Bravo One

Pistols: The Beretta M9

I wanted to focus today on military pistols, and specifically the Beretta M9. I start here with the Beretta M9 because it is the most commonly used sidearm across the armed services. In the coming future, expect to see others covered here as well, from SIG Sauer to Heckler & Koch, but today, I’m just talking Beretta. It’s popularity has waned over it’s history. Some hated it for replacing the M1911A1 our grandfathers carried into war, others hailed it as a great step forward. I’ll try to give the negative and positive aspects as I see them from my experience and let you decide in the end. But I warn you, I am biased against the Beretta offering. My personal opinion is that there were great alternatives available and politics once again stepped in and gave service members an inferior weapon.

The Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta, or just Beretta in common use, is an Italian success story filled with history. They are the oldest firearms production company still operating in the world, with company records dating back to 1526, and amazingly they are still run today by the same family lineage after 15 generations. Originally, the company was only producing barrels, not full firearms. By 1860, the company had begun producing it’s own brand of weapons and steadily began production, supplying the Italian Royal Army during WWI and WWII. The company proudly boasts having earned more medals in Olympic rifle shooting events than any other manufacturer. In modern times, the company has expanded and now owns Benelli, Franchi, Sako, Stoeger, Tikka, Uberti, Burris Optics and a 20% interest in Browning. The company’s reputation has mainly stemmed from quality shotguns, and it’s lucrative military contracts such as the M9 pistol.

The circumstances around the decision to adopt the Model 92F as the M9 was steeped in controversy. The Air Force was in charge of seeking a 9mm pistol suitable for all services, and Beretta entered a modified Model 92S-1 into the trials known as the Joint Services Small Arms Program from 1979-1980 as a potential replacement for the aging .45 ACP M1911A1. The Air Force declared Beretta as the winner, but then the Army challenged the results in 1981. In the Army testing done in 1982, all pistols initially failed. Congress became involved, demanding another round of trials, this time under the XM9 name. On the second Army trial conducted in 1983, Beretta submitted an updated pistol, the Model 92SB-F, later shortened to 92F, which went on to win the trial along with the SIG Sauer P226.

Beretta and SIG Sauer then competed in a bidding war for the contract rights. The SIG offering was cheaper than the Beretta but became costlier with the inclusion of magazines and spare parts, thus the Beretta bid became cheaper and won the contract in 1985 worth $75 million. There was still more controversy over the decision, with some saying that Beretta was shown the bid placed by SIG Sauer, allowing them to undercut their bid. Others cited the US strategic interests in Italy as influential on the outcome being in favor of Beretta. Yet another tidbit comes up from time to time about how the contract specified production in the US, and that SIG wasn’t on-board with moving production to the US. I don’t agree with the production argument, because SIG wouldn’t have bid for the contract if they didn’t intend to get it.

In the early use of the new pistol by US Navy SEAL teams, some catastrophic failures occurred with the weapon. The locking block would fracture during firing, and the entire slide would be shot rearward, hitting the shooter in the face. It was quoted that ‘You weren’t a SEAL until you had eaten Italian steel!’ due to the failures publicity. It was later speculated that the cause of the failures lay in the ammunition, which was supposedly loaded as high as 70,000 PSI instead of the NATO 9mm specification of 31-35,000 PSI. The rumor was that sub-machine gun ammo was being run in the pistols. Let me be VERY CLEAR. Test 9mm pressures are 50,000 PSI. The rumor of ammo being the cause is just that, RUMOR, run rampant on the internet. The true fault was that Beretta USA made the receivers and the slides were still produced in Italy while the US production was getting started, and a batch of slides with low-hardness steel were the cause of the failures. Beretta modified the pistol in response, incorporating a slide-stop to prevent the occurrence and renamed the pistol Model 92FS.

The early failures caused a stir in the Naval Special Warfare community, with many not trusting the Beretta design. Most NSW teams to this day carry SIG Sauer M11 pistols (P226/228). The Beretta offering did, however, earn fame with civilians for it’s appearance in many popular movies such as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and The Boondock Saints, which made its popularity soar much like Dirty Harry did for the .44 Magnum. Many police departments also took note of the military trials and changed their service pistols to Berettas in the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s.

As adopted, the M9 is a 9x19mm short-recoil, semi-automatic pistol firing in Double Action and Single Action modes with a magazine of 15 rounds. The most notable design feature setting it apart from other pistols is the skeletonized (cut out) slide and extended barrel. The slide mounted safety switch also acts as a de-cocking mechanism and is ambidextrous. The magazine release can be changed from left to right side as well. The pistol is defined as a full-size pistol, with a length of 8.5″ and height of 5.4″. The barrel at 4.9″ and the 6.1″ sight radius provide great accuracy. The pistol is slightly heavier than others at just over 2lbs unloaded and 2.56lbs loaded. In 2006, the M9A1 was released with the primary change being to add a Picatinny rail to the pistol.

