Archive for September, 2007
Army tests of rival carbines postponed
vs.
The big dust test of three piston-driven ARs against the M4 carbine are on hold until sample Mk16 SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle) can be delivered. They are now expected in December. The test had originally been scheduled to begin last month.
The SCAR sample models, which are still in development, will not be delivered until December, Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, the commander of Program Executive Office Soldier, told Army Times recently. Brown said the tests will begin when all 10 sample models of each weapon are present. The test will feature weapons officials shooting 6,000 rounds though each weapon under sandstorm conditions.
Weapons officials from PEO Soldier scheduled the tests to be performed at Army Test and Evaluation Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., at the request of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in July. Coburn began questioning the Army more than four months ago about its plans to spend $375 million to purchase M4s through fiscal 2009. Lighter and more compact than the M16 rifle, the M4 is more effective for the close confines of urban combat. The Army began fielding the M4 in the mid-1990s.
Coburn questioned the M4′s “long-standing reliability” problems in his original April 12 letter and asked if the Army had considered newer, possibly better weapons available on the commercial market.
The weapons will be exposed to sandstorm-like conditions and then fired. Ten samples of each weapons will each have 6,000 rounds fired through it over the course of the five month test. The Army agreed to conduct the tests after Sen. Coburn threatened to hold up Army Secretary Peter Geren’s confirmation earlier this year.
The weapons going up against the M4 are:
- Mk 16 SCAR-L by FHN USA
- HK416 by Heckler & Koch
- XM8 by Heckler & Koch
Yes, you read that right. The XM8 is in on this, though I don’t expect anything to change regarding that program even if it were to win the competition.
I would have liked to see something from LWRC in on this, too.
What Murdoc would really like is some feedback from readers about this competition. Does it sound valuable? Fair? Should changes be in order if the M4 performs poorly? Will you trust the results?
USAREUR plays key role for Immediate Response 07
Photo by Spc. Jerry Wilson
September 19, 2007Sgt. Chad Droege, Illinois Army National Guard, learns how to fire a Polish sniper rifle from Polish army Cpl. Lukasz Bocwinski during Immediate Response 07 at the Wedrzyn Training Area in Poland.
That appears to be a WKW Wilk Tor 12.7mm anti-materiel rifle. Photo from Army.mil.
Via a reader: Iran: We have plans to bomb Israel if attacked
“We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake,” Gen. Mohammad Alavi was quoted as telling Fars in an interview.
The reader wonders if anyone should be afraid of an Iranian military which claims to have just now made plans to bomb Israel.
Even more than that, I wonder if Israel has any fear whatsoever of the Iranian bombers. Question the capabilities of the Israeli army against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon if you want, but I don’t think anyone questions the Israeli air force. Bombcats or no, I wouldn’t put money on any Iranian strike planes hitting targets in Israel if Israel is on alert.
Besides, if Iran is striking back against Israel because the US attacked Iran, US planes will also be defending Israel. It’s hard to say what our stance would be if the Israelis struck Iran, but I’d guess that we’d help in many ways if needed, even if we didn’t take part in actual combat.
France, who suddenly is acting all warlike, is tough to predict. They might be talking tough about Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, but I’m not really expecting them to do anything meaningful. In any event, Israel can take care of itself against Iranian air attack, and we’d be likely to help out regardless, either directly or indirectly.
Missiles, of course, are another matter entirely. As are special operations and terrorist attacks. Israel remains vulnerable to such attacks, particularly if launched from Iran’s proxies in Syria and Lebanon. Other nations in the Middle East are also very vulnerable, as is the flow of crude oil.
If military action is launched against Iran, it had better be comprehensive and it had better be a decision made with eyes open.
Swedish army Pvt. Johan Lindgvist leads a CV90-40C tank out of a simulated forward deployed location at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., Sept. 12, 2007, during exercise Bold Quest. The coalition exercise is testing new communication technology that identifies friendly forces and enemy targets. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Rogers, U.S. Air Force.
UPDATE: Pvt. Johan Lindgvist emailed some time after I posted the photo:
First things first, the man on the picture is not me. His name is Alexander Graje and is the second machinegunner in my squad. However some kind of a mixup must have happened during the information exchange that must have taken place when this photo was distributed.
He also sent a couple of great photos of the CV90-40Cs, which I misplaced until 2011. So sorry for the delay.
This sort of thing makes a lot of folks uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, it’s usually alleged American patriots who are uncomfortable with so much violence in wars and stuff, not those who should be squirming:
I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.
–Marine General James Mattis
Gonna fight? Fight to win. Want peace? Peace through victory.
(via Op-For)
Battling sexism in Iraqi forces
Despite efforts by U.S. forces to recruit and train women for jobs in the Iraqi security forces, just over 1,000 have been trained, many have quit and those who remain say they are struggling for acceptance.
“We’re in our posts because the Americans are here,” the army commander said. “Once they leave, we will all be out.”
The U.S. military has pushed since 2003 to have more women recruited and trained, arguing that female officers can search and gather intelligence from other women and serve as neutral peacekeepers, U.S. commanders say.
The female army officer interviewed said that when she first started, American female soldiers would often visit her command post to offer advice.
“I was always asking how things were for them. I was always wishing our laws would match theirs,” she said.
I’ve written a number of times that women’s rights is probably a far larger issue in Iraq than we usually hear about. Though it’s critical to long-term success, a women’s component to the security forces will take years, more likely decades, to reach the point it needs to be.
No women have been recruited to the Baghdad police academy since early 2006, a few months after the US handed operations over to Iraqi authorities.
Turns out that the United States Naval Academy is actually part of the United States Navy. Must be another neocon plot.
(via Wizbang)
Also see the Tank:
Ms. Leppla, who claims that total strangers say “Wow, you must be smart” when they learn she attends Columbia, has issued a warning to anyone thinking about applying to these institutions that they are in fact military organizations.
Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron (RIVERON) 2 watch for contact along the shoreline at the Fort Pickett Reservoir. More than 700 active and reserve Sailors from various NECC units are participating in Exercise Comet 2007 Sept 4-14. Exercise Comet 2007 is an integrated maritime security operations exercise being conducted on board Fort Pickett, Cheatam Annex, and Little Creek Amphibious Base. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Curtis K. Biasi
Larkin at Wizbang Blue writes that Petraeus should not have agreed to “carry water” for the Bush administration:
But somewhere along the line, Petraeus agreed to take on the unwelcome task of becoming the public face for the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq…He’s a capable military man who may have found himself star-crossed by the double-talkers in this administration who coerced him into a political battle where he himself knows he should not be…
So my message to the General is this: please reconsider your position in our democracy as it is described in the Constitution and under our rule of law.
Except that, you know, General Petraeus was required by law to report to Congress on the situation in Iraq. A law written by Democrats and passed by Democrats.
