1.
Telescopic sight
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A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point. Telescopic sights are used all types of systems that require accurate aiming but are most commonly found on firearms. Other types of sights are iron sights, reflector sights, the optical components may be combined with optoelectronics to form a night scope. The first experiments directed to give shooters optical aiming aids go back to the early 17th century, for centuries different optical aiming aids and primitive predecessors of telescopic sights were created that had practical or performance limitations. The first documented telescopic rifle sight was invented between 1835 and 1840, in 1855, William Malcolm of Syracuse, NY began producing his own sight. Malcolm used a design incorporating achromatic lenses like those used in telescopes. They were between three and twenty magnification, malcolms and those made by L. M. Amidon of Vermont were the standard during the Civil War. Still other telescopic sights of the same period were the Davidson. An early practical refractor telescope based telescopic sight was built in 1880 by August Fiedler, later telescopic sights with extra long eye relief became available for handgun and scout rifle use. A historic example of a sight with a long eye relief is the German ZF41 which was used during World War II on Karabiner 98k rifles. An early example of a man portable telescopic sight for low visibility/night use is the Zielgerät 1229, the ZG1229 Vampir was a Generation 0 active infrared night vision device developed for the Wehrmacht for the StG44 assault rifle, intended primarily for night use. The issuing of the ZG1229 Vampir system to the military started in 1944, Telescopic sights are classified in terms of the optical magnification and the objective lens diameter, e. g. 10×50. This would denote 10 times magnification with a 50 mm objective lens, in general terms, larger objective lens diameters, due to their ability to gather larger amounts of light, provide a larger exit pupil and hence provide a brighter image at the eyepiece. On fixed magnification sights the magnification power and objective diameter should be chosen on the basis of the intended use, there are also telescopic sights with variable magnification. The magnification can be varied by manually operating a zoom mechanism, variable sights offer more flexibility regarding shooting at varying ranges, targets and light conditions and offer a relative wide field of view at lower magnification settings. The syntax for variable sights is the following, minimal magnification – maximum magnification × objective lens, for example, 3–9×40. Confusingly, some older telescopic sights, mainly of German or other European manufacture, have a different classification where the part of the designation refers to light gathering power
2.
Tritium radioluminescence
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Tritium lumination is the use of gaseous tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, to create visible light. Tritium emits electrons through beta decay, and, when they interact with a material, fluorescent light is created. As tritium illumination requires no energy, it found wide use in applications such as emergency exit signs. More recently, many applications using radioactive materials have been replaced with photoluminescent materials, tritium lighting is made using glass tubes with a phosphor layer in them and tritium gas inside the tube. Such a tube is known as a gaseous tritium light source, the tritium in a gaseous tritium light source undergoes beta decay, releasing electrons that cause the phosphor layer to fluoresce. During manufacture, a length of glass tube that has had the inside surface coated with a phosphor-containing material is filled with the radioactive tritium. The tube is then fused with a carbon dioxide laser at the desired length, borosilicate is preferred for its strength and resistance to breakage. In the tube, the tritium gives off a stream of electrons due to beta decay. These particles excite the phosphor, causing it to emit a low, tritium is not the only material that can be used for self-powered lighting. Other beta particle-emitting radioisotopes can also serve, radium was used to make self-luminous paint from the early years of the 20th Century until approximately 1970, but it has been replaced by tritium, which is less hazardous. Various preparations of the compound can be used to produce different colors of light. Some of the colors that have manufactured in addition to the common phosphors are green, red, blue, yellow, purple, orange. The types of GTLS used in watches give off a small amount of light, not enough to be seen in daylight, the average such GTLS has a useful life of 10–20 years. As the tritium component of the lighting is more expensive than the rest of the watch itself. Being an unstable isotope with a half-life of 12.32 years, the more tritium that is initially placed in the tube, the brighter it is to begin with, and the longer its useful life. Tritium exit signs usually come in three brightness levels guaranteed for 10-, 15-, or 20-year useful life expectancies, the difference between the signs is how much tritium the manufacturer installs. The light produced by GTLSs varies in colour and size, green is usually the brightest color and white the least bright. Sizes can be found ranging from tiny tubes small enough to fit on the hand of a watch to ones the size of a pencil and these light sources are most often seen as permanent illumination for the hands of wristwatches intended for diving, nighttime, or combat use
3.
