US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
I apologize, I was Wrong With armor Kit the Stryker offers all around 14.5mm protection with 14.5mm frontal and 7.62x54mm all around. Still LAVIII was never intended to be a Heavy IFV but a fast to deploy APC much like the M113 and USMC LAV
Congress directs Army to conduct light vehicle competition in FY18 spending bill
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  5 hours ago
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as part of its fiscal 2018 omnibus spending bill released March 21.

While the Army has maintained it is
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for the GMV, there have been murmurings the service might just decide to continue to buy the interim vehicle — General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems’ Flyer 72 — it had purchased for five airborne infantry brigade combat teams.

The congressional language locks the Army into its publicly declared plan.

Industry members were left scratching their heads when the Army decided to delay a competition and field an interim solution using Flyer 72 after spending years demonstrating and evaluating a variety of commercial off-the-shelf offerings.



The pool of readily available ultralight vehicles is deep. In addition to GD’s Flyer, the Boeing-MSI Defense Phantom Badger; Polaris Defense’s air-transportable off-road combat vehicle DAGOR; Hendrick Dynamics’ Commando Jeep; Vyper Adamas’ Viper; and Lockheed Martin’s High Versatility Tactical Vehicle, which is a version of the British Army’s HMT-400 Jackal, were all participants in a vehicle demonstration at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2014.

The Army launched its new-start GMV program in 2017 as planned, based off the service’s new combat vehicle modernization strategy released in 2016, which called for the capability.

The service said it wanted a vehicle that could carry a nine-person squad with its equipment that could be air-droppable and sling-loaded on a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter.

The Army planned to reach a full-rate production decision on a vehicle by the end of FY19.

But then it decided to split GMV procurement into two phases in the FY18 budget request and, in the first phase, planned to exclusively buy 295 of GD’s Flyers through a previously awarded contract with U.S. Special Operations Command. The second phase would open up into a competition to build 1,700 more GMVs.

Procuring the GMV vehicles from SOCOM raised the unit cost of the vehicle higher than the unit cost of once procured through competition, according to FY18 budget documents.

“The Army’s plan to procure a limited quantity of ground mobility vehicles (GMV) for use by airborne brigades raises concerns due to the high unit cost of the existing vehicles,” lawmakers state in the omnibus spending bill. “However, due to the urgent requirement and the advanced stage of the Special Operations Command GMV program, the agreement includes full funding for this program and supports the interim acquisition strategy for 295 A-GMV 1.1 vehicles for fielding to conventional Army airborne brigades and 317 GMV 1.1 vehicles for fielding to the United States Army Special Operations Command.”

Congress is appropriating $41 million in the bill for GMV procurement.


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Congress also noted the unit price of a developmental GMV would cost more than available nondevelopmental vehicles.

The Army is
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for the competition in 2018, but it has yet to drop.
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These Vehicles by the Way would be totally unarmored intended instead to be transported in CH47 Chinook helicopters and Slung under UH60 Helicopters.
Congress’ new omnibus bill sets up hurdles for JSTARS recap cancellation
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  13 hours ago
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. But lawmakers didn’t make it easy for the service to walk away from it.

If passed by Congress, the language in the spending bill would prohibit the Air Force from using the $405 million designated for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapitalization program on any other effort, including the service’s new
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plan.

However, it does offer up a back door: Congress might be willing to move the funding to another program if requested by the Air Force, and if the Defense Department submits a report about alternatives to JSTARS recap.

“Despite years of affirmations to Congress on the need to pursue JSTARS recapitalization and an ongoing source selection process, the Air Force asserts that the program will not be viable in future contested environments and lacks compelling improvements over legacy capabilities,” the omnibus language states.



However, “the proposal to cancel JSTARS recapitalization, pursue alternatives, and ensure no duplication between efforts requires careful consideration by Congress through the fiscal year 2019 budget process.”

The Air Force requested $417 million in fiscal 18 to continue development of the JSTARS recap, with a contract award to a single vendor — either
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,
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or Northrop Grumman — expected in calendar year 2018.

But service leadership including
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and Chief of Staff
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that modified commercial planes would not be able to survive a battle with a peer competitor in a contested environment. By September, the service had acknowledged that it was seeking
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.

Some
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that the service should move forward with JSTARS recap and pursue a more disaggregated solution later, citing previous analysis supporting the effort and more than $265 million already spent on the recap program.