Ammunition is generally limited to NATO M882 124-grain FMJ 9x19mm ball (DoDIC A363) producing 1,230 ft/sec muzzle velocities. The M882 round is used in pistols, but is not loaded quite to high pressures or +P as many seem to believe although the M882 is just slightly above a normal load. There is a ‘hot’ 9mm round, the M905 High-Pressure Test round, which produces 50,000 PSI. I must admit there could be some truth in rumors of the M905 test ammo being used for regular shooting, which caused the aforementioned slide failures, but I highly doubt it. Anyone with sense would understand that a high-pressure test round would have a potential of causing extreme wear and should not be used for normal shooting, and if accidents occurred with that ammo it likely would have gone into the incident reports.

What was available for the MP5, and for our pistols in Iraq, was the subsonic jacketed hollow-point 147-grain 9mm (DoDIC A260). I had a letter from the Jag-types stating that the use of hollow-point ammunition was allowed since insurgents were not a uniformed fighting force essentially, and so I immediately had every one of my guys change their 9mm combat load to the hollow-point. I was also informed we had 90-grain frangible 9mm (DoDIC AA16) Mk254 ammunition available if we requested it, but we never bothered asking once we got the A260 ammunition on hand.

Unfortunately for us carrying 9mm in service use, we cannot take advantage of the many excellent cartridges produced in modern times for civilian use. Developments in recent years have done well in bringing the performance and lethality of 9mm closer to that of .40 S&W and .45 ACP. I do like to point out that many of those same developments have occurred in the other calibers as well. The 9mm is decent as a general all-around cartridge. Often cited reasoning for choosing 9mm over other calibers tend to gravitate toward something like low cost, low recoil, and speed of follow-ups. Caliber wars are a silly game to get involved in, any round is better than none, and all pistols are notorious for lack of lethality. I feel that for defense going with a larger caliber is best as long as the shooter can still use it effectively and have it available when needed.

In my own personal opinion, I find the M9 to be inferior to other designs in 9mm such as the SIG Sauer P226/P228 M11 or Glock 17/19s. I found the M9 locking block and slide need careful inspection for cracks after major training evolutions. Barrel cracks are far less common but have happened, generally just above the locking block in the chamber area. I also noted that the pistol failed basic trigger pull gauging far more often than the M11, and couldn’t always be restored to spec after changing applicable components. I also noted a much higher incidence of other components fracturing such as the safety/decock lever. When a M9 is well used and the coating starts to wear, this pistol can rust on exposed areas rapidly, which came to be a common time suck to keep up with. I rarely encountered issues like those with the M11.

When actually employing the pistol, I find the ergonomics of the M9 to be terrible. The safety/decock lever is not in a favorable position, and I must change my grip or twist awkwardly to re-engage the safety. I train members to overhand rack the slide during reloads, and can’t count how many times I would see a shooter accidentally engage the slide mounted safety and attempt to fire. Usually, the shooter would attempt to fire, get nothing, immediately tap and rack, and then try again without a shot before realizing the safety had dropped… I don’t find that to be an intuitive design. I also saw many new shooters forget to switch to fire and pull the trigger 2 or 3 times before catching on. I personally oppose any defense pistol having a safety switch like that of the M9, because a stressed shooter may forget to disengage it and that costs precious time. My other big gripe was addressed in the M9A1 when it added the accessory rail for lights and lasers.

In the end, I can say that the M9 is a moderately accurate and reliable pistol in 9mm having a long sight radius and barrel. It has had some issues, but we must remember, it is now a 40 year old design and full of history, both good and bad. Many have used it and swear by it, others swear by the .45 ACP offerings. My own opinion is just mine, but I lean as far away from it as I can get, favoring the M11 for 9mm or even better, a Glock. I think as a replacement for the M1911A1, the M9 is a suitable weapon gaining firepower by carrying twice the ammunition and using a more common round worldwide. I’ll discuss other pistols in another post so keep an eye out. Feel free to sound off in the comments with your own opinion.

The Collapsible ASP Baton

While many of us are aware of the ASP collapsible baton, many don’t think to purchase or carry one. Some mistakenly believe they are only military and law enforcement purchasable. ASP is seen everywhere in security and law enforcement, and for good reason. It is a reliable and effective weapon which can be employed for either non-lethal or lethal defense. Law enforcement policies prevent the ASP from being employed in its full capacity, but remember that civilians are under no such use-of-force policy.

I can’t say when it was that man first picked up a heavy stick and bashed a fellow man over the head with it, but I’m going to take a guess that it was probably before the act of writing and probably around the time man first began uttering words and insults. Let’s just say that we have a LONG history of bashing each other with sticks, clubs, maces, batons, and the like in both offensive and defensive use. It’s a gross motor movement and virtually anyone can use a club with little to no training and still manage to injure, incapacitate, or kill another. In medieval days it was common for the peasantry to carry clubs for defense against thieves and highwaymen. In Asia baton-like weapons in various forms had been employed for centuries in martial arts fighting styles. As late as WWI both sides employed trench clubs (truncheons) in war for times when the enemy was overrunning trenches and inside the fighting distance of the long bayonet of the times.

