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Major revamp possible for M4 carbine said:

Army wants new barrel, faster fire and 4 other improvements
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer army times
Posted : Sunday Nov 22, 2009 13:20:30 EST

The Army is considering a major redesign of the M4 aimed at making the weapon shoot cleaner and longer — at high rates of fire.

As the Army awaits Defense Department approval of a competition to find a new carbine, weapons officials have identified six fixes intended to address shortcomings in reliability, durability and handling of the Army’s inventory of more than 400,000 M4s.

Army weapons officials presented the proposed changes to Congress on Oct. 30. They are:
• Adding a heavier barrel for better performance during high rates of fire.

• Replacing the direct-impingement gas system with a piston gas system.

• Improving the trigger pull.

• Adding an improved rail system for increased strength.

• Adding ambidextrous controls.

• Adding a round counter to track the total number of bullets fired over the weapon’s lifetime.

The Army is considering upgrades to the M4 at the same time it is poised to begin a competition to replace the weapon, a variant of the Vietnam-era M16 family.

Senior leaders launched the effort to find a new weapon in November 2008, a year after the M4 finished in last place in an Army reliability test involving three other carbines. Then-Army Secretary Pete Geren directed the Army’s Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Ga., to update the carbine requirement.

That document is now under review at the Army senior staff level, but the service cannot start a competition until the requirement is approved by the DoD’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council.

Even if the Army releases a request for proposal to the small-arms industry before the end of the year, it’s unlikely that the service will complete the competition and select a new carbine before fiscal 2013. And once a new carbine is selected, it will then take years to replace the M4s and M16s in the inventory.

Army weapons officials say they want to give soldiers something better, sooner. While there is no set timeline, the hope is “to have this nailed by [early] January,” said Col. Doug Tamilio, the head of Project Manager Soldier Weapons.

“As we move down this carbine competition path, let’s continue to make substantial improvements to the M4,” Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller said Oct. 27. Fuller commands Program Executive Office Soldier, the command responsible for soldier weapons development.

The Army has made 62 changes to the M4 since it began fielding the weapon in the mid 1990s, weapons officials maintain. The changes have ranged from improved extractor springs to high-tech optics to a more reliable magazine.

But soldiers’ criticisms of the M4’s performance have continued. They were detailed recently in a report on the July 13, 2008, battle at Wanat in Afghanistan.

Enemy Afghan forces with superior numbers and firepower dominated the terrain around the platoon-sized Army outpost at Wanat. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team eventually fought off the attack, but not before the enemy knocked out the unit’s heavy weapons, killed nine soldiers and wounded another 27.

One staff sergeant described how his M4 failed him early in the battle.

“My M4 quit firing and would no longer charge when I tried to correct the malfunction,” said the soldier, identified as Staff Sgt. Phillips in a draft analysis paper on the battle written by Douglas Cubbison, a military historian at the Army Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Another soldier, Spc. Chris McKaig, experienced problems with his weapon later in the battle, according to the report.

“My weapon was overheating. I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already, and it had only been about a half hour or so into the fight,” McKaig said in the report. “I couldn’t charge my weapon and put another round in because it was too hot, so I got mad and threw my weapon down.”

Army weapons officials maintain that the M4 has an approval rating among soldiers of more than 90 percent.

Sgt. Eric Harder, a team leader with B Troop, 3rd squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, said his M4 didn’t have a single stoppage during an Oct. 3 enemy attack on Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan that lasted for more than six hours.

“I shot over 40 mags that day, and I didn’t have one jam,” Harder said during an Army video interview posted on Digital Video & Imagery Distribution’s Web site.

Army officials stress, however, that they are not discounting the alleged weapons problems Phillips and McKaig encountered at Wanat.
Sturdier, heavier barrel

One improvement they are considering for the M4 involves outfitting the weapon with the heavier barrel used on the M4A1, the special operations variant that’s designed to fire on full auto. The standard M4 has a three-round burst setting instead of full auto.

