1.
Aviadvigatel PS-90
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The Aviadvigatel PS-90 is a Russian high-bypass commercial turbofan rated at 16000 kgf thrust. It powers Russian airliners such as the Ilyushin Il-96 and the Tupolev Tu-204/Tu-214 series and it is made by the Russian aircraft engine company Aviadvigatel, which is the successor of the Soviet Soloviev Design Bureau. PS are the initials of Pavel Aleksandrovich Soloviev, with the advent of new generation of Russian airliners, Aviadvigatel developed the PS-90 to satisfy the demands of economy, performance and exhaust emissions. It represented an advance over previous generations of 1960s era Soviet engines. The PS-90 is almost double the efficiency of engines and is reasonably competitive to western engines of the 1980s such as the Pratt & Whitney PW2000. There are several variants, the basic PS-90A, the PS-90A-76, the latter include the PS-90A1, PS-90A2, PS-90A-42 and the PS-90A3 engines. The PS-90A engine is the variant and is standard equipment for Ilyushin Il-96-300, Tupolev-204-100. For the first time it allowed Russian airliners to achieve similar performance, PS-90A is rated nominally at 16000 kgf thrust,13. 3% less than the original Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4 engine, and the fuel consumption is 8. 2% less than it. This variant is a modification of the basic PS-90A engine and it is rated nominally up to 16,000 kgf thrust. By replacing the D-30KP on the older Il-76, the life of the aircraft can be extended. Fuel efficiency, and performance will be improved and noise pollution reduced to the comply with the new strict requirements. With the large fleet of civil and military Il-76 aircraft still in operation, a potentially large market exists for engine replacement. An example of such a version is the Il-76MD-90. The PS-90A-76 is the standard on the built, modernized versions of the Il-76, such as the Il-76MD-90A. This variant is also a modification of the basic PS-90A engine and it was certified in 2007 and is offered as an option on the IL-96-400T aircraft. The PS-90A2 is a derivative of the PS-90A, developed in co-operation with Pratt & Whitney. It has a proportion of western components from France, Germany, Sweden. It is also lighter than PS-90A and features improved FADEC and these features improve the performance and reduce maintenance costs by 40%
2.
Magazine (firearms)
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A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines can be removable or integral to the firearm, the magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action of the firearm. The detachable magazine is often referred to as a clip, although this is technically inaccurate, magazines come in many shapes and sizes, from those of bolt-action express rifles that hold only a few rounds to drum magazines for self-loading rifles that can hold one hundred rounds or more. Various jurisdictions ban what they define as high-capacity magazines, with the increased use of semi-automatic and automatic firearms, the detachable box magazine became increasingly common. Soon after the adoption of the M1911 pistol, the magazine was settled on by the military and firearms experts. The defining difference between clips and magazines is the presence of a mechanism in a magazine, typically a spring-loaded follower. Use of the clip to refer to detachable magazines is a point of strong disagreement. The first mass-produced repeater was the Volcanic Rifle which used a bullet with the base filled with powder and primer fed into the chamber from a spring-loaded tube called a magazine. It was named after a building or room used to store ammunition, the anemic power of the Rocket Ball ammunition used in the Volcanic doomed it to limited popularity. The Henry repeating rifle is a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine fed rifle, designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in 1860, it was one of the first firearms to use self-contained metallic cartridges. The Henry was introduced in the early 1860s and produced through 1866 in the United States by the New Haven Arms Company and it was adopted in small quantities by the Union in the Civil War and favored for its greater firepower than the standard issue carbine. Many later found their way West and was famed both for its use at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and being the basis for the iconic Winchester rifle which are made to this day. The Henry and Winchester rifles would go on to see service with a number of militaries including Turkey, switzerland and Italy adopted similar designs. The first magazine-fed firearm to achieve success was the Spencer repeating rifle. The Spencer used a magazine located in the butt of the gun instead of under the barrel. The Spencer was successful, but the rimfire ammunition did occasionally ignite in the magazine tube and it could also injure the user. The new bolt-action rifles began to favor with militaries in the 1880s and were often equipped with tubular magazines. The Mauser Model 1871 was originally a single-shot action that added a magazine in its 1884 update
3.
