Red Army soldiers sit on the ruins of the German Reich Chancellery in Berlin looking through boxes of German medals that would never be awarded following the Battle of Berlin.
Categories
Category: A Victory!
Hard-kill active protection systems offer valuable additional defense against missiles and rockets, and could be used to swat down drones.
The U.S. Army recently unveiled a new upgraded variant of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The M2A4E1 version most notably features the Israeli Iron Fist Light, a hard-kill active protection system designed primarily to physically destroy or at least disrupt incoming anti-tank guided missiles and other infantry anti-armor weapons like rocket-propelled grenades. This system could potentially also help defend against the growing threat posed by drones, as The War Zone has previously explored in detail.
The Army rolled out the M2A4E1 last week, according to recent social media posts from the service’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems (PEO GCS). Army Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, head of PEO GCS, had confirmed the service was starting to buy at least a limited number of Iron Fist systems from integration on Bradleys in an interview with Breaking Defense in March.
An M2A4E1 Bradley with the Iron Fist active protection system and other upgrades seen at a recent rollout ceremony. US Army
“The M2A4E1 is the most modern and survivable version of the Bradley as a result of integrating an Iron Fist Active Protection System,” according to a post on PEO GCS’s official Facebook page. The new variant also has and “improved High Definition Forward Looking Infrared Gunner’s Sight and an Environmental Control Unit to prevent heat stress for dismounts.”
As installed on the M2A4E1, Iron Fist Light consists of two countermeasures launchers and four sensor arrays positioned around the vehicle’s turret. The sensors, which are small form factor active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radars paired with infrared cameras, are used to detect and cue the launchers, which are turreted themselves. A small interceptor with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead is then fired at the incoming missile or rocket. Israel’s Elbit Systems is the manufacturer of Iron Fist and U.S.-based General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has been serving as the lead integrator of the system onto the Bradley.
The Army has been interested in adding an active protection system to the Bradley for years and has been looking closely at Iron Fist, specifically, for some time. A major hurdle in the past was the lack of necessary electrical power on earlier A3 variants to support the system. The M2A4 version, which the Army began fielding in 2022, features a new auxiliary power unit (APU) that has helped make the Iron Fist integration a reality.
An M2A4 Bradley. US Army
The Iron Fist configuration on the M2A4E1 is also reportedly significantly different from previous iterations the Army has tested, but the specifics are unclear. A picture the Army previously released of a Bradley equipped with an Iron Fist did show a version of the system with a different type of radar.
A rendering of a Bradley with an Iron Fist installation also showing a different kind of radar from what is seen now on the M2A4E1. DOD
PEO GCS has also said that funding to help replace dozens of older Bradleys transferred to Ukraine is aiding in the acquisition of M2A4E1 variants. It is unclear how many M2A4E1s the Army currently plans to acquire and how many of them will be converted from existing models.
The Army has been looking to add hard-kill active protection systems to other armored vehicles in inventory, as well. The service has been adding Trophy systems to its M1 Abrams tanks in recent years.
An M1 Abrams tank equipped with the Trophy active protection system. US Army via Leonardo
Trophy is another Israeli-made system from Rafael, which has been combat-proven in service with the Israel Defense Forces and that you can read more about in detail here. Companies in Israel have been and continue to be pioneers in the development of active protection systems.
The development and fielding of increasingly more capable anti-tank guided missiles and other infantry anti-armor weapons, including by near-peer competitors like China and Russia, has long been a driver for the adoption of active protection systems on armored vehicles by armed forces around the world. Those same kinds of anti-armor capabilities have also been increasingly proliferating among smaller countries and even non-state actors. The war in Ukraine, where U.S.-supplied Javelin anti-tank missiles and similar weapons have been a major factor in the fighting on both sides, has helped drive these concerns home.
Hard-kill active protection system may now offer a readily available way to give tanks and other armored vehicles extra protection against drones, something you can read about more in-depth in this past War Zone feature. The threats posed by uncrewed aerial systems, including highly maneuverable first-person view kamikaze types and other weaponized commercial designs, is not new. However, the conflict in Ukraine has again helped drive it into the mainstream consciousness.
https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1691084759101734913/vid/640×360/LleyZT3GmJ5NT8vt.mp4?tag=14
The still-growing dangers that drones and anti-tank missiles, among other things, present to armored vehicles, in particular, have prompted experts working for the Army to question whether designs like the Abrams and the Bradley will still be dominant factors on high-end battlefields by 2040. The service is already looking at a future that features new lighter-weight crewed tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as multiple tiers of uncrewed ground combat vehicles.
In the meantime, adding active protection systems to platforms like the Bradley will be one of the ways to help ensure heavy armored vehicles remain relevant on future battlefields, at least under certain circumstances.
============================================ Now a long time ago I was in an ACR. So while looking at this “new” idea for the Bradley. Here are some questions about it.
Like what happens when a very tired crew hits a good size tree branch ? Can the stuff outside the turret take a really good smack & still work?
