interfaces for configuration I've used since I started playing with web pages. Stick to the RSS feed, folks ...
April 6, 2012
Soldier / Geek on sale at Amazon
Amazon.com has marked the paperback copy of my book down -- it's currently available at $9.35, down from list price of $12.99. Get it while it's hot!
(No, I don't know why or why that price -- Amazon does their own thing with pricing.)
April 5, 2012
EADS to bid UH-72 as Kiowa Warrior Replacement
EADS North America is reported to be bidding an armed UH-72 Lakota (Light Utility Helicopter) variant as a reaplacement for the Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior as part of the Armed Aerial Scout program.
UH-72 Lakota courtesy Defensetech.orgAccording to an EADS press release at Defensetech.org:
The AAS-72X or AAS-72X+ could be built and delivered at a cost competitive with the upgrades planned for the Vietnam-era OH-58 Kiowa Warrior and fielded to Army units as early as 2016.
This variant is based...
April 4, 2012
Weapons of the Zombie Apocalypse, Chapter 5: Vehicles
[This is a sample chapter from the book Weapons of the Zombie Apocalypse. The complete book is available for purchase in eBook formats -- see The Books link.]
Any survivor of the zombie apocalypse will need a way to get around, whether just to get supplies or to escape the zombies all together. In some cases, you may wish to use your vehicle as a weapon as well. In this chapter, we'll explore what the best choices are among military and commercial vehicles, and take a look at watercraft.
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