~AND THE WINNER IS~

After much speculation and competition, FNH wins contract.

BlackFive h/t:

The Marine Corps Times reported last week that:

….Earlier this month, the MK-17 – dubbed the SCAR by its Belgian manufacturer FNH – went into “full rate production” making it the first new assault carbine to be purchased by the U.S. military since the M-16 and M-4 rifles went online four decades ago. The rifle is expected to be particularly valuable in situations like those faced by soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, where the weapon’s additional range will provide a significant upgrade.

The new rifle meets Special Operations Command’s, or Socom’s, goal of providing a flexible firearm to special operators that essentially puts the capabilities of five weapons into one, says Maj. Wes Ticer, spokesman for the command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base.

“This is the first modular weapons system, with the first interchangeable barrel, that the operator can change in the field,” Ticer says.

The advantage, says Ticer, is that special operators, who carry as much as 75 pounds of gear in extremely difficult terrain, can now carry a single, lighter weapon that can be used in close quarters or for longer-range shooting. It can also fire the standard 5.56mm bullets now used in the M-4 – the mainstay of special operators – or the larger, 7.62mm bullet, which is more effective at longer distances.

The MK-17 won’t replace the M-4, says Ticer. But it will fill a gap in a lighter-weight weapon that fires the larger rounds.

“There is a capability gap,” says Ticer. Socom, he says, has no assault rifle that can fire the 7.62 round.

“This is smaller and more maneuverable than the existing weapons,” like the M110, the MK-11 and the MK-14 Enhanced Battle Rifle.

At 7.9 pounds with a standard barrel, the MK-17 is 4.5 pounds lighter than the MK-14.

The MK-17 won’t be able to fire both calibers until early next year, when the weapons are outfitted with what is called a “common receiver,” according to FNH Marketing Director Gabe Bailey….

…(read more at NBC)…



Defense Tech has some reaqlly good input on this weapon, to which I post just a bit of the personal opinion here:

Meet the SCAR

….From personal experience, I just gotta say these weapons rock. I fired the SCAR Heavy and Light at FNHs range near Fredericksburg, Va., several months ago and fell particularly in love with the SCAR Heavy. The gas/piston system has a great thunk-thunk mechanical feel to it and the 7.62 caliber heavy packs a heck of a punch. The SCAR Light is easy to fire, very adjustable, and the barrels are easy to interchange — creating basically a whole new weapon for each variation.

[….]

FNH says the Mk-16 and Mk-17 are the first assault rifles to be procured through a full and open competition since the M4/M16 carbines in the 1960s. Both FNH weapons are impressive and well see how the operational tests and initial fielding go. I bet operators who get a chance to test them wont want to give them up. I didnt.

…(read more)…


Who Said It? (Find the Radical)

Pictured above to the left, thanks to Big Peace, is the Discovery Network hostage taker/environmental extremist, James Lee. To the right we have Obama’s Science Czar, John Holdren. And I want to play a bit of a game, and it is – WHO SAID THAT. It is straight forward and simple, for instance, who said this:

Civilization must be exposed for the filth it is.  That, and all its disgusting religious-cultural roots and greed.  Broadcast this message until the pollution in the planet is reversed and the human population goes down!  This is your obligation. (source)

If you guessed James Lee, you would be correct. It should be, after that quote, pretty obvious who said this then:

Such a comprehensive Plenetary Regime could control the development, administration, conservation, and distribution of all natural resources, renewable or nonrenewable…not only in the atmosphere and oceans, but in such freshwater bodies as rivers and lakes…The Regime might also be a logical central agency for regulating all international trade…The Planetary Regime might be given responsibility for determining the optimum population for the world and for each region and for arbitrating various countries’ shares within their regional limits…the Regime would have some power to enforce the agreed limits. (source)

If you guessed James Lee… you would be WRONG. You see, Holdren believes a world government might play a moderate role in the future: setting and enforcing appropriate population levels, taxing and redistributing the world’s wealth, controlling the world’s resources, and operating a standing World Army. He went on to say on page 917 of the book he wrote that “security might be provided by an armed international organization, a global analogue of a police force…The first step necessarily involves partial surrender of sovereignty to an international organization.”

Who’s the radical? One can hold a few hostages in a Discovery Channel building, thet other can hold the entire country hostage through Cap n’ Trade and other eco-fascist legislation that sneaks by the purview of the American public via the Obama admin EPA. Have you always wondered how to pray about a President… I mean we are always told we should pray for the leaders. You can pray by petitioning our Lord that these radical ideas stemming from flawed worldviews that wish to replace Him on high and put man in the center of the universe [rather than God] not stand in His wake. And if they do stand, that it is His will working towards a just end… and that you worry for the souls not only in leadership but you pray that these rebellious persons hear the clarion call and submit to God in ways never before realized in their lives. That what I pray when I pray for my leaders.

Unfortunately, Obama’s Czars are pretty much all like the above example. If you do not realize how Marxist values are being promulgated (at least in legislative attempts so far) against us/the world, you can see it in Holder’s recent actions:

He detailed the mechanism for global socialism just two years ago. In a February 2007 report of which he was a coordinating lead author, urges the United Nations to undertake “a global framework” that is “more comprehensive and ambitious” than the Kyoto Protocol. Holdren states the UN must mandate “A requirement for the early establishment of a substantial price on carbon emissions in all countries, whether by a carbon tax or a tradable permit approach.” Although he prefers a global carbon tax presided over by a United Nations-strength IRS, he is open to a stringent global cap-and-trade program. However, that program must contain: “A means for transferring some of the revenue produced by carbon taxes upon, or permits purchased by, countries and consumers with high incomes and high per capita emissions to countries and consumers with low incomes and low per capita emissions” (source)

This is one of the most foundational positions in Marxism. Redistribution of wealth. Again, Who Is the Radical?

Some older posts on Holdren: