Brickmuppet notes that the US Army seems to be quietly looking at the personal defense weapon (PDW) concept:
A report in today’s Jane’s Defence Weekly quotes Brigadier General Mark Brown, the head of the US Army’s ‘Programme Executive Office — Soldier’ and commanding general of the Natick Soldier Centre in Massachusetts, as saying that the US Army is looking to acquire a new personal defence weapon: a compact, medium-powered firearm for issue to vehicle crews.
He stated that the new weapon will be “larger than a pistol and smaller than a carbine” and would be employed by personnel not primarily engaged in infantry combat. He said: “When you get all your soldiers geared up in an uparmoured Humvee, there’s not a lot of room”.
A formal requirement for the PDW is being developed by the Army’s main infantry centre at Fort Benning. The small arms centre at Picatinny Arsenal would be tasked to oversee the procurement.
General Brown said that at this point the service has only a “generalised requirement” for a PDW. The report says it is too early to know whether the Army would prefer an off-the-shelf weapon or a developmental item.
XM8’s PDW model
Of course, everyone is going to have an opinion on this one. HK MP7? FN P90? Knight’s Armament PDW? How about the Bushmaster Armpistol? Or even a pump-action 5.56 pistol? Maybe reissue the M1 Carbine?
Murdoc says “None of the above”. This ain’t gonna happen.
A major problem is that 9mm-based submachineguns aren’t going to be effective against anyone with any armor, and .45 SMGs won’t be a whole lot better. Two truly promising little weapons, the MP7 and the P90, use new oddball ammunition and are built across the pond.
I think this is going to wallow around for a while. Then they’ll pick either the MP7, the P90, or a snub-barreled M4 and begin development. After a year or two, and a gazillion dollars (or two), the program will be canceled and they’ll just issue everyone either a 9mm pistol or an M4. Which is what they’re doing today.
Incidentally, the XM8 assault rifle had a nifty little PDW version. That program wallowed around for a while and then died quietly. As will this one.
Call me cynical (or even bitter), and I’m totally shooting from the hip on this one, but I will believe this has a chance when the order for the first 100,000 is issued.
UPDATE: A comment over on my site was too good to not post here:
A hundred years from now, when we are fighting battles on Mars, our troops will be carrying M16’s and M9’s and bitching that they jam in the Martian dust.
And I thought I was cynical…
–cross-posted by Murdoc
So youre sayign make a 7.62 casign out of 6061 t-6 aluminum, and compress the chamber to help the round from exploding in the breech? Anythign else would be way to expensive, and or heavy. titanium, coramite, 17–4 stainless stamped, everyting would make a single bullet cost more than $2.00 a piece. brass is goign to be used untill we find some exotic material tha is easy to make and process, or re-design the firearm from the groudn up, as in electrical pusle, as proven, or other means as in transistor powered and co2 laser. If we coudl design a cheap shit american US-08, like the ak-47, with a quality barrel i would be happy. I love my M-16, M-4, m-14, m1, ar-15, p-90, mp-5. But if something is better, and made fast, deal with the firepower we have. The M-16 was made to penetrate kevlar at 200 to 300 meters. The M-14 is a shorter stick, the roudn was never emant to be used in 20 ft engagements. we need to go back to Hollow points and not FMJ’s for close combat. Screw the rules of engagement. They behead us with swiss army knives if captured. So what it a fragmentation round causes a litle more pain before achmed expires.
Weight Lifting for Beginners — Weight lifting wrist straps for beginners
When starting to train, sometimes it is necessary for beginners to know that there are necessary items to get, and these items are needed in order to get a good work out going on if you are getting into building up. And what is this gear good for? Well, non other than to make you built up faster and to protect your body from suffering unnecessary injuries, in other words, this is equipment not only for beginners, but for all people who are into lifting weights, to use such products as Weight lifting wrist straps. It doesn
I was reading this article on the Illumnati which is an underground group. They had a retired British Intelligence director quoted as saying” Any professional intelligent agent knows there is no such thing as a group known as Al Queda as a terrorist organization, but its a Devil to produce thru the media to get the public to believe they have identified the source or target of terrorism.“
I was wondering if it is true, that Alquada is not an actual terror organization, but fabricated by the FBI AND OR US MILITARY. I am not saying that there are not known terror groups. But theyre structure and recruiting practices can be identified. The Template of events of which people are rounded up into these underground groups which could be construed as criminal ‚left wing, damaging to the infrastructure in their activities, which in fact is the US definition of terrorism..“Damage to the infrastructure” as opposed to blowing up SUVs and stealing stuff.