The ASP is an expandable steel baton made up of three sections. They come in various lengths from 16-31″ in length with the 21″ and 26″ versions being most common. The outside tip is a small solid steel knob shaped like a button, and it aids in extension by having the increased weight while also aiding in strikes. The handle has an interchangeable end-cap that can be changed from the standard base to numerous others such as a glass breaker, retention handle, mirror, or flashlight even. One variant incorporates OC Pepper Spray into the handle. They are carried collapsed and are opened by inertia when swung and the segments friction lock open. Newer models utilize a lever lock instead. The ‘ASP’ brand baton is made by Armament Systems and Procedures and many consider their product to be the best constructed and most reliable in use even though there are other just as good competitors. Their product is so widely adopted that many other expandable batons are referred to as ‘ASP’s as well.

In more modern times, criminals still use club-type weapons in assaults and robbery. The club is one of the simplest weapons to improvise and anything from an axe handle to a piece of pipe can be used for that purpose although knives are more common in criminal usage. Criminals rarely use legitimate batons such as the ASP or martial arts batons and likewise would not generally expect a regular civilian to be carrying one either. I would venture to think that a mugger would be extremely surprised and dissuaded if a victim seemed to have a 2-foot steel rod appear in their hand out of thin air. Any criminal still attempting to pursue a victim at that point shouldn’t be surprised to end up in a hospital with some broken bones.

The ASP provides excellent reach and can be a psychological deterrent to would-be aggressors. In typical law enforcement training, the emphasis is strictly on non-lethal strikes to major muscle groups such as the thigh, but the ASP can certainly be lethal in striking the head and can cause severe harm by breaking bones. As a civilian employing the ASP you must use proportionate force to your attacker or you may have some serious legal trouble. Of course, if met with a pistol and imminent threat of taking your life I’m fairly certain that a head strike would be justified instead of a thigh hit.

Employment of the ASP is as easy as swinging it forcefully. As simple as swinging the ASP is, training is necessary and highly recommended for any user. An untrained user could very easily kill or leave a permanent injury on an attacker that opens you up to arrest or civil suits. If being attacked with a knife striking the hands and breaking fingers is certainly justified to stop the attack, so long as you stop striking when no longer under threat. Proportional use of force is key.

The image at right shows striking areas and is color-coded by chance of causing severe injury and should be memorized any ASP user and striking anywhere ‘red’ should be avoided unless necessary. The mere act of extending the baton could create a psychological reaction on the attacker and they may very well end the confrontation for fear of being struck. Training batons are foam covered and can still create severe pain, especially when you are struck in the hands.

I’ve seen plenty of police brutality videos and can’t understand some of the officers’ mindsets. Striking someone for compliance repeatedly may instead make them fight for their lives and to stop the attack by the officer. There’s a balance that must be found and you need to know when to step back and let them reassess their non-compliance, usually, the prospect of another hit will make them think.

If under attack from someone who is very likely going to overpower you or who isn’t responding to ‘green’ zone strikes, the leg bones below the calf are a vulnerable area that can stop nearly any motivated attacker as long as you deliver a strong enough blow to potentially break the leg there. Striking that area is exceptionally hard to block or deflect unlike upper torso strikes and is extremely painful. An attacker that can no longer support themselves standing is not much of a threat at that point. Another strike that can quickly stop a large attacker is to strike downward into the clavicle (collar-bone) which will often render that arm useless to the attacker. The risk there is striking the head or neck or the strike being deflected by the attacker.

It’s vital to remember that no one wants to be struck, and will naturally go into the defensive posture using the arms to deflect or grab at the baton. For that reason, striking the thigh is preferable as it is difficult to block and can be struck with great force with little chance of permanent injury. People can withstand a lot of muscle trauma when adrenaline is flowing full force or drug use is involved so if a strike to the thigh doesn’t get a reaction, immediately transition to the yellow areas or bone/joint strikes as those are more disabling and difficult to withstand.

The ASP is also usable as a pain compliance tool much like a larger kubotan (persuader) while collapsed as well as extended. I remember a training scenario where I was the attacker and was to choke my victim instructor. When I grabbed the throat, he reached up inside with both hands and locked my wrist with the ASP using his thumbs and just leaned forward holding my wrist and pressing the ASP down into it. It hurt like hell and brought me to my knees against my will. I wanted to continue attacking but with my right wrist trapped in agony and my instructor in the dominant position, there wasn’t a lot left for me to do.

The ASP while closed can still be used to strike pressure points. A closed ASP can be employed in a hammer striking motion using the base to strike with if you keep your thumb over the tip to prevent extension until the attacker is pushed back enough for extension. Adding a tactical type flashlight at night and employing both in hammer strike cycles is great for disorienting and overwhelming an attacker. I was looking for some good videos to show some techniques and came across the one below which talks about ground fighting with the ASP which is often overlooked in training. I urge you to check it out because the control techniques there are effective and not as widely trained.