Nitrogen
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Nitrogen is a chemical element with symbol N and atomic number 7. It was first discovered and isolated by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Henry Cavendish had independently done so at about the same time, Rutherford is generally accorded the credit because his work was published first. Nitrogen is the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, the name comes from the Greek πνίγειν to choke, directly referencing nitrogens asphyxiating properties. It is an element in the universe, estimated at about seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dinitrogen, a colourless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula N2, dinitrogen forms about 78% of Earths atmosphere, making it the most abundant uncombined element. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids, in the nucleic acids, the human body contains about 3% nitrogen by mass, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle describes movement of the element from the air, into the biosphere and organic compounds, many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates, and cyanides, contain nitrogen. The extremely strong bond in elemental nitrogen, the second strongest bond in any diatomic molecule. Synthetically produced ammonia and nitrates are key industrial fertilisers, and fertiliser nitrates are key pollutants in the eutrophication of water systems. Apart from its use in fertilisers and energy-stores, nitrogen is a constituent of organic compounds as diverse as Kevlar used in high-strength fabric, Nitrogen is a constituent of every major pharmacological drug class, including antibiotics. Many notable nitrogen-containing drugs, such as the caffeine and morphine or the synthetic amphetamines. Nitrogen compounds have a long history, ammonium chloride having been known to Herodotus. They were well known by the Middle Ages, alchemists knew nitric acid as aqua fortis, as well as other nitrogen compounds such as ammonium salts and nitrate salts. The mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids was known as aqua regia, celebrated for its ability to dissolve gold, the discovery of nitrogen is attributed to the Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air. Though he did not recognise it as a different chemical substance, he clearly distinguished it from Joseph Blacks fixed air. The fact that there was a component of air that does not support combustion was clear to Rutherford, Nitrogen was also studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, who referred to it as burnt air or phlogisticated air. Nitrogen gas was inert enough that Antoine Lavoisier referred to it as air or azote, from the Greek word άζωτικός. In an atmosphere of nitrogen, animals died and flames were extinguished
4.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
5.
Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight
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Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights are a series of telescopic sights manufactured by Trijicon. The ACOG was originally designed to be used on the M16 rifle and M4 carbine, models provide fixed power magnification levels from 1. 5× to 6×. ACOG reticles are illuminated at night by an internal phosphor, some versions have an additional daytime reticle illumination via a passive external fiber optic light pipe or are LED-illuminated using a battery. The ACOG is available in a variety of configurations from the manufacturer with different reticles, illumination, most ACOGs do not use batteries for reticle illumination, being designed to use internal phosphor illumination provided by the radioactive decay of tritium. The tritium illumination has a life of 10–15 years. Some versions of the ACOG have an additional daytime reticle illumination via a passive external fiber optic light pipe, reticles have other features such as a bullet drop compensator and other different reticle shapes such as chevrons. Some ACOG models incorporate rudimentary ghost ring iron sights as a backup for targets that are within 50 m, most ACOG models, when mounted to a carry handle, have an open space through the mount to allow the use of the rifles iron sights without removing the scope. Others include Docter or Trijicon reflex sights mounted on top, the ACOG ECOS line features both of these secondary sighting systems on the same scope. Other features include Picatinny rails, flip caps, and the ability to be waterproof up to 11 m, although the ACOG is designed for the Picatinny rail of the M16A4 and M4, it can be mounted on the carrying handles of previous models by using a special adapter. Several ACOG models are designed to be used with the Bindon Aiming Concept, the technique is essentially using the illuminated part of the reticle and its focusing rear eyepiece as a collimator sight. In this both-eyes-open technique the brain superimposes the aiming reticle on the target, an added part of the technique is to shift focus after acquisition to the dominant eye/telescopic image for more accurate shooting. This overcomes the problem of centering or acquiring fast traversing targets common with all telescopic sights, only certain models of the ACOG are designed with bright enough daylight-lit fiber optic or battery-powered LED reticles that facilitate this technique. Greece, Hellenic Army Commandos and SFs United Kingdom, British Army, United States, United States armed forces, various law enforcement agencies. This sight is designated the M150 Rifle Combat Optic in Army service, after an October 2005 evaluation, the USMC fielded 115,000 ACOGs so that every rifle and every carbine in the Marine Corps inventory would be equipped with one. Other Trijicon models have seen service after being purchased at the unit. Trijicon has been the subject of criticism for inscribing a reference to a Bible verse alongside the model numbers on their ACOG sights. Starting in late 2009, Trijicon began shipping sights to the U. S. military without the Bible verse, sight SUSAT, 4× telescopic sight with tritium-powered illumination similar to the ACOG Article on the Trijicon ACOG An italian article about TA44S
6.