Personal defense weapon
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Most PDWs fire a small-caliber, high-velocity bottleneck cartridge, resembling a small or short rifle round. This gives the PDW better range, accuracy and armor-penetrating capability than submachine guns and these soldiers may be at risk of encountering the enemy, but rarely enough that a long-barrel weapon would be an unnecessary burden during their normal duties. Because of their weight and controllability, they have also been used by special forces. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, shortened versions of the rifle were issued as carbines for cavalry troops. This designation was dropped as infantry rifle designs were shortened, such as in the Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifle, thereafter, pistols were typically issued as a self-defense weapons. However, they were not effective in most combat situations, as a result, during the First World War, the Mauser C96 and artillery versions of the Luger pistol were issued with attachable shoulder stock holsters, which allowed for greater control and accuracy. This attachment was developed to allow an infantryman to convert his rifle to a form of gun or automatic rifle in approximately 15 seconds. Production of the device and modified M1903 rifles started during 1918, however, the war ended before they were sent to Europe. The contract was cancelled on March 1,1919, after production of 65,000 devices,1.6 million magazines,65 million cartridges and 101,775 modified Springfield rifles, the Pedersen device was declared surplus in 1931. To prevent them falling into the hands of the lawless. In 1938, the U. S. Army Ordnance Department received a request for a rifle to be issued to mortarmen, radiomen, drivers, clerks, cooks. During field exercises, these troops found that the M1 Garand rifle was too heavy, and, while handguns are undeniably convenient, they had limited range, accuracy and power. This request was refused by authorities, U. S. Army Ordnance issued a requirement for a light rifle with greater range, firepower, and accuracy than the M1911 pistol, while weighing half as much as the M1 Garand. As result, the U. S. developed the semi-automatic M1 Carbine, widely employed deep into the Vietnam War, these carbines are generally considered the forerunners of modern personal defense weapons. Developed during the late 1980s, the Personal Defense Weapon concept was created in response to a NATO request as a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum submachine guns, introduced in 1991, the FN P90 features a bullpup design with a futuristic appearance. It has a 50-round magazine housed horizontally above the barrel, a reflex sight. A simple blow-back automatic weapon, it was designed to fire the FN5. 7×28mm cartridge which can penetrate soft body armor. The P90 was designed to have a length no greater than a mans shoulder width, to allow it to be carried and maneuvered in tight spaces
4.
Submachine gun
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A submachine gun is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire pistol cartridges. The term submachine gun was coined by John T. Thompson, the submachine gun was developed during World War I. At its zenith during World War II, millions of SMGs were made, after the war, new SMG designs appeared frequently. However, by the 1980s, SMG usage decreased, today, submachine guns have been largely replaced by assault rifles, which have a greater effective range and are capable of penetrating the helmets and body armor used by modern infantrymen. Carbine-type automatic weapons firing pistol rounds were developed during the stages of World War I by Italy, Germany. Their improved firepower and portability offered an advantage in trench warfare, in 1915, the Italians introduced the Villar-Perosa aircraft machine gun. It fired pistol-caliber 9mm Glisenti ammunition, but was not a true submachine gun and this odd design was then modified into the Beretta OVP carbine-type submachine gun, which then evolved into the Beretta Model 1918 after the end of World War I. Both the Beretta OVP and the Model 1918 had a wooden stock, a 25-round top-fed box magazine. The Germans initially used heavier versions of the P08 pistol equipped with a larger-capacity snail-drum magazine, by 1918, Bergmann Waffenfabrik had developed the MP18, the first practical submachine gun. This weapon fired the 9×19mm Parabellum round and used the same 32-round snail-drum magazine as the Luger P-08, the MP18 was used in significant numbers by German stormtroopers employing infiltration tactics, achieving some notable successes in the final year of the war. However, these were not enough to prevent Germanys collapse in November 1918, after World War I, the MP18 would evolve into the MP28/II SMG, which incorporated a simple 32-round box magazine, a semi & full auto selector, and other minor improvements. The Thompson submachine gun had been in development at approximately the time as the Bergmann. However, the war ended before prototypes could be shipped to Europe, although it had missed its chance to be the first purpose-designed submachine gun to enter service, it became the basis for later weapons and had the longest active service life of the three. However, the FBI and other U. S. police forces themselves showed no reluctance to use, eventually, the submachine gun was gradually accepted by many military organizations, especially as World War II loomed, with many countries developing their own designs. The Italians were among the first to develop submachine guns during World War I, however, they were slow to produce them during World War II. The Beretta Model 1938 was not available in numbers until 1943. The 38 was made in a series of improved and simplified models all sharing the same basic layout. The Beretta has two triggers, the front for semi-auto and rear for full-auto, most models use standard wooden stocks, although some models were fitted with an MP 40-style under-folding stock and are commonly mistaken for the German SMG
5.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
6.