In military use, the ASP can be used in many other tasks. It can be used to break glass and clear windows. If I need to boost a buddy up onto a rooftop I can hold it by the ends so he can step up and then lift, or I can extend it and place the tip on something secure while holding the other end to create a step. I routinely handled insurgent prisoners and knew if one got seriously unruly I had the option to control them without going hands-on or lethal. In many countries overseas where police routinely employ batons against citizens they have the fear of being struck and will comply readily to prevent a beating (not that we would unless necessary) so its psychological effect is greater there.

If you wish to use an ASP baton, you must check local laws to verify they are legal in your area. Another consideration is that you may need a concealed weapons permit depending on your style of carry and local laws. I’m no lawyer so use due diligence on your end to stay within the law. Being a potentially lethal weapon, many of the same principles of employing a firearm also apply to employing the ASP. Use proportionate force, and stop when the threat stops. If you decide to purchase an expandable baton, make sure to purchase a quality one. I’ve seen and purchased cheap $10 knock-off’s at flea markets and they will not stand up to a real fight. Get one made of quality steel. The actual ASP brand is only slightly expensive at around $80 but worth it. Do get training! If you end up in court and show that you’ve had proper training, it shows that you’re not some thug and lends credit to your proper use of the weapon. Just like in firearms. Eskrima martial arts techniques can be used with the ASP and there are practical lessons to be learned from that style.

Carrying an ASP has some advantages you may not have considered. You can carry an ASP in many places where you can’t carry a firearm. They don’t have to be declared in checked luggage or have as many restrictions when going into foreign territory as firearms. They don’t garner the reaction that a firearm does if seen by others. They may be completely ignored by people who don’t recognize what it is. For instance, I have an ASP stowed upright between my driver-side seat and shifter in plain view from outside, and have had my car searched by military base security for random security inspections multiple times and I don’t think it’s been recognized once. I carry a 21″ model and have a horizontal holster which can ride on my back, side, or front that cost me less than $10. It practically disappears on my back when covered by a shirt, and the draw looks like reaching for a wallet. Without a holster, it isn’t hard to conceal with the appendix carry in the front of your pants angled with the thigh toward the groin but that has the potential for slipping or falling out so I don’t recommend it without a holster of some sort. Maintaining the baton is simple, just apply a little CLP to the shaft every once in a while.

Overall, the ASP and similar products are great and effective weapons. They are a versatile weapon which doesn’t add a lot of weight to kit for those of us serving and it provides extra options in the situations we can encounter. For civilians, they can provide an alternative to firearms. I know some who refuse to own firearms because they fear the children may find them and become accidentally shot, and there is no risk of that in owning an ASP for defense. I personally deployed mine on two occasions and both times the aggressors decided I wasn’t the guy they wanted to screw with anymore. I had a firearm available in the first instance but the situation was resolved with the simple presentation of the ASP instead. They work, they are effective, and they have been relied on by law enforcement professionals for good reason. Go quality, know your laws, and use proportionate force if ever necessary.

*Featured image courtesy of DVIDS

GAU-19 Gatling .50 Cal

The GAU-19 Gatling .50 Cal is one serious piece of hardware which I thought I’d mention today in light of it’s renewed interest for Naval deployment. Many have never even heard of it or seen it deployed, which is a shame because this monster can lay down the hate. Whenever someone is talking about the .50 Cal BMG round, you just know it’s going to be some serious firepower being laid out. Normally the .50 Cal BMG is associated with the M2HB heavy machine gun. With growing piracy threats and the increased threat of waging war with Iran and their many small boats such as the old Boghammar and copies, the GAU-19 is gaining popularity as an effective defensive weapon to counter the small-boat threat.

The GAU-19, or Gun, Aircraft Unit-19 was originally designed to be utilized as the forward gun turret for helicopters (commonly referred to as the ‘chin’ gun) such as the AH-1 Cobra (The AH-1 utilized the M197 instead). General Electric designed the weapon in the late 70s and it first saw service in 1983 under the designation GAU-19/A. The system was once designed as a beefed up copy of the M134 7.62x51mm Minigun, complete with 6 barrels and firing the much larger .50 BMG cartridge. Later on during testing it was decided the 6 barrel system depleted the systems magazine too quickly and added too much weight to the already large weapon, so a 3 barrel prototype was developed. The 3 barrel version was smaller, lighter, and didn’t deplete ammunition as aggressively.

The GAU-19 has seen little change made to its design since entering service. It is still relatively unknown to the majority despite the impressive firepower it can deliver and General Dynamics now seek to see it adopted in more roles than the original design as a Helicopter only weapon. General Dynamics created a more diverse set of mounting options in hopes to attract more sales of the system. There are now aircraft external mounts (pods), aircraft crew mounts, vehicle mounts, and surface ship mounts available. A recent version has been released, the GAU-19/B, which reduces the system weight and is optimized for vehicle or patrol boat usage. With the newer system, interest is growing in the Naval Mount version in particular as a small boat defensive weapon.