In past Army tests on the standard M4, the barrel eroded and warped after 540 rounds were fired in 2 minutes and 48 seconds. In another test, the barrel burst after 596 rounds were fired in 3 minutes and 39 seconds, weapons officials said.

But the heavier M4A1 barrel was able to shoot 930 rounds in 4 minutes 30 seconds. In that test, the heat shield melted but the barrel appeared undamaged, weapons officials maintain.

While the sustained rate of fire would have to be much lower, the heavier barrel would allow the soldier to fire longer without worrying about heat problems, Tamilio said.

“We have proven it, we have tested it and we already own it,” he said.

The only downside, he said, is there is a weight penalty that would add 5 ounces to the 6.5-pound M4.

One change that might be more challenging involves replacing the M4’s direct-gas system with a piston gas system, officials said. Both systems rely on the gas created when a round is fired to help cycle the weapon.

With a piston system, the gas siphoned from the round pushes a piston rod into the receiver and cycles the weapon. The M4’s direct-gas system uses the gas itself to cycle the weapon. This results in heat and carbon residue being blown back into the chamber, which can lead to malfunctions and parts wear.

The piston gas system performed well in an Army reliability test in November 2007. During the test, the M4 suffered more stoppages than the combined number of jams in the Heckler & Koch XM8; FNH USA’s Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR; and the H&K 416. All three of those weapons use versions of the piston gas system.

Army weapons officials agreed to perform a dust test after a July 2007 request by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Coburn took up the issue after a Feb. 26, 2007, Army Times report on moves by elite Army special operations units to ditch the M4 in favor of carbines they consider more reliable.

U.S. Special Operations Command began fielding the first SCARs to its elite forces this spring. The command decided to move away from the M4 in November 2004, when the command awarded a developmental contract to FN Herstal to develop its SCAR to replace its M4s and older M16s.

Adding a piston system to the M4 would likely require the Army to release a request for proposal since many gun companies offer M4 upper-receiver groups with piston gas systems, Tamilio said.

Tamilio added that the Army might not request a piston gas system in an RFP but instead ask for an easier-to-clean and more reliable weapon and let the industry propose what it wants.

The other changes being considered are an improved trigger to give the shooter a more consistent trigger pull, which many experts say is key to accurate shooting.

Adding a “monolithic” rail design would add strength to the weapon because the upper receiver, hand guard and rail system are forged together out of a single piece of aluminum.

Adding ambidextrous controls such as the selector lever, magazine release and bolt release would make the M4 easier to operate for both right-handed and left-handed shooters.

A round counter, or shock sensor, mounted in the pistol grip would make it much easier to know when parts need replacing, Tamilio said.

Weapons officials use gauges to check for wear, but “it would really be nice to know that this one has shot 4,000 rounds, this one has shot 7,000 rounds and this one has shot 10,000 rounds,” Tamilio said. “We have never been able to do that.”

A special “integrated product team” will evaluate the pros and cons of each of the proposed improvements and decide which options, if any, will give the service the “biggest bang for the buck,” Tamilio said.

The team will be made up of multiple agencies such as the Infantry Center, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center and Program Executive Office Soldier. It will also include soldiers with combat experience and members of the small-arms community.

Representatives from the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force will also get a chance to weigh in on the decision for future improvements to the M4.

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Navy OKs increased production of Growler said:

By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer Navy Times
Posted : Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 12:26:44 EST

The Navy has approved full-rate production of the EA-18G Growler, the next-generation electronic attack aircraft that will begin replacing the EA-6B Prowlers on carrier decks next year.

Boeing, which makes the Growlers, will ramp up production at its St. Louis plant to make about 20 aircraft per year to meet the Navy’s target of 88 total electronic attack aircraft, Boeing officials said.