FN P90
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The FN P90, also known as the FN Project 1990, is a personal defense weapon designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. Featuring a compact design with an integrated reflex sight and fully ambidextrous controls. Its design incorporates several innovations such as a unique top-mounted magazine and FNs small-caliber, high-velocity 5. 7×28mm ammunition. The P90 is currently in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations, such as Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Greece, India, Malaysia, Poland, and the United States. In the United States, the P90 is in use with over 200 law enforcement agencies, while developed and initially marketed as a PDW, it can also be considered a submachine gun or compact assault rifle. The standard selective fire P90 is restricted to military and law enforcement customers, but since 2005, the P90 and its 5. 7×28mm ammunition were developed by FN Herstal in response to NATO requests for a replacement for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge and associated pistols and submachine guns. NATO called for two types of weapons chambered for a new cartridge—one a shoulder-fired weapon, and the other a handheld weapon. According to NATO, these new weapons, termed personal defense weapons, were to provide protection in last-resort situations when the user is directly endangered by the enemy. Additionally, it was to be capable of penetrating body armor, the shoulder-fired personal defense weapon was to weigh less than 3 kg, with a magazine capacity of at least 20 rounds. The handheld personal defense weapon was to weigh less than 1 kg, although a weight of 700 g was deemed desirable, the original 5. 7×28mm cartridge, called the SS90, went into production with the P90 in 1990. The SS90 propelled a 1.5 g plastic-core projectile from the P90 at a velocity of roughly 850 m/s. Shortly after its introduction, the P90 was adopted and used in service with the Belgian special forces group in the 1991 Gulf War, following the P90s introduction, FN revised the 5. 7×28mm ammunition. The new variation, designated the SS190, used a projectile 2.7 mm shorter in length than that of the SS90 and this allowed it to be used more conveniently in the 5. 7×28mm FN Five-seven pistol, which was under development at that time. The SS190 projectile had a weight, and a more conventional construction with an aluminium. The first prototypes of the SS190 were created in 1992, a modified version of the P90, with a magazine adapted to use the shortened ammunition, was then introduced in the same year. Several special cartridge variations were developed, such as the L191 tracer round, in 2002 and 2003, NATO conducted a series of tests with the intention of standardizing a PDW cartridge as a replacement for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. The tests compared the merits of the FN5. 7×28mm cartridge and the HK4. 6×30mm cartridge. However, the German delegation and others rejected the NATO recommendation that 5. 7×28mm be standardized, as a result, both the 4. 6×30mm and 5
7.
Gulf War
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The Iraqi Armys occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, an array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost, the war was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991 and this was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait. The coalition ceased its advance, and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel. The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself, Gulf War, a problem with these terms is that the usage is ambiguous, having now been applied to at least three conflicts, see Gulf War. The use of the term Persian Gulf is also disputed, see Persian Gulf naming dispute, with no consensus of naming, various publications have attempted to refine the name. Other language terms include French, la Guerre du Golfe and German, Golfkrieg, German, Zweiter Golfkrieg, French, most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the wars operational phases. Operation Desert Storm was the US name of the conflict from 17 January 1991. Operation Desert Sabre was the US name for the offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations from 24–28 February 1991, in itself. Operation Desert Farewell was the given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwaits liberation. Operation Granby was the British name for British military activities during the operations, Opération Daguet was the French name for French military activities in the conflict. Operation Friction was the name of the Canadian operations Operazione Locusta was the Italian name for the operations, in addition, various phases of each operation may have a unique operational name. The US divided the conflict into three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabian country for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991
8.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
9.