Or how about a couple of good men with a heavy machine gun shooting AP ammo ? Will it take a beating & keep on ticking?
This also comes to mind. What if the kids drive into a house or a building to hide from the bad guys? Still good to go?
The last thing that comes to mind is this. What if the bad guys start sending out some really nasty airbursts. Will this stuff still be mission ready?
As inquiring minds would like to know, General?
Categories
Uh-oh
When American retailers sold more than 1 million new firearms in a single month nearly five years ago many considered it a milestone. Now it has become more of the norm, with April marking the fifty-seventh straight month of guns sales of a million or more.
According to a report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the April 2024 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure was just over 1.2 million. That’s a slight decrease from the April 2023 figures of roughly 1.4 million.
Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.
Mark Oliva, NSSF’s managing director for public affairs, said gun purchasers have once again made a statement on their freedom.
“Over 1.2 million Americans showed President Biden exactly where they are when it comes to his promises of increased gun control should he be elected for another term,” Oliva said. “President Biden has used every tool at his disposal to attack the firearm industry, from publishing Constitutionally-dubious and overreaching administrative rules that bypass Congress to create criminal law to weaponizing the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to throttle firearm and ammunition manufacturers and exporters.”
Oliva said that while the president has continued to attack lawful gun owners, he’s ignored the violent criminals preying on everyday Americans.
“Americans reject these misdirected and politically-motivated maneuvers to infringe on their Second Amendment freedoms and punish the industry that makes it possible to exercise the rights to keep and bear arms,” he said. “By the millions, for 57 months straight, Americans choose to lawfully purchase, keep and use the firearms of their choosing.”
It’s important to note that 24 statues have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check. The number of NICS checks in those states does not include those legal transfers based on qualifying permits, and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.
So nice we aren’t… We can use hollow points, and we do not have to attend their wounded or keep them alive. Everything is off the books. No Rules! Just remember, we don’t get protection under the Convention, so act accordingly.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed into law HB 1018, the Second Amendment Privacy Act. This NSSF-supported law protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms and ammunition in the Peach State. With Georgia, there are now 14 states with laws that protect the Second Amendment financial privacy of their citizens.
The law prohibits financial institutions from requiring the use of a firearm code, also known as a Merchant Category Code (MCC), from being assigned to firearm and ammunition purchases at retail when using a credit card. The law also forbids discriminating against a firearm retailer as a result of the assigned or non-assignment of a firearm code and disclosing the protected financial information. Additionally, the law prohibits keeping or causing to be kept any list, record or registry of private firearm ownership.
“Governor Brian Kemp’s signature on the Second Amendment Privacy Act is yet another example of his firm commitment to protecting the Second Amendment rights of all Georgians. Citizens in Georgia won’t worry that ‘woke’ Wall Street banks, credit card companies and payment processors will collude with government entities to spy on their private finances to illegally place them on gun control watchlists,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “NSSF is grateful House Speaker Jon Burns, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Representative Jason Ridley and state Senator Carden Summers for bringing this crucial legislation to become law. No American should fear being placed on a government watchlist simply for exercising their Constitutionally protected rights to keep and bear arms.”
Georgia joins a growing list of states that are standing against the invasion of financial privacy when exercising Second Amendment rights, including Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.
NSSF worked closely with Georgia legislators to protect private and legal firearm and ammunition purchases from political exploitation. The Second Amendment Privacy Act is designed to protect the privacy of lawful and private firearm and ammunition purchases from being abused for political purposes by corporate financial service providers and unlawful government search and seizure of legal and private financial transactions.
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) admitted to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in a letter that it violated the Fourth Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens that protect against illegal search and seizure when it collected the credit card purchase history from banks and credit card companies of individuals who purchased firearms and ammunition in the days surrounding Jan. 6, 2020. Treasury’s FinCEN had no cause, and sought the information without a warrant, to place these law-abiding citizens on a government watchlist only because they exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase firearms and ammunition.
The idea of a firearm-retailer specific MCC was borne from anti-gun New York Times’ columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Amalgamated Bank, which has been called “The Left’s Private Banker” and bankrolls the Democratic National Committee and several anti-gun politicians. Amalgamated Bank lobbied the Swiss-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the code’s creation. NSSF has called on Congress to investigate Amalgamated Bank’s role in manipulating the ISO standard setting process.
Sorkin admitted creating a firearm-retailer specific MCC would be a first step to creating a national firearm registry, which is forbidden by federal law.
Georgia joins a growing list of states that are standing against the invasion of financial privacy when exercising Second Amendment rights, including Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia. These states passed laws protecting citizens’ Second Amendment privacy. Other states are considering similar legislation. U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced S. 4075, the NSSF-supported Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act in the Senate. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) introduced H.R. 7450, with the same title in the U.S. House of Representatives. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring the use of a firearm-retailer specific MCC and Colorado passed similar legislation that is awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ consideration.