The Navy’s first Growler squadron, Electronic Attack Squadron 132, known as the Scorpions, has five aircraft and is based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. Navy officials expect it to deploy in 2010, but the carrier with which it will deploy remains unclear.

The squadron is the first of 12 operational squadrons to stand up during the next three years.

The Navy initially said the Prowlers would retire by 2012, but officials say they are now considering extending some aircraft for several years.

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Stealthy Jammer Considered for F-35 said:

Jun 15, 2009

By Amy Butler and Douglas Barrie Aviation Week.
LE BOURGET

Study work has been carried out examining the benefits of fitting a low-observable electronic warfare pod to the Lockheed Martin F-35 to further boost the aircraft’s electronic combat capability, according to a U.S. Marine Corps officer.

The F-35 is a candidate platform for the next-generation jammer (NGJ), though a conventional pod design would impact the aircraft’s radar cross-section. Using a stealthy pod configuration would provide additional capability while minimizing the impact on the aircraft’s low-observable characteristics.

The NGJ has an anticipated initial operating capability in 2018, aligning the development with the Block V F-35, the officer says. The Block IV aircraft, which is now being defined, would, however, have the software “hooks” to include the jammer. The Block 4 design is expected to be locked by the end of the year.

The USMC is looking to the F-35 to provide a successor EW and electronic attack capability to that of the EA-6B Prowler/ALQ-99 combination.

The baseline F-35 will in itself provide a significant EW/EA capability. The aircraft’s APG-81 active electronically-scanned array radar will give a stand-off jamming capability against present and emerging surface-to-air missile threat systems, substantially degrading the SAM system engagement envelope.

Today’s fleet consists of a small number of dedicated platforms. The JSF program calls for EW technology to be embedded into the baseline aircraft, allowing the war planners more freedom in crafting combat operations.

Systems such as the Almaz-Antei S-400 (SA-21 Growler), just entering service with the Russian military, present a capable threat to the present generation of strike aircraft. Derivatives of the S-400 are expected to be exported by Russia.

The USMC is looking to spiral develop the F-35’s electronic warfare and electronic attack capacity as its replacement for the Prowler. It is also looking at the utility of unmanned aerial vehicles as an adjunct to the F-35 in the EW/EA role, the officer says.

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Semper Ri beer brewed to benefit Marine unit said:

By James K. Sanborn - Staff writer Marine Times
Posted : Monday Nov 30, 2009 8:59:40 EST

Two things most Marines love: loyalty to the Corps and beer. Put the two together and you get Semper Ri — a dark, winter rye beer made by Westport, Mass., brewer Bill Russell.

Russell, founder of Just Beer, created the brew to raise money for 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, which deployed to Afghanistan in October and includes his stepson, 2nd Lt. Joshua Bruins.

On Oct. 27, the day Bruins deployed, Russell and his partner, Harry Smith, began to make 7,200 22-ounce bottles of Semper Ri, which sell for $4.99 each at the brewery’s retail store and select Massachusetts grocery stores. Two dollars from every bottle goes toward buying the unit, known as the Warlords, comforts from home such as socks, razors, hand warmers, hot chocolate and Christmas gifts.

“It’s $2 per 22 [ounces] for the 2/2,” according to Russell’s sale pitch.

Semper Ri contains 20 percent rye malt — and 4.8 percent alcohol.

“It’s a crisp, dry beer with the slightest hint of chocolate and roasted malt. If you smell it, you smell a little bit of the roastyness as well as a bit of the beautiful American hops that we use,” Russell said.

Russell came up with the idea to brew Semper Ri while watching his wife knit helmet liners for her son and the other Warlords. He thought to himself, “Do I really have to take up knitting to do something for Joshua over there?”

Then it dawned on him: He owns a brewery.

So while Bruins shipped out, Russell was “mashing in,” the first step in brewing.