The system operates very much like the 7.62mm M134 Minigun system in being electrically driven and mechanically fired. When the system is firing, a feeder/delinker is spun by the systems drive motor and strips the ammunition out of the belt before handing it off to the actual gun portion of the weapon. Think of it like a cars serpentine belt. The drive motor rotates the gun, and in turn rotates the feeder/delinker as well. The ammunition feeds into the weapon as it rotates, and the 3 bolts are following a guide cam on the gun housing. The guide cam drives the bolts forward and rearward to perform chambering, locking, firing, and then unlocking, extracting, and ejecting in a wide elliptical motion. When the bolt is in its forward most point, compression releases the firing pin to discharge the round and is re-cocked as it is pulled rearward. Specifications for the system are as follows:

Gun Weight: 138 lb for GAU-19/A or 106 lb for GAU-19/B
Rate of Fire: 1,000/1,250/1,300/2,000 rpm for GAU-19/A or 1,300 rpm for GAU-19/B
Magazine: 900 rounds (HMMWV), 1,200 rounds (Naval), 500-1,200 rounds (GAU-19/B)
Recoil Force: 495 lb @ 1,300 rpm (GAU-19/A HMMWV or Naval), 575 lb @ 1,300 rpm (GAU-19/B)
Effective Range: 2,000yds (1 Nautical Mile)
Max Dispersion: 5 mrads (80% circle) = 5m @ 1000m

There is a wide variety of ammunition available for the .50 BMG cartridge. The GAU-19 system can utilize any available linked .50 BMG ammunition from standard ball and tracer, Armor Piercing Incendiary-Tracer (API-T), API-Dim Tracer, or the advanced Mk 211 variety rounds which I would encourage the use of for naval units. The Mk211 and Mk257 rounds have been called Raufoss rounds by some since that was the name of the Norwegian city the rounds were first produced in and has been nicknamed as ‘Christmas Tree’ in some NSW circles due to the green, red, and aluminum paint markings on the tips of the linked rounds. In technical terms, it is a High Explosive Incendiary, Armor Piercing (HEIAP) Tracer (Mk211) or Dim Tracer (Mk257). I absolutely love this round, it makes nice big pop’s on target, often setting fires, and it makes a mess wherever it hits throwing out a 30° cone of fragmentation. It is packed with 1 gram of RDX Comp-A Explosive for a filler, topped with .6 grams of zirconium for incendiary effect, and is pyrotechnically initiated after impact by the tungsten carbide armor piercing penetrator. Mk211 Mod 1 (Grade B) is for machine gun use only, while Mk211 Mod 0 (Grade A) is meant for sniper applications due to being manufactured to a higher quality standard. A video describing the round in use in a sniper application is at this link.

Standard Tracer — Regular Tracer on Night Vision

IR Dim Tracer — Firing Dim Tracer on Night Vision

In case you are wondering what a ‘Dim Tracer’ is, it is a special tracer which burns in the infrared spectrum and is invisible to the naked eye, but visible when using Night Vision Devices (NVD’s). It produces less ‘white-out’ for gunners with NV Goggles on.

With the variety of mounts available for the GAU-19 it is receiving a more serious look for employment, primarily for the Navy as mentioned before. The system when firing at 1,300 rounds per minute is firing 21 rounds per second and 7 rounds per barrel in that second. If you have ever fired the M2HB, with it’s cyclic rate falling between 440-550 rpm its roughly shooting about 8 rounds in a second versus the 21 rounds from the GAU-19. The GAU-19 can sustain fire for about a minute from its 1,200 round magazine, while the M2HB is usually holding about 200-250 rounds in it’s can on patrol boats. Anyone who has shot the M2HB aggressively also knows that trying to empty 200-250 rounds in one burst will likely result in the weapon failing or cooking off. The increased fire rate of the GAU-19 helps to get gunners on target faster and achieve more target impacts much like the M134 Minigun systems theory of employment. The faster rate of fire means more rapid visualization of tracers and round impacts to drive the weapon onto the target with. Against boats, the GAU-19 can devastate a craft if paired with the Mk211 rounds which have the potential of penetrating engines and setting fuel ablaze. %EMBED6%

In the video above you might have noticed a sudden increase in fire rate while shooting. That was the gunner switching from 1,000rpm to 2,000rpm. To wrap-up this article, I do hope the system becomes more widely adopted in our own service. While it does have some shortfalls, such as it needing a reliable 24 VDC power source to power the drive motor or the competing availability of other weapons such as 20mm chain guns, I do believe that for a manned weapon this system holds it’s own against the competition being a relatively easy system to maintain in good service compared to the competitions weapons systems. In the threat of suicide boats or against Iranian Gun Boats this system could allow rapid engagement and destruction out to a nautical mile with common ammunition and without needing major structural changes to emplace. Training for gunners and armorers is fairly easy and the overall system cost is low and comparable to the M134 Minigun. Why the system hasn’t seen wider adoption is beyond me, I’ll just have to wait and see I guess.