Mexican Drug War
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The Mexican Drug War is the Mexican theater of the United States War on Drugs, involving an ongoing low-intensity asymmetric war between the Mexican Government and various drug trafficking syndicates. Since 2006, when the Mexican military began to intervene, the principal goal has been to reduce the drug-related violence. Additionally, the Mexican government has claimed that their focus is on dismantling the powerful drug cartels, rather than on preventing drug trafficking. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the wholesale illicit drug market and in 2007 controlled 90% of the entering the United States. Arrests of key leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, has led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States. Analysts estimate that wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $13.6 to $49.4 billion annually, by the end of Felipe Calderóns administration, the official death toll of the Mexican Drug War was at least 60,000. Estimates set the death toll above 120,000 killed by 2013, given its geographic location, Mexico has long been used as a staging and transshipment point for narcotics and contraband between Latin America and U. S. markets. Towards the end of the 1960s, Mexican narcotic smugglers started to smuggle drugs on a major scale, during the 1970s and early 1980s, Colombias Pablo Escobar was the main exporter of cocaine and dealt with organized criminal networks all over the world. By the mid-1980s, the organizations from Mexico were well-established and reliable transporters of Colombian cocaine, transporters from Mexico usually were given 35% to 50% of each cocaine shipment. This arrangement meant that organizations from Mexico became involved in the distribution, as well as the transportation of cocaine, currently, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel have taken over trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the worldwide markets. The balance of power between the various Mexican cartels continually shifts as new organizations emerge and older ones weaken and collapse, a disruption in the system, such as the arrests or deaths of cartel leaders, generates bloodshed as rivals move in to exploit the power vacuum. The fighting between rival drug cartels began in earnest after the 1989 arrest of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, there was a lull in the fighting during the late 1990s but the violence has steadily worsened since 2000. The center-left PRI party ruled Mexico for around 70 years until 2000, during this time, drug cartels expanded their power and corruption, and anti-drug operations focused mainly on destroying marijuana and opium crops in mountainous regions. It is estimated that about 110 people died in Nuevo Laredo between January and August 2005 as a result of the fighting between the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels. The same year, there was another surge in violence in the state of Michoacán as the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel established itself, on December 11,2006, the newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 Mexican Army soldiers to Michoacán to end drug violence there. As time passed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in there are now about 45,000 troops involved along with state. Mexico is a drug transit and producing country. It is the main supplier of cannabis and an important entry point of South American cocaine
10.