The first bottles were warmly received and quickly downed at the Marine Corps’ birthday celebration Nov. 10 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. Looking ahead, Russell said he hopes to brew a Marine-themed blonde summer beer. And he hopes to find a way to distribute his products across the country. Currently, he can sell it only in Massachusetts because of alcohol regulations that make it difficult and costly for small breweries to ship across state lines.

For now, Russell and the other 2/2 parents await their Marines’ safe return.

“If there is any [Semper Ri] left over, I think [2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines] will finish it off when they get home,” Russell said. “It is just one more reason to come home.”

For more information about Semper Ri and how it’s made, visit Semper Ri’s Web site or e-mail Russell at [email protected]

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Trigger-happy security complicates convoys said:

By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer Military times
Posted : Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 8:24:33 EST

HUTAL, Afghanistan — Ill-disciplined private security guards escorting supply convoys to coalition bases are wreaking havoc as they pass through western Kandahar province, undermining the coalition’s counterinsurgency strategy here and leading to at least one confrontation with U.S. forces, say U.S. Army officers and Afghan government officials.

The security guards are responsible for killing and wounding more than 30 innocent civilians during the past four years in Maywand district alone, said Mohammad Zareef, the senior representative in the district for Afghanistan’s intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security.

Highway 1, the country’s main east-west artery, runs through Maywand and is the route taken by logistics convoys moving west from Kabul and Kandahar to coalition bases in Helmand province. The Afghan government’s district chief for Maywand says the men hired to protect the convoys are heroin addicts armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

The contractors’ actions are frustrating U.S. military leaders in Maywand and undermining coalition efforts to bring a greater sense of security to the Afghan people, particularly because the locals associate the contractors with the coalition.

“They’ll start firing at anything that’s moving, and they will injure or kill innocent Afghans, and they’ll destroy property,” said Lt. Col. Jeff French, commander of 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment and Task Force Legion, the main coalition force in Maywand since mid-September. French has vowed to take tough action against contractors involved in violent acts against civilians.
Afghan personnel

The problem of out-of-control security contractors operating at cross-purposes to the coalition’s counterinsurgency strategy is similar to the one that dogged the U.S. military and its allies in Iraq, with one major difference: unlike Iraq, where there were a series of high-profile incidents involving U.S. security personnel, here the guards causing the problems are Afghans.

About twice a week convoys up to 50 vehicles long pass through Maywand en route to coalition bases in Helmand carrying fuel and other bulk goods coming from the Pakistani port city of Karachi, said Capt. Casey Thoreen, commander of 2-1 Infantry’s B Company, which operates from Combat Outpost Rath, located less than 100 meters from Highway 1 in the town of Hutal.

Although the convoys sometimes carry U.S. military vehicles and represent a vital lifeline for the coalition effort, no Afghan, U.S. or other coalition military forces accompany them. Instead, each convoy is protected by Afghan security guards armed with AK-series assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in sport utility vehicles — “black 4Runners, full of guys in these tan uniforms, with lots of guns sticking out of them,” Thoreen said. “These guys are like gun-toting mercenaries with probably not a whole lot of training. … They’re just light on the trigger finger.”

Haji Obidullah Bawari, the Afghan government’s district chief for Maywand, rendered an even harsher judgment. “Most of them are addicted to heroin,” he said.

Until recently, the identities of the companies for whom the security guards worked remained shrouded in mystery, even from the coalition headquarters whose troops they are supplying. French said he requested information on the companies through his higher brigade headquarters — 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division — but had yet to receive any word back.

An International Security Assistance Force spokesman said the convoy security workers are employees of the logistics contractors running the convoys. Those contractors work for one or several of the ISAF, NATO or 26 countries operating in Afghanistan. As a result, he said he did not know how much is spent on the security firms or which companies had hired them.

Asked about allegations of heroin use and improper conduct, ISAF spokesman Col. Wayne M. Shanks said that while neither ISAF nor Regional Command-South has a vetting role in the selection of the security guards, “all credible allegations of improper actions by contractors are fully investigated.”