Bravo One, Out.

Camouflage at its absolute best

This is the holy grail of camouflage for the fighting folk. Despite all of our technology, we are still playing catch-up to nature but we are learning and strides are being made. Nature has had a lot more time to tweak and test it’s creations, and the price to pay for failing was literally life. Someday, we might be able to leverage our technology to achieve a useful result and active camouflage may become normal. %EMBED10%

The full presentation of David Gallo’s TED talk is available here for those interested.

I strive to remember, getting a weapon up and on target means a lot of other things have had to work. To pull that trigger in faroffistan a whole lot of gears got cranked, whether it’s transport, logistics, targeting or any other thing in a long list it takes to come to that point in time. For me, anything that can give us more of an edge in the actual fighting portion is something to be excited about. Camouflage seems so insignificant and easy to overlook despite the fact that it really can make a difference between life or death. Nature knows it better than anyone in the predator/prey game. I want us to keep being the predator and letting the other guy slip and get ate up by incoming fires.

So that octopus was really cool and all but where are we in a usable form? Enter BAE Systems with their work on the ADAPTIV system. It may not be small enough for the common man, but it is a step in that direction. The system renders the host platform nearly invisible to IR/Thermal sensors, or can mimic another object. A much more expensive version of ships using the practice of deceptive lighting to appear to be something it’s not. While only being fielded as a technology demonstrator at present, time has told us that as technology matures it tends to scale in size. It works by heating or cooling plates installed around the platform, and can use sensors to match the local environment to ‘disappear’ into the background when viewed with IR sensors. Of course, the Mk1 Eyeball can still defeat it during daylight or low-light. %EMBED11%

Cost aside, someday a system just might become robust and small enough to be embedded into uniforms. Until that day, we should look to use to right uniform camo in the right environment. Army UCP? What the hell were they thinking? For more talk on BAE’s ADAPTIV look here, and BAE Systems page here.

Bravo One, Out.

IWI Negev NG7

There’s been some excitement lately surrounding the new IWI Negev NG7 7.62x51mm Light Machine Gun so we decided to do a overview of that system and really describe it for everyone out there. The system really isn’t anything new but it does have some unique qualities that make it stand out from other designs. I think the 2 most unique features are the semi-automatic fire mode and the folding stock. When I look at the NG7 it reminds me of some kind of bastard child of an M60E4 or Mk 43 crossed with an FN Minimi. Whatever the inspirations were, I’m sure the Israeli soldiers are happy to have the extra home-grown firepower in light of ongoing tensions in their region.

To delve into the history of the Negev NG7, we don’t have to go back far. All Israeli Weapons Industries (IWI) did was take their 5.56mm Negev and beef it up to 7.62mm just like the FN Mk 46 and Mk 48 machine guns in the US. The original Negev entered development in 1985, and was finalized by 1990. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) adopted it into service in 1997. The Negev 5.56mm was capable of being magazine or belt fed, much like the M249, except the magazines are inserted from the bottom like an M16. Many of the features in the new NG7 were present in the Negev such as the assault handle, bipod, folding stock, quick-change barrel, and semi-automatic mode of fire.

The original intent of the 5.56mm Negev design was to increase soldier mobility with a weapon lighter than the FN Mag-58. It is not clear to me why Israel decided not to just go with the already available FN Minimi, which the Negev design appears to have borrowed from heavily. My educated guess is that Israel would favor having their own production so that in war their foreign arms supply cannot be blocked and so that they can participate in arms trades for revenue, which they need being such a small nation. In usage, teams would be employed with the 5.56mm Negev and they were backed by the 7.62mm FN Mag for support.

In case you were wondering about the name like I was, it doesn’t really mean or reference anything cool. Negev is just the southern desert portion of Israel. If I have the translation correct the word Negev translates as dry. The naming of the Negev NG7 means Negev Next Generation, 7.62mm.

The Negev NG7 is similar to the original Negev, and feature differences are minor. Gone is the ability to feed from magazines. Sights are now upgraded with tritium inserts for night shooting. An optional 3-rail fore-end is available, as well as the detachable 45° assault handle. The rear stock has been modernized with a rubber traction pad to help absorb recoil, and also includes an adjustable cheek-riser in addition to storage for batteries. Speaking of recoil, the promotional videos of the NG7 are often spouting ‘No Recoil !!!’ which is nonsense if you watch the video. The operating group moves directly rearward in line with the barrel and stock, just like in an M16, so muzzle climb and recoil shouldn’t be too severe, but it is certainly still there. One drawback to the in-line design is that getting a good sight picture with iron sights becomes more difficult, however in modern times where we rely heavily on optics that issue is slightly mitigated.