According to the bill, the defense secretary must submit a report to congressional defense committees that includes the following information:

  • The plan for retiring the current E-8C JSTARS fleet and options for retaining them
  • Whether the Air Force can address concerns about the survivability of the JSTARS recap by changing requirements, such as
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    , weight, power and cooling margins of the aircraft
  • The cost and schedule of the Advanced Battle Management System plan from FY19 to FY23
  • The cost and schedule of procuring Army and Navy platforms that could help conduct the battle management and surveillance mission currently done by JSTARS
In February,
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said the service is still working out the finer details of its new Advanced Battle Management System plan, but the general idea is that the Air Force could network together some of its existing capabilities to fill the JSTARS role.

Near-term plans include retaining seven E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and upgrading them with new communications gear, as well as outfitting some MQ-9 Reaper drones with a new ground moving target indicator radar.
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Laser air defense system developed on JLTV by USMC
Laser_air_defense_system_developed_on_JLTV_by_USMC.jpg

JLTV General Purpose variant fitted with a Boeing CLWS and a heavy machine gun-armed RWS (Picture source: Wikipedia)
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JLTV or L-ATV made by Oshkosh defence is a bit of a Hybrid. Protection of an MRAP, Terrain ability of a Humvee without straining to deal with bolt on armor. It's one of a number of vehicles that seem to be aimed to replace the Humvee and better fill the more modern mission needs of the US DOD
 
inside Yesterday at 7:36 AM
Mar 8, 2018
and the time has come:
Congress races to pass $1.3T defense-friendly omnibus and avoid shutdown
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:
"To avoid a government shutdown, lawmakers have to sprint to pass the bill before the latest stopgap funding measure runs out at at 11:59 p.m. Friday."

it's 0128 am on Friday in DC right now

(LOL it's just that I don't miss it after several months of watching)
 
in real world Navy boosts pilot bonuses to battle glaring retention woes
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Still faced with
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, Navy officials are sweetening the pot financially for the second year in a row, announcing new incentives and bonus pay for aviators who opt for a career track.

“Strike fighter, electronic attack, and helicopter mine countermeasure communities – each did not retain sufficient numbers of O-4 pilots to meet all operational department head requirements in our aviation squadrons,” Vice Adm. Robert P. Burke told Congress in February.

But now, pilots in these communities and others who sign on for five years can now qualify for up to $35,000 per year for a total bonus payout of $175,000. For some, this amounts to a $75,000 increase in their total payout.

Navy officials have also added the option of only obligating for three years, which would bring in $5,000 less per year than the five-year offer.

The new levels, announced by Burke in a March 20
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, raises the active duty FY18 aviation department head retention bonus and the aviation command retention bonus. The message also expands aviation incentive pay across both active and reserve components for some aviators.

“These programs have remained essentially unchanged for well over a decade, and are beginning to lose their effectiveness in the face of growing competition for talent,” Capt. Michael Baze, head of aviation career management at Navy Personnel Command, said in a Navy release.

“Aviators reported they wanted our programs to be more flexible, merit-based, and competitive with civilian opportunities – we took that feedback seriously, incorporating each of these elements in the program changes you see here today.”

Also getting an overhaul was the active duty aviation command retention bonus, which is designed to keep aviators with command experience in the service. The deal nets qualified aviators $100,000 total contract, paid with an initial payment of $34,000 and two anniversary payments of $33,000.

Aviation incentive pay, a monthly stipend for aviators, will now have separate levels as well, as the Navy is establishing expanded rates for aviators who screen and serve in career milestone billets, such as department head, commander command and major command tours.

The big change here comes at the 10-year mark, when aviators who have screened and are serving will get $1,000 per month for each month they remain qualified to fly. This would be good up to their 22nd year of service.

Those not in a milestone billet will max out at $840 per month at their 14th year.
 
back to trillions:
FY 2018 Omnibus Bill Boosts Shipbuilding $3.3B Over Pentagon Request; Expands F-35, Super Hornet Buys
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Congress showed significant support for Navy shipbuilding in its defense-heavy Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus budget deal that emerged this week, adding $3.3 billion for five additional ships to support Navy fleet growth and industrial base needs.

The omnibus spending bill covers the current fiscal year, which is still being funded with a continuing resolution, and comes just days before another government shutdown deadline.


The appropriations bill, passed by the House on Thursday, sets aside $23.8 billion for the Navy to procure 14 ships – five more than the service requested in its original $20.4 billion shipbuilding ask.

