Aimpoint announced the company’s FCS12 fire control system passed through field trials and has been placed in active duty with the Swedish Army. The system will be used on the 84mm M3 recoiless rifle.
The M3 is a multi-purpose, man-portable weapon capable of anti-armor, anti-personnel, anti-bunker and other roles. The Aimpoint optic incorporates a laser range finder with a targeting computer that automatically corrects the point of aim based on the munition used.
Over at Top Gun Reviews, Christian reports on a new Mosin-Nagant stock and detachable magazine being made by Archangel. For a variety of reasons, making a detachable magazine for the Mosin-Nagant rifles has been difficult. The basic rifle design is more than 120 years old, so adapting it to modern conventions is bound to have a few difficulties.
A quick check of YouTube found this video from mixflip on the new Mosin-Nagant stocks from the ProMag/Archangel booth at the SHOT Show:
Israel will be deploying more TAVOR rifles for field use. According to an article published in The Times of Israel, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) decided to accelerate plans to deploy the TAVOR rifle to reserve troops.
I suppose everyone knows the US military’s standard sidearm is the M9, which is also the Beretta 92FS pistol. A lot of people know the US Navy SEALs issue the Mk25 pistol, also known as the SIG SAUER P226. Fewer people are familiar with the M11 pistol, or that civilians can purchase an exact duplicate of the M11-A1.
I.O. Inc is now importing the Archer rifle, a civilian version of the Polish Beryl assault rifle. Essentially a high-quality AK-47 variant, the Archer is a semi-automatic rifle chambered in 5.56 NATO.
The Military Arms Channel on YouTube put together a really good review of the Archer, so rather than spouting off all of the gun’s stats, I recommend watching the video:
The FN SmartCore was rolled out at the EUROSATORY 2012 last week. Formerly known as the FN Black Box, the SmartCore is very similar to the recording devices found in airplanes that the project was originally named after.
The FN SmartCore is essentially a "black box" that records data on military rifles and transmits the data, in real time, to battlefield commanders.
The SmartCore is an electronic system that records and examines the firearm’s use for a variety of purposes. It does several rather mundane things like help armorers keep track of which weapons are in need of service.
One of the more interesting aspects of the recorder is its ability to transmit use information to military commanders. This allows the chain of command to know specifically which units are engaging the enemy, and at what location, without the need for radio communications.
The United States Marine Corps is pushing for caseless ammo and a compatible light machine gun. The combination would allow Marines to carry 25 pounds less than they do now, or to add a lot more ammunition to their load out.
According to a Marine Corps Times article, a new LMG and ammo could be fielded within two years if Congress and the brass get the, um, lead out. Read the full article here.