FN Minimi
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The Minimi is a Belgian 5. 56mm light machine gun developed by Fabrique Nationale in Herstal by Ernest Vervier. First introduced in the late 1970s, it is now in service in more than 75 countries, the weapon is currently manufactured at the FN facility in Herstal and their US subsidiary FN Manufacturing LLC. The Minimi is a gun firing from an open bolt. It is a weapon, capable of fully automatic fire only. It can be fed or fired from a magazine. The Minimi uses a gas-actuated long-stroke piston system, the barrel is locked with a rotary bolt, equipped with two massive locking lugs, forced into battery by a helical camming guide in the bolt carrier. Upon firing, the piston is forced to the rear by expanding propellant gases bled through a port in the barrel near the muzzle end. The piston rod acts against the carrier, which begins its rearward motion guided on two rails welded to the receiver walls, while the bolt itself remains locked. Gas escaping the gas cylinder is directed upward, avoiding kicking up dust, the Minimi has a manually adjustable gas valve with two positions, normal and adverse. The spring extractor is located inside the bolt, while the lever ejector is contained inside the receiver housing. Spent casings are removed through a port located at the bottom of the side of the receiver. The Minimi is striker-fired and the bolt carrier functions as the striker mechanism, the Minimi has a push-button type manual safety installed in the trigger housing, above the pistol grip. In the weapon safe position, it disables the sear mechanism, pushing the button to the right side exposes a red-colored rim on the side of the firearm. The Minimi features a welded receiver made from stamped steel, both the standard and Para variants are equipped with a fixed, folding bipod mounted to the gas tube and stowed under the handguard. The bipod can be adjusted in height and each leg has three height settings, the bipod also offers a 15° range of rotation to either side. With the bipod fully extended, the axis is elevated to a height of 465 mm. The Minimi can also be fired from the Belgian FN360° tripod or the American M122 mount using an M60 pintle, the vehicle-mounted Minimi is fitted with an electrically powered trigger that enables it to be fired remotely from within an armored fighting vehicle. The standard light gun version has a 465 mm barrel
7.
Colt Canada C7
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The Colt Canada C7 Service Rifle is a Canadian assault rifle, manufactured by Colt Canada, a variant of the Armalite AR-15, and having similar design and function to the Colt M16A3. The C7 and its variants have been adopted as the issue rifle by the militaries of Canada, Norway, Denmark. Following trials, C8 variants are general issue firearms for the United Kingdoms Special Forces and it has been utilized in various combat deployments by Canadian, British, Norwegian, Dutch and Danish Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The development of the C7 paralleled that of the M16A2 by Colt, a Canadian Forces liaison officer worked with the United States Marine Corps in the M16A1 Product Improvement Program and relayed information to Canadas Rifle Replacement Program Office. The C7 is much like earlier M16A1E1s, rather than final product M16A2s, the earliest C7s were manufactured by Colt for Canadian Forces as the Colt Model 715. The C7 series of firearms is driven by the direct impingement gas system as the M16 series. Like the M16A1 and M16A3, the C7 has both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire modes, the C7 also features the structural strengthening, improved handguards, and longer stock developed for the M16A2. Diemaco changed the trapdoor in the buttstock to make for easier access, the most noticeable external difference between American M16A2s and Diemaco C7s is the retention of the A1 style rear sights. Not so apparent is Diemacos use of hammer-forged barrels, introduced as the Canadians originally wished to use a barrel profile instead of the M16A2 profile. Also, Diemaco has developed a different mounting system from Colt for the M203 grenade launcher for the C7 rifle family, the C7A1 replaces the iron sight/carrying handle used on the C7 with a modified Weaver rail for mounting optics. Canadian development of rails preceded American standardization of the MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail, there are 14 slots instead of 13, and each slot is narrower. The height of the rail is also higher, allowing the use of normal-height front sight post whereas a Picatinny rail requires the use of a higher F-marked front sight post, during development, the original rails were vacuum-bonded to the top of a bare receiver. For production, the rail and receiver were made out of a single forging, the mount can use traditional iron sights or the ELCAN C79 Optical Sight 3. 4× power optical sight, both of which can be adjusted for individual eye relief. The front sight was changed from the square post to a round post 1.3 mm in diameter, with Canadian involvement in Afghanistan, Diemaco and the Canadian Forces have developed improvements to the C7A1 to better suit the operational situations at hand. The result, the C7A2, has a four-point telescoping stock unit similar to that of the C8 carbine, the selector lever, magazine release, and charging handle latch are ambidextrous. Also, the C7A2 is issued with green colour furniture as standard and these weapons are often seen with a similar plethora of accessories as their American counterparts given the overall commonalities of the system and the rail mounts. The C7A2 is also issued with the C79A2 ELCAN optical gunsight with 3, within an eight-man section, six soldiers will normally carry a C7A2, the section commander and second in command, two grenadiers and two riflemen, with only the machine gunners carrying a C9A2 LMG. The C7A2 is considered an upgrade for the C7 family
8.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
9.