The additions include one more Littoral Combat Ship, bringing the total for FY 2018 to three. The bill also increases funding to start what is likely to be the first-in-class next-generation LX(R) amphibious warship, adds money for a fourth Expeditionary Sea Base a year earlier than the Navy intended, and funds an additional Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport.

Highlights from shipbuilding and conversion line:
  • $3.35 billion for two Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers (DDG-51)
  • $3.30 billion for two Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines (SSN-774)
  • $2.32 billion to complete the refueling and complex overhaul USS George Washington (CVN-73) and start advanced procurement for the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) RCOH
  • $2.14 billion to complete funding of Ford-class carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)
  • $1.80 billion for the first
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  • $1.71 billion to complete big-deck amphibious assault ship
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  • $1.57 billion to begin construction of Ford-class
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  • $1.56 billion for
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  • $862 million for Columbia-class nuclear ballistic missile sub advanced procurement
  • $635 million for a fourth Expeditionary Sea Base
  • $524 million Ship-to-Shore Connector landing hovercraft
  • $458 million for a John Lewis-class (T-AO-205) fleet oiler
  • $225 million for a Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport
  • $216 million for the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer (DDG-100) program
In aviation, the bill includes $19.9 billion for procurement of new aircraft – $5 billion more than the Navy requested for FY 2018, according to the bill.

Highlights in aviation expenditures:
  • $10.2 billion for 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft across the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps
  • $1.8 billion for 24 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft
  • $1.7 billion for 10 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft
  • $1.3 billion for 14 Bell-Boeing V-22 aircraft
  • $84 million for six Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout UAVs
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, the agreement adds six Navy-variant Lockheed Martin F-35C JSFs to the Navy’s ask, for a total of ten, and adds four Marine F-35Bs, bringing the total to 24.

The deal also adds four Boeing P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft over the Navy’s ask for six, and adds ten Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighters over the service’s request of 14,
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.

Congress also kept open the line for Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned rotary wing aerial vehicle, including funds for six additional UAVs.

The massive $1.3-trillion spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday and is headed to the Senate. The bill pumps an additional $15.5 billion over the administration’s ask for the Defense Department, bringing the total to $654.6 billion. President Trump must sign the bill by midnight Friday to avert another government shutdown.
 
rated to 12.7mm all around Strykers were never intended to be heavy armor but they beat the protection levels of a Humvee. Add in the double V hull and it's mine protected slat armor stops RPGs but if the Army gets Iron Curtain on them it will be even better
Because the Lasers on Strykers are limited capacity to light Anti air. Where the 30mm is multi role able to kill light armor including some better protected IFVs from the rear or side. And even some antiaircraft capabilities
what gives me the shivers, and what I meant by Yesterday at 8:00 AM
Apr 18, 2017
yeah no armor but
US Army successfully demos laser weapon on Stryker in Europe
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= Kanonenfutter according to me
is Opfor would be coming in BMP-3s

good luck with lasers (I'm not going to comment any more, will attach Like to your post to indicate I'm done)
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
The Report says what the Lasers are for "engaged a dozen commercial-off-the-shelf drones "
As for the BMP3, well... Hell Jura. BMP1 can kill a Bradley assuming it can hits it. So can BMP2. But then again All three can kill just about Every IFV on the planet Tracked or Wheeled including each other.

The Russians claim that the BMP3 can take a frontal attack up to a 35mm but the rear and sides are only rated to maybe 12.7x99mm with add on armor. basically all versions of the BMP can be killed by the Stryker Dragoon from the side or rear.
The only way to counter what you are worried about would be heavier armor. But it defeats the whole Reason of the Stryker.
The whole point of the Stryker concept was to give the US Army a armored force that could be deployed to a trouble spot on the globe in a week as opposed to the few Months or so of a Heavy Division.
To Do that the Army wanted a vehicle it could load in a C130 and fly to destination. That means less than 18 tons or don't bother.
Stryker is a derivative of the LAV III family also used by Canada.
They ( Canada and GDLS) have also been working on two up armored versions the LAV 6.0 weighs in at 20 tons ( not C130 friendly) with all around 14.5mm protection, and 30mm across the front but that's with an up armor kit that takes the weight to 28 tons. The LAV 700 which the Saudis have been looking at does about the same deal in a new hull 21 tons with 32 tons adding additional armor but again 14.5mm all around with 30mm frontal Some Armor kits are claimed to take LAV series vehciles up to 25mm side protection but that is again getting into the 30 ton range. Most Armoring for IFV's is rated to side protection from Small arms up to some Heavy Machine guns with Heavy machine guns to medium caliber Auto cannon at the front.

