By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 24, 2008 Updated on May 6, 2009 Ever since he won the presidential election, the press has been following President-Elect Barack Obama around Chicago like a bunch of hungry (and annoying) puppies. Whether he’s going to his transition office in the Kluczynski Federal Building in the Loop (dowtown Chicago professional district, …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 19, 2008 Human Events is reporting on the use of Chinese armor-piercing a.k.a. armor-penetrating (AP) bullets by enemy snipers in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the article, this new Chinese AP rifle ammo is copycatting U.S.-made AP ammo design, and is "sending alarm bells through the Pentagon as it hurries to …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 13, 2008 DefenseReview has been publishing information about Springfield Armory XD (eXtreme Duty) series pistols for quite awhile now, since a number of our professional contacts in the tactical community swear by them, particularly the .45 ACP models. To date, the most interesting XD pistol is the Springfield XD(M) a.k.a. Springfield …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 12, 2008 A company out of Sheldon, Iowa called JARD, Inc. has introducted a new semi-auto .50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO) anti-materiel/sniper rifle called the JARD J50. The J50 is a gas-operated direct-gas-impingement (DGI) rifle that utilizes a 9-lug rotating-bolt locking locking mechanism. The combination of the weapon’s DGI operation, 30" free-float …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 10, 2008 On November 3, 2008, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) issued a Sources Sought Notice for a "Semi-Automatic Precision Weapon System" (SAPWS) (Solicitation Number: M6785408R1011), i.e. a semi-auto sniper rifle, capable of firing the 7.62x51mm NATO (7.62mm NATO) M118 Long Range (LR) Cartridge. The SAPWS, which would essentially be the …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com Colt Defense’s last new offering is the Colt Extended Range Carbine (ERC), which is a 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem. select-fire, match-grade rifle/carbine designed to allow the end-user to engage targets in excess of 600 meters away when utilizing a 16-inch (16") barrel, and in excess of 650 meters when utilizing a …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com November 4, 2008 So far, DefenseReview has covered the Colt SCW (Sub-Compact Weapon), Colt APC (Advanced Piston Carbine) and Colt AHC (Advanced Hybrid Carbine), but those aren’t the only newly-developed weapons in Colt Defense’s bag of tricks. If you’re interested in an upgraded/modernized version of the standard, direct-gas-impingement (DGI) Colt M4A1 Carbine, …

The following is a Ceradyne, Inc. press release: COSTA MESA, Calif., Oct 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Ceradyne, Inc. (CRDN: 23.50, +1.74, +8.0%) announced that it has received a delivery order for $73 million for XSAPI body armor plates. This X-SAPI plate order is the first production delivery order against the $2.37 billion ID/IQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) contract announced on …

By C. Todd Lopez U.S. Army News Service October 31, 2008 WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 29, 2008) — The Army announced today the awarding of three contracts for technology development on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Together, the three contracts are worth a combined total of approximately $166 million. They have been awarded to: BAE Systems Land & Armament …