Over the past several weeks, local leaders have voiced complaints about the security contractors, prompting French to ask more questions about the contractors’ behavior. He said the answers he received troubled him.
Out-of-control guards

“They roll through, and if they see something that seems like a threat to them, or they feel that they’re under attack, the local Afghans are saying that they just start to lase and blaze,” French said. “They don’t stop, they don’t wait for the police to come and do an investigation or anything; they just take off.”

Among incidents this year involving the security guards in Maywand, according to Zareef, the NDS chief:

• On May 9, contractors shot dead an Afghan National Policeman manning a checkpoint on Highway 1, then drove away.

• Contractors left their broken-down car for a night at a gas station and found the next morning that insurgents had burned it. In their anger, the security guards turned their guns on the local population. “They started shooting and killed a kid,” Zareef said.

• On March 28, speeding contractors killed a local man and his wife, and injured their child, when the security guards’ SUV hit the motorcycle on which the family was riding.

• Afghans arrested a convoy security guard for the March 4 killing of a kuchi, or nomadic herder.

Zareef’s accounts were consistent with the reports received by U.S. commanders.

“We’re getting fairly consistent complaints about them,” Thoreen said. “Everybody knows somebody who’s been shot by the contractors.”

When the Taliban hit their targets, the security guards show little compassion for their wounded, French said.

“They will literally dump them on the road out here,” he said. Those who come to the base seeking medical aid get it and “on several occasions” the U.S. forces medically evacuated them to more sophisticated coalition medical facilities.

“There’s no give-a-s— factor in them when it comes to their employees,” he said. The firms’ attitude was: “Good luck — it sucks to be you. You’re in Maywand. We’re kicking you to the curb.”
Taking on the problem

French said he is planning to turn the issue to his advantage by taking a hard line with the convoy escorts, demonstrating the value of coalition and Afghan security forces to the local population. He said that at a “shura” meeting called to discuss security issues with local leaders, he committed himself to trying to solve the contractor problem.

French told the local leaders that he had ordered his troops that if they received credible reports of security guards shooting at civilians, they were to move immediately to the site and investigate the incident by talking to Afghan security forces, local civilians and the convoy escorts.

“If … we feel that they were acting inappropriately and endangering people in this district, my intent is to basically take control of those individuals in that convoy, bring them back to Ramrod and lock them up in here … call their company, make sure we can get some kind of an understanding regarding their operations, and then my guys will personally escort them out of Maywand district,” French said.

On Nov. 15, French was able to back up his words with action. After receiving word of shooting from the vicinity of Highway 1 as three convoys were rolling through Maywand, 2-1 Infantry’s quick reaction force set up a checkpoint on the highway outside the battalion’s headquarters at Forward Operating Base Ramrod and pulled over two of the convoys at gunpoint before taking the two convoys’ security chiefs into the base for questioning.

One security chief, Fidal Mohammed, claimed to have 48 men under arms. He said he worked for a company called DIAK, said 2-1 Infantry’s executive officer, Maj. Dave Abrahams, who conducted the meetings. Mohammed also gave Abrahams the names of several other companies that work the convoy escort business along Highway 1. The other security chief, who gave his name as Lalai, said he worked for a company called Angar and commanded 52 armed men.

Abrahams said he told each man that Task Force Legion would not tolerate misconduct by security companies along Highway 1 and that “any reports of security convoys firing on civilians or indiscriminately into the villages will be investigated and wrongdoers will be punished.”

Speaking before the Nov. 15 episode, French said he was hoping to achieve “multiple effects” by confronting the contractors. “Most of the positive effects will be the populace seeing us taking action to protect them,” he said.

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Corps chooses H&K to make SAW replacement said:

By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer Marine Corps Times
Posted : Wednesday Dec 2, 2009 14:52:40 EST

The Marine Corps has selected the infantry automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch as the weapon that will replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in infantry fire teams, a senior service official told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday.