The inner workings of the NG7 are similar to other designs for light machine guns. The bolt is carried by the operating rod like what is seen in the M240, SCAR, and AK-47 series. It most closely resembles the AK-47’s operating group in having the bolt rotate on a lug and cam well. The bolt features 4 large lugs to lock into the barrel. The weapon operates using a striker instead of a hammer for firing when the bolt is forward and locked like many other open-bolt machine guns. I’d venture to guess that the semi-automatic mode is accomplished using a bolt catch like in the M16/M4. One characteristic that stand’s out to me is that the special forces version of the NG7 is about 36″ overall and 28″ folded making for a very compact 7.62mm platform. By comparison, the M4 is 29.75″ when collapsed. Full specifications are shown below:

In conclusion I think it makes sense for Israel to develop their own weapons despite fine alternatives being available. Israel knows its business when it comes to fighting, especially in urban operations. They have a long history of building weapons geared to that end from the UZI to the Tavor, so it makes perfect sense that their indigenous machine guns would also be compact and usable in urban environments just the same. I feel the NG7 will bridge a gap in their arsenal, and will help support their economy in foreign exports. I expect that the Israelis will continue their development, and their reliance on foreign weapons will continue to decrease. I’ll end this post here, with a few of the promotional video’s that have been spreading around. %EMBED4% %EMBED5%

Bravo One, Out.

Offensive Hand Grenades

In the military it seems we can be restricted or limited in offensive grenades training and employment. When I say ‘offensive’ use, I’m talking about both fragment and concussion types and usage by both friendly and enemy sides. I think our own training needs to include more than just the ‘Pull the pin, Throw at bad guys training I so often see. What I’d like to see more of is enemy grenade usage and TTPs, remembering that these guys don’t play by our rules, they will and have placed some nasty booby-traps to hit us on their turf. I want to briefly cover some of the offensive grenades in use on both sides of modern conflict and cover some less talked about topics.

The use of hand grenades in combat goes as far back as the Roman Empire. I don’t think I need to cover much history as it’s a pretty basic concept. Put some explosive in something and throw it at the enemy. The majority of modern grenades are the same in construction and employment. You have a body filled with a primary explosive and the body typically either contains or is the shrapnel producing piece. Many modern grenades contain a internally pre-fragmented body to produce a more even spread of shrapnel. The next component is the fuse, which is typically a pyrotechnic delay or impact device. Some are a combination. The fuse is normally topped with a ‘spoon’ or handle which is designed to be released from the body when thrown which in turn activates the fuse. Lastly, we have the safety pin and on some, an additional spoon safety clip. The safety devices are to prevent inadvertent activation during combat conditions, which would obviously make a bad day for all involved.

In WWII the US grenade of the day was the classic ‘pineapple’ type Mk 2 Fragment Grenade. There are still a large number of these and copies overseas, many were hidden in caches and pulled back out in recent conflicts. After WWII we introduced the M26 and M61 grenades, which appear as two small joined cups with a smooth exterior and nick-named ‘Lemon’. The M26 differed from the Mk 2 in using internal coiled wire fragments instead of the grenade body itself, and the M61 was a further improvement with a internally pre-cut fragmenting shell. These grenades saw conflict in Korea and Vietnam. Like the Mk 2, it and copies are widespread and can still be found throughout the world.

The current US issue grenade is the ‘baseball’ M67 Fragment Grenade. It is 14 oz in weight, containing 6.5 oz of Comp B explosive and using a pre-segmented body to produce an even and lethal spread of shrapnel. The fuse is designed for 4 seconds, +/- 1 sec. The stated kill radius is 5 meters, and wounding at 15 meters which can be confusing to those expecting a 100% result at those ranges. The 5/15 meter figure is actually rated as a 50% chance of. Don’t have it in your head that if you or a hostile are in those windows that it’s automatically lights out. Grenades aren’t a guarantee kill anymore than bullets are. Always assume the bad guy is still able to fight! The shrapnel spread from the M67 is very even, so the chances of an enemy coming out completely unscathed are low.

Also at our disposal is the Mk3A2 Concussion Grenade, which in my experience was superior to fragment grenades for urban operations. The main killing action here is an intense overpressure shockwave, which is magnified inside buildings. The filler here is 8 oz of TNT. In appearance, it somewhat resembles a smoke grenade, a canister shape painted black that may have a yellow band in the middle. In demolition training, we learn about shockwave propagation and how those waves can reflect against walls. It’s an important consideration so that any blast is safe for your team. The blast from a Mk3A2 inside a room can quickly end the fight without the fear of shrapnel coming through the walls hitting friendlies. The Navy employs these as anti-swimmer grenades because blast propagates further and stronger through liquid than air. Air can be compressed, liquid can not. The Mk3 series is being phased out of use unfortunately since the main user, the Navy, has developed a specific anti-swimmer grenade.

The next big thing coming on-line is the Anti-Structure Hand Grenade (ASM-HG). Essentially, it is a thermobaric hand-grenade designed for blast much like the Mk3A2. The blast pressure in the ASM lasts for a longer duration than standard explosives, as well as having increased thermal output. We have had other thermobaric effect weapons, from 40mm XM1060 rounds, up to MAAWS Rockets and Fuel-Air Explosive Bombs. The explosive is an aluminized, RDX-based explosive, PBXN-109 that when detonated creates intense heat and prolonged blast impulse, often blowing out walls and collapsing structures such as buildings and bunkers. The intense heat generated can also have the effect of consuming remaining oxygen in the case of caves.