Libyan Civil War (2011)
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The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council. In early March, Gaddafis forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before reaching Benghazi, a further UN resolution authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use all necessary measures to prevent attacks on civilians. The Gaddafi government then announced a ceasefire, but fighting continued, throughout the conflict, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting because the plans set forth did not include the removal of Gaddafi. On 16 September 2011, the National Transitional Council was recognised by the United Nations as the representative of Libya. Muammar Gaddafi remained at large until 20 October 2011, when he was captured and killed in Sirte, the National Transitional Council declared the liberation of Libya and the official end of the war on 23 October 2011. In the aftermath of the war, a low-level insurgency by former Gaddafi loyalists continued. A much greater issue has been the role of militias which fought in the civil war and these unresolved issues led directly to a second civil war in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi was the head of the Free Officers, a group of Arab nationalists that deposed King Idris I in 1969 in a bloodless coup and he abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951, considering it a neocolonial document. From 1969 until 1975 standards of living, life expectancy and literacy grew rapidly, in 1975 he published his manifesto The Green Book. He officially stepped down from power in 1977, and subsequently claimed to be merely a figurehead until 2011. Under Gaddafi, Libya was theoretically a decentralized, direct democracy state run according to the philosophy of Gaddafis The Green Book, according to Freedom House, however, these structures were often manipulated to ensure the dominance of Gaddafi, who reportedly continued to dominate all aspects of government. WikiLeaks disclosure of confidential US diplomatic cables revealed US diplomats there speaking of Gaddafis mastery of tactical maneuvering and this extended even to his own sons, as he repeatedly changed affections to avoid the rise of a clear successor and rival. Both Gaddafi and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, however, officially denied that he held any power, while he was popularly seen as a demagogue in the West, Gaddafi always portrayed himself as a statesman-philosopher. According to several Western media sources, Gaddafi feared a coup against his government. The Libyan Army consisted of about 50,000 personnel and its most powerful units were four crack brigades of highly equipped and trained soldiers, composed of members of Gaddafis tribe or members of other tribes loyal to him. One, the Khamis Brigade, was led by his son Khamis, local militias and Revolutionary Committees across the country were also kept well-armed. By contrast, regular units were poorly armed and trained. By the end of Gaddafis 42 years rule, Libyas population had a per capita income of $14,000, a broadly secular society was imposed
11.
FN Herstal
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It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. FN is a subsidiary of the Belgian Herstal Group, which also owns U. S, Repeating Arms Company and Browning Arms Company. FN Herstal is the parent company of two United States entities, FN Manufacturing and FNH USA, FNH USA, located in McLean, Virginia, is the sales and marketing branch of FN Herstal in the United States. FN Herstals firearms are used by the forces of over 100 nations. FN originated in the city of Herstal, near Liège. The Fabrique Nationale dArmes de Guerre was established in 1889 to manufacture 150,000 Mauser Model 89 rifles ordered by the Belgian Government. FN was co-founded by the major makers of the Liège region, with Henri Pieper of Anciens Etablissements Pieper being the driving force. In 1897 the company entered into a relationship with John Moses Browning. FN was an important manufacturer of vehicles in Belgium, a development championed by Alexandre Galopin as managing director. Cars were produced in Herstal in the early 1900s until 1935, production of FN motorcycles continued until 1965, and production of trucks until 1970. In 1973, FN changed its name to reflect a product line diversified far beyond just weapons of war, John Moses Browning began development of the Browning GP35 High Power pistol, the GP standing for Grande Puissance or high power in French. However, the weapon was finalized by Dieudonné Saive and did not appear until nearly a decade after Brownings death, the FN Manufacturing LLC plant in Columbia, South Carolina is part of the military division of FN. It is primarily responsible for the production of U. S. military weapons, such as M16 rifles, M249 light machine guns, M240 machine guns, barracuda, Double-action multi-caliber revolver that can be switched between three calibers by changing parts of the cylinder. Five-seveN, Lightweight polymer-framed pistol with a 20-round magazine capacity, in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations throughout the world. FNP series, Series of polymer-framed pistols offered in 9×19mm Parabellum.357 SIG.40 S&W, FNX series, Updated and reengineered version of the FNP series pistol in 9×19mm Parabellum.40 S&W and.45 ACP. One of the most widely used military pistols of all time, hP-DA, 9×19mm Parabellum pistol, double-action variant of the Browning Hi-Power. M1903, Blowback semi-automatic pistol chambered for.32 ACP and 9×20mm Long Browning, m1905.25 ACP vest pocket blowback semi-automatic pistol. M1910, Single-action pistol chambered for.32 ACP and.380 ACP, P90, Ambidextrous bullpup personal defense weapon with a top-mounted 50-round magazine and chambered for FNs 5. 7×28mm cartridge
12.
