U.S. Air Force Having Serious Trouble Keeping F-22 Raptor Pilots

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 28, 2008 According to a recent Air Force Times article, the F-22 Raptor has the lowest pilot-retention rate of any U.S. fighter or attack aircraft measured, at a rather abysmal 33%. Compare this to 81% for F-15E Strike Eagle pilots and 68% for F-15 Eagle pilots respectively, and, gentlemen, we’ve got …

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ST Kinetics CPW (Compact Personal Weapon) Submachine Gun/PDW

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 24, 2008 DefenseReview recently mentioned Singapore Technologies Kinetics a.k.a. ST Kinetics in our article on the GDATP IAR/Ultimax 100 Mark V (Ultimax 100 MK5) LMG/SAW is offering an interesting and pretty slick-looking little lightweight, multi-calber submachine gun (SMG)/personal defense weapon (PDW) called the Compact Personal Weapon (CPW) for CQB/CQC applications and …

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GDATP IAR (Infantry Automatic Rifle)/Ultimax 100 MK5 LMG/SAW (Photos!)

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com All of the photos contained in this article were taken by Chen Lee a.k.a. "SMGLee" at the 2008 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, and he owns the copyright on these photos. Additional photos may be added to this article, later. October 21, 2008 Speaking of IARs, General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products …

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Colt Advanced Hybrid Carbine (AHC): Gas-Impingement/Gas Piston/Op-Rod Hybrid Weapon

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 16, 2008 In our article on the Colt Sub-Compact Weapon a.k.a. Colt SCW, DefenseReview discussed the upgraded direct-gas-impingement (DGI)/gas piston/op-rod Hybrid Operating System that’s available as an option for it. Well, the Colt Advanced Hybrid Carbine a.k.a. Colt AHC select-fire carbine (5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem.) utilizes a dedicated hybrid DGI/piston …

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Colt SCW (Sub-Compact Weapon): Folding-Stock Tactical 5.56 SBR (Photos!)

By David Crane defrev at gmail.com All of the photos contained in this article, with the exception of the first/top photo, were taken by Chen Lee a.k.a. "SMGLee" at the 2008 AUSA Annual Meeting and Exhibition, and he owns the copyright on these photos. Colt Defense, LLC provided the first/top photo. October 10, 2008 While I was visiting with Colt …

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Sources Sought: ‘Improved Carbine and Subcompact Individual Weapon System’

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 9, 2008 On August 22, 2008, the U.S. Army issued a sources sought notice for an "Improved Carbine and Subcompact Individual Weapon System" (Solicitation #: W52H0908CARBINESV) to replace the Colt M4 Carbine, since Colt Defense’s M4 Carbine sole source contract will end in 2009. On September 11, 2008, I got a …

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Numa Tactical Eyewear for Tactical Shooting Appications

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 9, 2008 A company called Numa Sport Optics is manufacturing and marketing a line of tactical eyewear called Numa Tactical, the purpose of which is to provide military and law enforcement (LE) tactical operators with eyewear that’s resilient and rugged enough to withstand combat operations. The key to this is Numa …

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Foldable Flexible OLED (FOLED) Display Screens Coming Soon for Future Soldiers?

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com October 5, 2008 Researchers from Sony and the Max Planck Institute (Max Planck Institut für informatik) have developed a Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode (FOLED) display screen technology a.k.a. Flexible OLED display screen that may represent the most significant step yet toward commercially-available flexible, bendable and portable display screen technology in the …

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BAE Remote Guardian System (RGS) Remotely-Operated Gun Turret

By David Crane defrev at gmail.com DefenseReview has been following the development and fielding of remote weapon stations (RWS) a.k.a. remote-controlled weapon stations a.k.a. umanned weapon stations for awhile now, including the Recon Optical, Inc. (ROI) Raven R-400 Alpha CROWS RWS, and we’re big fans of the Dillon Aero M134D and M134D-T Gatling Guns/Miniguns (7.62x51mm NATO (7.62mm NATO)/.308 Win.). So, …

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Spike’s Tactical AKM and AR-15 Short-Barreled Rifles (SBRs) and Components

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com September 28, 2008 A company out of Apopka, Florida called Spike’s Tactical is making and marketing some interesting products, including Class III AKM SBRs built on the Arsenal SLR 107UR Krink shorty AKM (updated Kalashnikov AK-47 with stamped receiver). Spike’s is building these guns in 7.62x39mm Russian (7.62mm Russian) and 5.56x45mm NATO …

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New Barrett M98B .338 Lapua Magnum Bolt-Action Anti-Materiel/Sniper Rifle

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com September 28, 2008 Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc., maker of the famous Model M82A1 (a.k.a. Barrett M82A1 a.k.a. Barrett Light-Fifty) semi-auto .50 BMG anti-materiel rifle, recently introduced a new .338 Lapua Magnum bolt-action anti-materiel/sniper rifle called the Barrett M98B or Barrett Model 98B. The M98B weighs 11.45 lbs (empty), has an ammo capacity …

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JAE-100 GEN 2 Precision Rifle Stock for Tactical M14/M1A Rifle/Carbines

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com September 26, 2008 Speaking of M14/M1A tactical rifles, just in case you’re not quite ready to go bullpup, J. Allen Enterprises, Inc (JAE) has a good-looking M14/M1A rifle stock comprised of a composite polymer skin chemically-bonded over an aircraft-grade aluminum skeleton. So, what’s the point. Well, first, it looks pretty slick. But, …

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SRSS BullDog762 Bullpup M14/M1A Battle Rifle (7.62mm NATO/.308 Win.) Range Session

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com September 22, 2008 All photographic images contained in this article were taken by DefenseReview.com, and are the exclusive property of DefenseReview.com. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos. All photos were shot with an Olympus Stylus 790 SW 7.1-megapixel digital camera, which is advertised as “shock + waterproof”. On August 30th, 2008, …

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