Where can the identifiable sources of a terror cell abroad, much less in the USA proper be identified, but not labled as an ALQUADA cell?
Are newer underground groups formulating calling themselves something Different.. even if they formulate on a similar basis that Suicide bombers and loyalsts are rounded up from forgein countries.
I have seen and noted the common element between the US terror groups, yet named and Forgein terror groups is that they solicit people who are down and not accepted within the whole of society and POSITIVELY REINFORCE NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS to encourage persons to SPY on and undermind the govt, damage, steal, infiltrate, rob, kidnap, abuse , torture , use of moderate homemade chemical weaponry and MAJOR INTERNET AND INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE damage and insurgency. The propaganda found on credible well known popular websites, and the false news and entertainment stories filtered in , and bad, corrupt banking, stock market , credit card, mortgage and other such financial tampering and adjustments is cause for ALARM that we are under a terror attack in the USA , as well as around the world. Our authorities have not done enough to identify this level of hacking as acts of terrorism as it could be actually defined. Laws do not make for prompt, efficient or well understood law enforcement investigations. The line is not clear where the cops stop and the Military begins. There is still a total lack of coordination in such matters, and witnesses credibility are attacked as feverishly as the WORLD TRADE CENTERS WERE.
Something must be done to alert the general public and to control and stop these underground activities which seem widely ignored by the State and local authorities.
I was reading this article on the Illumnati which is an underground group. They had a retired British Intelligence director quoted as saying” Any professional intelligent agent knows there is no such thing as a group known as Al Queda as a terrorist organization, but its a Devil to produce thru the media to get the public to believe they have identified the source or target of terrorism.“
I was wondering if it is true, that Alquada is not an actual terror organization, but fabricated by the FBI AND OR US MILITARY. I am not saying that there are not known terror groups. But theyre structure and recruiting practices can be identified. The Template of events of which people are rounded up into these underground groups which could be construed as criminal ‚left wing, damaging to the infrastructure in their activities, which in fact is the US definition of terrorism..“Damage to the infrastructure” as opposed to blowing up SUVs and stealing stuff.
Where can the identifiable sources of a terror cell abroad, much less in the USA proper be identified, but not labled as an ALQUADA cell?
Are newer underground groups formulating calling themselves something Different.. even if they formulate on a similar basis that Suicide bombers and loyalsts are rounded up from forgein countries.
I have seen and noted the common element between the US terror groups, yet named and Forgein terror groups is that they solicit people who are down and not accepted within the whole of society and POSITIVELY REINFORCE NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS to encourage persons to SPY on and undermind the govt, damage, steal, infiltrate, rob, kidnap, abuse , torture , use of moderate homemade chemical weaponry and MAJOR INTERNET AND INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE damage and insurgency. The propaganda found on credible well known popular websites, and the false news and entertainment stories filtered in , and bad, corrupt banking, stock market , credit card, mortgage and other such financial tampering and adjustments is cause for ALARM that we are under a terror attack in the USA , as well as around the world. Our authorities have not done enough to identify this level of hacking as acts of terrorism as it could be actually defined. Laws do not make for prompt, efficient or well understood law enforcement investigations. The line is not clear where the cops stop and the Military begins. There is still a total lack of coordination in such matters, and witnesses credibility are attacked as feverishly as the WORLD TRADE CENTERS WERE.
Something must be done to alert the general public and to control and stop these underground activities which seem widely ignored by the State and local authorities.