Defense News:

The U.S. Army has asked the Pentagon to approve a plan to increase Stryker vehicles’ survivability by adding a double V-shaped hull, Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, deputy chief of staff for Army programs, told members of the House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee March 10…

For producing a brigade combat team’s worth of Stryker vehicles with the double V hull, including support vehicles, the Army estimates it will cost $800 million, according to the memo. The Army anticipates purchasing approximately 450 vehicles to support Afghanistan theater needs. This represents a change to vehicles already on order, the memo said.

Initial testing last fall showed that a double-hull Stryker had the equivalent survivability of an MRAP 2. Existing Strykers could not be modified.

A commenter tips Murdoc off to this story: Marines push ‘The Breacher’ against Taliban lines

(UPDATE: moved below the fold to prevent autoplay on MO home page)

Lots of WW2 footage. I noticed a lot of guys using a magazine hold.

XM806 .50 Machine Gun at 2010 SHOT Show

Weight 40 pounds (weapon only), 62 pounds (ground mount system)
Recoil 325 pounds
Dispersion Less than 1.1 mils, one sigma radius
Range Lethal and suppressive out to 2,000 meters
Ammunition .50 caliber (M33 ball, M8 & MK211 API, M903 SLAP)
Feed System Belt feed, M9 link (compatible with M2 feed system), Left hand feed, right hand eject of cases and links
Rate of Fire 265 shots per minute (cyclic), 40 shots per minute (sustained)
Reliability 6,000 MRBF (threshold) / 10,000 MRBF (objective)
Dimension 8.3Wx7.3Hx64.5L max. inches (56.7L charged)
Environmental Operationally insensitive to conditions
Applications Two-man portable emplaced with no sandbags, Unmatched vehicle mount options for a .50 caliber weapon
Safety Fires from open bolt position

New Flat-top Steyr AUG/A3 SA USA

I checked this out a bit at last year’s SHOT Show (didn’t get a chance to shoot), but it’s finally shipping. More info over at GunPundit.com:
New Steyr AUG.

In the Top Gear episode I was watching last night, Jeremy Clarkson was testing the Range Rover Sport. In a typical Top Gear challenge, he took it off road while being pursued by a Challenger II tank. (Clip below)

During the set-up, Clarkson noted:

“The thing I’m interesting most interested in, though, is the big gun, which, as you can see is rifled for greater accuracy. Unlike those smoothbore American ones, which just hit something [pauses and waves off at the distance,dismissively] over there.”

Marine M1A1 Abrams

What an idiot.

I happen to like both the Challenger 2 and the Leopard 2 quite a bit. I don’t really know which would “win” an equal tank-on-tank battle if all else (particularly crew capability) was equal. I’d have trouble betting against the latest M1s, though.

But I am confident that the dismissal of the smoothbore M1 gun is complete bollocks, as they say.

Anyway, he might be interested to know that the Challenger 2 is finally going to be upgraded to a 120mm smothbore, though I think they’re having budget issues and I don’t know the status of this program. I think it’s supposed to be the L/55 gun, which has a slightly longer barrel than the L/44-based M256 on M1s.

Via Instapundit.

Also: British adopting AR-10 style sharpshooter rifle by Lewis Machine & Tool.

A Marine fire team with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, takes cover after receiving simulated enemy contact during a training exercise at Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, Jan. 2. The Marines ran a platoon attack course focused on the positive identification of targets and precision fires in order to reduce the risk of civilian causalities during future operations.

From the story:

The exercise simulates a patrol taking on an enemy position without the use of indirect fire due to risk of causing civilian casualties. This in turn forces the Marines to rely on accurate small arms fire, said 1st Lt. Mark A. Greenlief, the executive officer for Bravo Company, 1/6. The purpose of the training exercise is to further develop the Marines’ ability to quickly acquire enemy targets and engage them, while minimizing the risk to civilians.

Full story and more pics: http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=43430

The demolition of the 'Taliban Hotel,' a safehouse utilized by insurgent fighters infiltrating Afghanistan, Dec. 18. An explosive ordnance disposal team from the 707th EOD unit, out of Fort Lewis, Wash., partnered with soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, out of Fort Richardson, Alaska, and Afghan national security forces to explosively level the safehouse. Photo by Staff Sgt. Stephen Otero

Story: Taliban Hotel Destroyed in Khost

Donkeys carried 300 pounds of C-4 to the remote location for the remodeling job.

Afghan children gather around a M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System at the Maiwand District in Hutal, Afghanistan, Dec. 12.

Afghan national policemen pass out candy while standing on a M1128 Stryker Mobile Gun System to children at the Maiwand District in Hutal, Afghanistan, Dec. 12.

More photos at DVIDS.

Meanwhile, the Army should have all the Strykers painted desert tan in time to deploy them to a forest somewhere.