Gun barrel
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A gun barrel is a part of firearms and artillery pieces. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, a gun barrel must be able to hold in the expanding gas produced by the propellants to ensure that optimum muzzle velocity is attained by the projectile as it is being pushed out by the expanding gas. Modern small arms barrels are made of known and tested to withstand the pressures involved. Artillery pieces are made by various techniques providing reliably sufficient strength, early firearms were muzzle-loading, with powder, and then shot loaded from the muzzle, capable of only a low rate of fire. During the 19th century effective mechanical locks were invented that sealed a breech-loading weapon against the escape of propellant gases, the early Chinese, the inventors of gunpowder, used bamboo, a naturally tubular stalk, as the first barrels in gunpowder projectile weapons. Early European guns were made of iron, usually with several strengthening bands of the metal wrapped around circular wrought iron rings. The Chinese were the first to master cast-iron cannon barrels, early cannon barrels were very thick for their caliber. Bore evacuator Bore snake Cannon Muzzle Polygonal rifling Rifling Slug barrel Smoothbore
13.
Cartridge (firearms)
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Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition. A cartridge without a bullet is called a blank, One that is completely inert is called a dummy. Some artillery ammunition uses the same concept as found in small arms. In other cases, the shell is separate from the propellant charge. In popular use, the bullet is often misused to refer to a complete cartridge. The cartridge case seals a firing chamber in all directions excepting the bore, a firing pin strikes the primer and ignites it. The primer compound deflagrates, it does not detonate, a jet of burning gas from the primer ignites the propellant. Gases from the burning powder pressurize and expand the case to seal it against the chamber wall and these propellant gases push on the bullet base. In response to pressure, the bullet will move in the path of least resistance which is down the bore of the barrel. After the bullet leaves the barrel, the pressure drops to atmospheric pressure. The case, which had been expanded by chamber pressure. This eases removal of the case from the chamber, brass is a commonly used case material because it is resistant to corrosion. A brass case head can be work-hardened to withstand the pressures of cartridges. The neck and body portion of a case is easily annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reforming so that it can be reloaded many times. Steel is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in military ammunition. Steel is less expensive than brass, but it is not feasible to reload, Military forces typically consider small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, one-time-use devices. However, case weight affects how much ammunition a soldier can carry, conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the strength of steel in the neck of these cases is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck
14.
Action (firearms)
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In firearms terminology, an action is the mechanism that handles the ammunition or the method by which that mechanism works. Breech-loading weapons have actions, actions are not present on muzzleloaders. The mechanism that fires a muzzle-loader is called the lock, actions can be categorized in several ways, including single action versus double action, break action versus bolt action, and others. The term action can also short, long, and magnum if it is in reference to the length of the rifle’s receiver. The short action rifle usually can accommodate a cartridge length of 2.8 in or smaller, the long action rifle can accommodate a cartridge of 3.34 in, and the magnum action rifle can accommodate cartridges of 3.6 in, or longer in length. Manual operation is a term describing any type of firearm action that is loaded one shot at a time by the user rather than automatically. For example, break action is a form of operation using a simple hinge mechanism that is manually unlatched by the operator. These are actions wherein the breechblock lowers or drops into the receiver to open the breech, there are two principal types of dropping block, the tilting block and the falling block. In a tilting or pivoting block action, the breechblock is hinged on a pin mounted at the rear, when the lever is operated, the block tilts down and forward, exposing the chamber. The best-known pivoting block designs are the Peabody, the Peabody–Martini, the original Peabody rifles, manufactured by the Providence Tool Company, used a manually cocked side-hammer. The 1871 Martini–Henry which replaced the trapdoor Snider–Enfield was the standard British Army rifle of the later Victorian era, charles H. Ballards self-cocking tilting-block action was produced by the Marlin Firearms Company from 1875, and earned a superlative reputation among long-range Creedmoor target shooters. Surviving Marlin Ballards are today highly prized by collectors, especially those mounted in the elaborate Swiss-style Schützen stocks of the day. A falling-block action is a firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the weapon. Examples of firearms using the falling block action are the Sharps rifle, in a rolling block action the breechblock takes the form of a part-cylinder, with a pivot pin through its axis. The operator rotates or rolls the block to open and close the breech, it is a simple, rugged, a break action is a type of firearm where the barrel are hinged and can be broken open to expose the breech. The earliest metallic-cartridge breechloaders designed for military issue began as conversions of muzzle-loading rifle-muskets. The upper rear portion of the barrel was filed or milled away, an internal angled firing pin allowed the re-use of the rifles existing side-hammer. The Allin action made by Springfield Arsenal in the US hinged forward, france countered in 1866 with its superior Chassepot rifle, also a paper-cartridge bolt action
15.