The only IFVs I think could take a BMP3 direct hit from all the weapons (save perhaps the missiles) is the Israeli Namer. Thats a 60 ton vehicle built by taking a Merkava Main battle Tank hull capping it and adding a turret with a 30mm gun. and the Frontal Arcs of up armored Marder, Marder 2, Puma and Lynx IFV's because there frontal armor is rated up to 125mm tank guns with a heavy armor package.
. Basically To get the protection level needed for taking a direct hit from a BMP3 100mm gun The Vehicle it cannot weight less then 35 tons and leans closer to the 40 ton range placing in the Heavy IFV category. This also puts it at the very edge of the payload of a A400M if not over, I mean 2 LAVIII could be loaded in a A400M this would be 1 if that because 37 tons or below. 3 Strykers could be loaded in a C17 This would be 1 vehicle.
With all the issues of transporting, fueling and funding it.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
FY18 budget deal yields life-sustaining new wings for the A-10 Warthog
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  3 hours ago
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thanks to $103 million in the omnibus spending bill that will restart the production line.

Congress on Thursday passed a $1.3 trillion spending measure for fiscal 2018, which was signed by President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon. Now that the bill is law, the service will get the money it needs to stand up a new production line for A-10 wings and buy the first four wing sets.

The Air Force has already rewinged 173 A-10s (including one aircraft that has since crashed), but 109 Warthogs are still flying with their original wings.

Even though the service intends to fly the A-10 until 2030, it could be
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if it is unable to buy new wing sets, Air Force Materiel Command head Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski told Defense News last September.



The service had to wait for the FY18 budget to pass before it could restart the wing replacement program, but it has already taken some initial steps to speed along the process.

In February, it put forward a draft request for proposals stipulating that the Air Force could buy up to 112 wing sets — enough to outfit the remainder of the Warthog inventory.

“Due to potential A-10 groundings, this acquisition is being expedited to the maximum extent possible,” the solicitation noted, and contractors will be incentivized to deliver the initial four wing sets early, according to the draft RFP.

A draft schedule stated that the service could release a final RFP in April ahead of a contract award as early as March 2019.

Thus far, the Air Force has not committed putting new wings on all 109 A-10s in need of a replacement. Air Combat Command head Gen. Mike Holmes said in January that he wasn’t sure how many Warthogs will be covered in the rewing effort, adding that it “will depend on a Department of Defense decision and our work with Congress.”

Over the past several years, the Air Force has given little support to the A-10, pushing to retire the famed ground support aircraft from FY15
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. In FY18,
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but kept the procurement of new wings out of its budget, bumping it instead into the unfunded wish list given to Congress every year.

The service
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— a sign that the service was ready to dedicate part of its funding to retaining the A-10 fleet. That sum was originally intended to restart the wing production line, in the case that Congress opted not to include money in its spending bill for the Air Force’s unfunded requirement.

Now it can be directly spent on wing procurement, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

“We think that will get us between eight and 12 more [sets] in fiscal year 2019,” she said.

The question remains which defense company will step up to produce the new wings.

Boeing is slated to deliver about a dozen wing sets this year to wrap up a contract for 173 units. However, the company has had recent difficulties producing and delivering wing sets on time due a delay in obtaining a part from its supplier.

The Air Force plans to pursue other vendors for follow-on wing production, in part because leaders felt its agreement with Boeing had become too costly.

“It was a contract that was no longer really cost-effective for Boeing to produce wings under, and there were options there that we weren’t sure that we were going to go [do], so now we’re working through the process of getting another contract,” Holmes said last month.
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yes, its disgusting and revolting, not to mention ungodly, and the type of thing our Righteous Judge will punish, I believe the first chapter of Romans makes that very clear,,,, we may have the strongest military on the planet, but without principle, honor, and virtue, we lose for good the blessings that have kept us free!

as you have noted with this article, the US military is in deep Crisis, reflecting the base desires of our "melting pot", another recent disturbing article related to the two Navy Seals who strangled the Army Green Beret, after he had found out they were stealing from a development fund. The military is actually a reflection of the "victim mentality", cultivated in our culture, and the military being bound by our "Affirmative Action" mentality to the point that we cannot "boot out" those who truly are "unfit for duty", looking at the Baptist Church shooting in Texas, the Air Force should have locked him up, and thown away the key!
I often don't support Trump, but now I do:
White House announces policy to ban most transgender people from serving in military