Royal Netherlands Army
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The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands. The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814—however, its origins back to 1572. Therefore, the Netherlands has one of the oldest standing armies in the world, dating back to the 16th century. It fought during the Napoleonic Wars, World War II, the Indonesian War of Independence, Korean War,2 of 3 Dutch Army Brigades are now under German Command. In 2014 the 11th Airmobile Brigade, was integrated into the German Division of fast forces, also the Dutch 43rd Mechanized Brigade, will be integrated into the 1st Panzer Division of the German army. With the integration starting at the beginning of 2016, and the unit becoming operational at the end of 2019, the Dutch-German military cooperation are seen as an example for setting up a European defense union. The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins back to 1572. Therefore, the Netherlands operates one of the worlds oldest standing armies, the Staatse Leger was replaced by the army of the Batavian Republic in 1795, which in turn was replaced by the army of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. It fought alongside the French in the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland in 1799 and several campaigns in Germany, Austria, the independent army was disbanded in 1810 when Napoleon decided to reunite Holland into France. The army units became part of the Grande Armée, the present day French 126th Infantry Regiment has Dutch origins. Dutch army elements participated in the French invasion of Russia in 1812, most notable were the actions of the Pontonniers company under Captain Benthien at the Berezina River. New research points out that, contrary to what is currently believed, an independent Dutch army was resurrected by the new Kingdom of the United Netherlands in 1814, following the Orangist uprising against Napoleonic rule in 1813. This new force, the Netherlands Mobile Army, formed a part of the allied army during the Hundred Days Campaign that culminated in the Battle of Waterloo. Units such as Baron Chassés were key in securing victory for the allied army, since 1814, the army have been involved in several military conflicts (Waterloo campaign 1815, several colonial wars 1825–1925, and the Belgian Revolution 1830–1832. At the beginning of the Second World War, the I Corps was the strategic reserve and was located in the Vesting Holland, around The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem. The Royal Netherlands Army was defeated in May 1940 and only began to rise again with the formation of the Princess Irene Brigade Group in exile, in the Far East, the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was defeated by the Japanese in 1942, few elements managed to escape. The army then fought in the Indonesian War of Independence 1945–1949, in Korea in 1950-53, the Royal Netherlands Navy and an army battalion were sent to Korea between 1950 and 1954. In total,3,972 Soldiers were sent to fight the war in Korea,123 died in combat, the I Corps stood watch alongside its NATO allies in Germany during the Cold War
10.
Netherlands Marine Corps
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The Korps Mariniers is the marine corps and amphibious infantry component of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines are trained to operate anywhere in the world in all environments, under any condition and circumstance, the Korps Mariniers can be deployed to any location in the world within 48 hours. Their motto is Qua Patet Orbis, the corps was founded on 10 December 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War by the Prime Minister of the Dutch Republic, Johan de Witt, and Admiral Michiel de Ruyter as the Regiment de Marine. Its leader was Willem Joseph van Ghent, the Dutch had successfully used ordinary soldiers in ships at sea in the First Anglo-Dutch War. It was the fifth European Marine unit formed, being preceded by the Spains Infantería de Armada, the Portuguese Marine Corps, Frances Troupes de marine, like Britain, the Netherlands has had several periods when its Marines were disbanded. The Netherlands itself was under French occupation or control from 1810 until 1813, a new Marine unit was raised on 20 March 1801 during the time of the Batavian Republic and on 14 August 1806 the Korps Koninklijke Grenadiers van de Marine was raised under King Louis Bonaparte. The modern Korps Mariniers dates from 1814, receiving its current name in 1817, the Korps battle honour Chatham is one of the few ever won on British soil by a foreign unit. The July 2nd attack on Landguard fort near Harwich, performed by 1.500 Mariniers after landing at Woodrich was beaten off by the forts garrison, the Mariniers also fought in the Franco-Dutch War/Third Anglo-Dutch War. They returned to their ships in time to stop an English invasion by defeating a combined English. Led by Gerolf van Isselmuyden, they served in the battle of Seneffe against the French in 1674. Dutch support of American independence led to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, in 1704, Netherlands Marines were part of a combined English-Dutch force under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt that captured Gibraltar and defended it successfully shortly afterwards. They would combine with the British again for the bombardment of Algiers in 1816, the Korps Mariniers served in some of the operations of the Netherlands in the Dutch East Indies colony. The Netherlands took an approach to conquering the entire colony. The battle honors from the Aceh War and Bali date from this time, the Germans ended the stalemate by bombing Rotterdam. The threat of an attack by marines caused its German captain to scuttle the Antilla in Aruba in 1940 and he ordered his men to salute them out of respect for their bravery and determination and labeled them Zwarte duivels. Some Mariniers later joined the Princess Irene Brigade to fight against the Germans and they distinguished themselves in combat near the Dutch city of Tilburg in the autumn of 1944. It was part of the A Division, which was commanded by a Korps Mariniers officer. The Dutch kept Western New Guinea after the Indonesian National Revolution, the same year it was invaded and incorporated into Indonesia
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