The H&K IAR “was truly the best in the class on multiple levels and will finally allow the billet of automatic rifleman to be performed as intended without the disruption of the squad integrity that the M249 created,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner, said in an e-mail.

The final contract competition also included two models from Colt Defense LLC and one model from FN Herstal.

Like the SAW, each IAR finalist is built for 5.56mm ammunition. Unlike the SAW, they are not designed to operate with a 200-round drum, a point of contention for some Marines concerned about a loss of firepower. The IAR is designed to use the same 30-round magazine used with the M16, although industry, including FN Herstal, is also developing high-capacity 5.56mm magazines for the weapon that could hold 100 or 150 rounds.

The H&K IAR is the lightest of the four weapons the Corps tested this summer, after selecting finalists for the competition in December 2008. It weighs 7.9 pounds empty, with a barrel length of 16.5 inches and a collapsible stock that extends from 33 to 36.9 inches, company officials have said. It has a gas-operated system and fires from the closed-bolt position.

Marine Corps Systems Command, based at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., had not announced the winner of the IAR competition as of Wednesday morning. SysCom officials said in September that they expected a decision on the IAR to be made in October, but have declined interviews since. Eby, who oversees the Corps’ infantry weapons experts, said he has known who won the contract for about a month, but referred questions about why it has not been announced to SysCom.

A formal protest was filed with the Government Accountability Office by FN Herstal to a Marine contract decision on Oct. 30 and updated on Nov. 23, but GAO officials declined to discuss whether the protest was related to the IAR decision. Colt currently has no contract protests filed with GAO.

Eby said initial operational testing is scheduled to take place from January to May in locations ranging from Panama to the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center and Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in California.

“If successful and awarded full-rate production approval, then we should see initial operational capability by late summer 2010,” Eby said.

Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

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H&K is frontrunner in IAR competition said:

By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer marine Times
Posted : Friday Dec 4, 2009 8:37:04 EST

The Marine Corps has selected the infantry automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch as the weapon that will likely replace many M249 Squad Automatic Weapons in the rifle squad, and could begin fielding the IAR by next summer, a senior service official said.

The H&K IAR beat out three other models in the competition, which was launched in 2006 and narrowed to four finalists made by three companies in December 2008, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner, said Wednesday in an e-mail message. With several months of testing ahead, the decision isn’t considered final, but it makes the H&K model the clear front-runner in the competition.

It “was truly the best in the class on multiple levels and will finally allow the billet of automatic rifleman to be performed as intended without the disruption of the squad integrity that the M249 created,” Eby said.

The final contract competition also includes two IAR models from Colt Defense LLC, maker of the M4 carbine, and one model from FN Herstal, maker of the SAW. The H&K model is a variant of its HK416 assault rifle, which uses a spring-buffered short-stroke gas piston system, and the only finalist that fires only from the closed-bolt position.

Company officials from FNH and Colt did not return calls seeking comment. Steve Galloway, an H&K spokesman, declined to comment on the competition.

The Corps will now put H&K IAR through five months of testing beginning in January and taking place in locations ranging from Panama to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in California, Eby said. The Corps has ordered 24 H&K IARs for testing, said Capt. Geraldine Carey, a spokeswoman with Marine Corps Systems Command, based at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.

Like the SAW, each IAR finalist is built for 5.56mm ammunition. Unlike the SAW, they are not designed to operate with a 200-round drum, a point of contention for some Marines concerned about a loss of firepower. The IAR is designed to use the same 30-round magazine used with the M16, although the Corps is also interested in a high-capacity magazine that would fit the IAR and hold between 50 and 100 rounds.

The H&K IAR is the lightest of the four weapons the Corps tested this summer, after selecting finalists for the competition in December 2008. It weighs 7.9 pounds empty, with a barrel length of 16.5 inches and a collapsible stock that extends from 33 to 36.9 inches, company officials have said.

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