Updated 10:31 PM ET, Fri March 23, 2018
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Yesterday at 7:28 AM
inside Yesterday at 7:36 AM
:
"To avoid a government shutdown, lawmakers have to sprint to pass the bill before the latest stopgap funding measure runs out at at 11:59 p.m. Friday."

it's 0128 am on Friday in DC right now

(LOL it's just that I don't miss it after several months of watching)
tonight I noticed the story had ended while After veto threat, Trump signs full-year federal budget deal
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thought you might want to comment on Army to Begin Fielding Thousands of Squad Marksman Rifles by Oct. 1
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The U.S.
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will begin fielding roughly 6,000 Heckler & Koch G28E rifles as the service's new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle before the end of fiscal 2018.

A directed requirement, based on the needs of U.S. Army Forces Command, will ensure that every squad in infantry and other combat units will be outfitted with the G28E, the weapon the Army selected to become the Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) in 2016, according to Daryl Easlick, the small arms deputy for the Lethality Branch at
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's Maneuver Center of Excellence.

"It specifically called for the Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System, which is the H&K G28E," Easlick told Military.com in an interview this week.

The directed requirement -- which is being pushed by
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, deputy chief of staff for the Army G8 -- calls for a new 7.62mm SDMR to ensure that squads have the capability of penetrating enemy body armor at ranges out to 600 meters.

Last May, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers that the service's current M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round will not defeat enemy body armor plates similar to U.S. military-issue rifle plates such as the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert, or ESAPI.

In its fiscal 2019 budget request, the Army asked for $46 million toward CSASS, but Easlick would not confirm if that money would go toward buying SDMRs as well as outfitting sniper teams with the CSASS.

Military.com reached out to Program Executive Office Soldier, the command responsible for handling the fielding of the SDMR, but did not receive a response by deadline.

"We are ready; it will have its own capability production document," Easlick said. "The authoring of that document is complete, 100 percent complete. All I am waiting for is them to say I need it.

"The basis of issue for SDMR ... is one per squad in the infantry, engineer and scout formations. Right now, we are roughly sitting at 6,000 rifles."

The G28E will replace the Enhanced Battle Rifle 14 -- an SDMR the Army has fielded since 2009. The modernized M14 is equipped with a Sage International adjustable aluminum stock with pistol grip, a Leupold 3.5-10 power scope, and Harris bipod legs.

The Army adopted the 15-pound EBR 14 under an operational needs statement in response to the growing need of infantry squads operating in Afghanistan to engage enemy fighters at longer ranges.

"That is exactly what it is designed to do, replace the EBR 14," Easlick said. "Because it was based on an operational needs statement, there were never any fielded for home-station training. You fell in those weapon systems in theater."

The CSASS weighs just under nine pounds without its optic or magazine and features a 16-inch barrel, he said.

But in its SDMR version, the G28E will not be a sniper rifle, Easlick said, explaining that the Army doesn't intend to equip designated marksman with a sniper optic.

"A sniper optic is intended to be used by a very highly trained sniper," he said. "It is suitable for sniper engagements; those aren't necessarily rifleman engagements.

"For close-quarters battle, stuff like that, you don't want to have to clear a room with a weapon that has a sniper optic on it," he added.

The CSASS is equipped with a Schmidt and Bender 3-20 variable power sniper optic. The SDMR will likely be equipped with simpler optic capable of quick adjustments between zero and 600 meters, Easlick said.

"What we are looking at would be in the realm of a 1-6, variable-power illuminated reticle," he said. "The concept would be if I am doing anything under 50 meters or even 100 meters, I am on one power and I can execute those tasks that I would normally do with a [close combat optic] very well."

Also, snipers using the CSASS will shoot M118LR sniper ammunition. The SDMR will shoot the M80A1 Enhanced Performance Round, which will give the designated marksman accuracy that is "as good or better" than the
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, Easlick said.

The G28E "gives you an optic that is better suited to do rifleman tasks, and it gives you a weapon system that is just like your M4A1 in that the controls are nearly identical," he said.

"It has a collapsible buttstock so you can still change length-of-pull, but it still provides that capability of using 7.62mm NATO to get after targets that are extended range," Easlick said. "It is suppressed, so you are able to do that without calling a lot of challenges to your squad because it is a [7.62], it's not a 5.56 -- it's a louder report.

"Suppression gives you that ability to make that guy more survivable by not being as easily identifiable on the battlefield," he said.
 
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