by Steven Donald Smith American Forces Press Service July 13, 2006 The Missile Defense Agency successfully completed a developmental flight test of a major element of its ballistic missile defense system today at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., agency officials said. Initial indications show that the test achieved what it set out to do: test parts of the Terminal High …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com July 13, 2006 A private company called CombatBodyArmor (CBA) is currently developing a small, forearm-wearable ballistic shield, or "Battle Shield" (a.k.a. "Combat Shield"), for infantry warfighters. The CBA Mini Battle Shield (a.k.a. Mini Combat Shield) is being developed specifically to protect the warfighter against current enemy rifle-caliber threats (7.62x39mm, 5.45x39mm, and 7.62x54R) and IED (Improvised Explosive …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview has just received exclusive video footage (links below) of an MPS Auto Assault-12 Full-Auto Shotgun (a.k.a. MPS AA-12 Full-Auto Shotgun) successfully firing (and cycling) British FRAG-12 munition (12-gauge grenade) on full-auto at 300 rpm (rounds per minute). The test (AA-12) shotgun sucessfully fired (and cycled) a total of 60 fin-stabilised FRAG-12 grenades/munitions over the course of the full-auto …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview has obtained two of the latest promotional/informational documents on the AAE Stealth Technology System (STS) cloaking technology (a.k.a. adaptive camouflage, electro-optical camouflage, active camouflage, and chameleonic camouflage), so we thought we’d share them with our readers. These documents discuss what Advanced American Enterprise (AAE) calls "Stealth III". The relevant links to the Stealth III documents …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview first reported on the M16 Clinic AR-15/M16/M4/M4A1-platform 5.56x45mm subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle) weapons packages back in December, 2004. That first article discussed the select-fire/full-auto,  SOPMOD M4 CQBR (Close Quarters Battle Receiver)-style M16 Viper and M16 Viper-XRP (eXtra-Range/Perimeter) 5.56mm subcarbines/SBRs, which are built specifically for military Special Operations applications, including anti-terrorism/counterterrorism operations. These weapons would appear to …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Gunwriters David Fortier (David M. Fortier) and Ken Hackathorn have both recently written articles about the HK45 and HK45C .45 ACP combat pistols, and both articles can be viewed at the Vickers Tactical Inc. website (VickersTactical.com). The articles are in PDF format and are downloadable. Vickers Tactical, Inc. is owned by gunsmith/pistolsmith and retired U.S. Army …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com DefenseReview recently received an updated fact sheet on the AAE Stealth Technology System (STS). The new document focuses on an updated/upgraded version of STS called "Stealth II", which can protect helicopters and ground vehicles from heat-seeking missiles, artillary, and personnel with night vision viewers. AAE claims that Stealth II accomplishes this by cloaking/camuflaging helicopter and ground …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Some folks at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), a.k.a. NAVAIR Weapons Division (China Lake, CA), are currently developing a "man-packable, shoulder-launched guided missile" system for U.S. infantry warfighters called SPIKE. The developmental system is essentially a low-cost, compact, and lightweight man-portable shoulder-fired fire-and-forget missile system that incorporates three separate guidance modes–inertial, laser, and imaging …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. recently introduced a new semi-auto bullpup .50 BMG anti-materiel/sniper rifle at NDIA Small Arms Symposium 2006. We’ve been told by an outside source that the new rifle is called the XM500 (or XM-500), but we don’t have confirmation on this designation, yet. The only info we have on the new .50 Cal. …

by David Crane david at defensereview.com On March 27, 2006, DefenseReview published an article on the Ultimax 100 MK4 LMG/SAW (magazine-fed), which appears to have been developed to meet the U.S. Marine Corps’ (USMC) stated requirements for a "Non-developmental, 5.56mm, Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR)". That article was titled Ultimax 100 MK4: Best Choice for USMC Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR)? Video …