M67 compared to ASM — M67 Grenade compared to ASM Grenade

In our typical training, we discuss proper throwing techniques and accuracy, the kill/wound radius, and safe handling techniques. We often remove the spoon safety clip and insert a tape pull tab onto the ring and then wrap it around the fuse head (taping is not actually authorized). I often saw guys bend one side of the safety pin to make it easier to pull out quickly, but that should be discouraged. A factory-set pin should take up to 35 pounds of pressure to pull. That shit in the movies of pulling it with your teeth? Good luck, try harder! The biggest mistake I see with our guys is how they hold the grenade. The ‘spoon’ should always be in the palm of your hand instead of the fingers, because under stress, you may let the spoon slip. There is no putting the pin back in at that point, and Mr. Grenade is no longer our friend.

Another employment topic is grenade ‘cooking’ which is intentionally releasing the spoon prior to throwing so there is less a delay before detonation. Cooking a grenade is used to get an airburst or short ground detonation. It’s best avoided without training or with unfamiliar grenades since there are timing differences in fuzes, but situations come up where getting a grenade tossed back would be bad. I ‘ll tell a story of a Army Ranger who once attempted to cook a grenade, but instead the striker popping the fuse startled him into dropping it at his feet. He managed to kick it and duck the corner for cover, but professed he would never try that again. There’s a potential for bad there…

A more personal gripe of mine hails from Hollywood depictions of grenades as almost ‘mini-nukes’ in detonation size. I hate seeing that in movies. In real life, when a grenade goes off it is just a loud pop. Concussion grenades are a good deal louder than frag’s as well, so if you should use one, be prepared! The flash is hard to see in daylight, but is just a small sphere of fire at night lasting a few microseconds. You’ll know it if one goes off for sure, and they’re much more impressive in sand where you can see the shockwave expand, but they aren’t single-handedly destroying factories or whole floors of buildings like so many movies depict with snarling fire chasing the hero out a window or vent shaft. Hollywood…

As said before, the gist of a modern grenade is mostly the same around the world, body, fuze, spoon, and safety. So I bring up the Russian variety because like ours, they are copied and found everywhere in the hands of people we’d rather not have breathing and who wish us the same. The majority of foreign grenades will be the F1 type or RGD-5 variety with insurgencies. It should be noted that the RGN and RGO grenades have a further lethality radius, 10 and 20 meters respectively when compared to our M67’s 5 meters. The only grenade out of Russia that really grabbed my interest was the RKG-3 which I’ll touch on a little more than the others.

Clockwise from top-left: F1, RGD-5, RGO, RGO, RKG-3 — Clockwise from top-left: F1, RGD-5, RGO, RGN, RKG-3

The RGN/RGO Grenades (top right) are interesting in having a much more complex fusing system designed to ensure the detonation of the grenade. It is both impact and time fused in that once thrown, it detonates on contact and if that fails, it still has a pyrotechnic delay fuse. The RKG-3 (bottom) grenade is a shape-charge anit-tank grenade that has been used against coalition forces in Iraq. As designed, when thrown, a drogue parachute deploys and ensures the charge lands facing downward prior to detonation. In Iraq it was often modified to remove the parachute so that it could be thrown against the sides of HMMWV and MRAP vehicles. Like all shape-charge weapons, it’s made to punch holes in armor, 6.7″-8.6″ of Rolled Homogenous Armor (RHA), and kill vehicle occupants. It also has a fragment lethality of up to 20 meters. The RKG-3 was a high threat grenade for convoy’s right after Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) and other IED’s.

Foreign fighters will engage with grenades in hit and run attacks, or will use them just like we would in regular engagements. Where our forces need to exercise caution is in enemy forces using grenades as booby-traps. The places to set grenade traps is limited only by imagination. A common use trap would be setting a grenade to trip on opening a door. The classic example is the grenade armed in a can, when it’s pulled out by line, the spoon is released. A grenade can be rigged under a desk to release when a drawer is opened. Grenades can be attached to stakes and rigged with trip-wire to act like a land-mine. Insurgents were known to plant grenades on bodies, so that the grenade detonates when the body is disturbed. In any area where there has been Home Born IED (HB-IED) attacks, exercise caution against grenade traps as well. Sometimes such traps would be marked with paint or a hand-print to signal to locals to stay away. Enemy forces have no hesitation in laying traps against US and Coalition forces and it takes vigilance and awareness to spot such traps before becoming a casualty.

As seen above, we have to stay vigilant, one careless push or pull is all it takes in some cases. If you deploy downrange take care of yourselves and buddies. Contacting EOD JIEEDO for information about your operational area can give you a good idea of what to expect in your area. They have a site up called JKnIFE (CAC Access Only) to help get information out. Stay safe out there!

Bravo One, Out.