Blowback (firearms)
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Several blowback systems exist within this broad principle of operation, each distinguished by the methods used to control bolt movement. A few locked breech designs use a form of blowback to perform the unlocking function, the blowback principle may be considered a simplified form of gas operation, since the cartridge case behaves like a piston driven by the powder gases. Other operating principles for self-loading firearms include blow forward, gas operation and this rearward thrust, imparted against the breech, is a direct result of the expansion of propellant gases. The energy from the expansion of gases on firing appears in the form of energy transmitted to the bolt mechanism. The extent to which blowback is employed largely depends on the used to control the movement of the bolt. How the movement of the bolt is controlled is where blowback systems differ, relating blowback to other types of automatic firearm operation, George M. Chinn wrote that, In the larger sense, blowback might well be considered a special form of gas operation. This is reasonable because the case may be conceived of as a sort of piston driven by the powder gases. Actually, blowback involves so many problems that it is best considered to be in a class by itself. The question whether or not it should be included within the general class of gas operation or recoil operation is purely academic. The important point is that it some of the properties of both classes and, depending on the particular problem at hand, may be considered to be either one. The blowback system represents the most basic auto loading operation type, in a blowback mechanism, the bolt rests against the rear of the barrel, but is not locked in place. At the point of ignition, expanding gases push the bullet forward through the barrel while at the same time pushing the case rearward against the bolt. The expanding gases push the bolt assembly to the rear, but the motion is slowed by the mass of the bolt, internal friction, the design must ensure that the delay is long enough that bullet exits the barrel before the cartridge case clears the chamber. The empty case is ejected as the travels to the rear. The stored energy of the action spring then drives the bolt forward. A new cartridge is stripped from the magazine and chambered as the returns to its in-battery position. The blowback system is practical for firearms using relatively low-power cartridges with lighter weight bullets, higher power cartridges require heavier bolts to keep the breech from opening prematurely, at some point, the bolt becomes too heavy to be practical. Consequently, the spring is not powerful enough to keep the bolt closed when the gun is tilted up
16.
Tritium
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Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons, naturally occurring tritium is extremely rare on Earth, where trace amounts are formed by the interaction of the atmosphere with cosmic rays. It can be produced by irradiating lithium metal or lithium bearing ceramic pebbles in a nuclear reactor, the name of this isotope is derived from the Greek word τρίτος meaning third. While tritium has several different experimentally determined values of its half-life and it decays into helium-3 by beta decay as in this nuclear equation, and it releases 18.6 keV of energy in the process. The electrons kinetic energy varies, with an average of 5.7 keV, beta particles from tritium can penetrate only about 6.0 mm of air, and they are incapable of passing through the dead outermost layer of human skin. The unusually low energy released in the beta decay makes the decay appropriate for absolute neutrino mass measurements in the laboratory. The low energy of tritiums radiation makes it difficult to detect tritium-labeled compounds except by using liquid scintillation counting, Tritium is produced in nuclear reactors by neutron activation of lithium-6. This is possible with neutrons of any energy, and is an exothermic reaction yielding 4.8 MeV, in comparison, the fusion of deuterium with tritium releases about 17.6 MeV of energy. High-energy neutrons can produce tritium from lithium-7 in an endothermic reaction. This was discovered when the 1954 Castle Bravo nuclear test produced a high yield. High-energy neutrons irradiating boron-10 will also produce tritium, A more common result of boron-10 neutron capture is 7Li. The reactions requiring high neutron energies are not attractive production methods for peaceful applications, Tritium is also produced in heavy water-moderated reactors whenever a deuterium nucleus captures a neutron. This reaction has a quite small absorption cross section, making water a good neutron moderator. Even so, cleaning tritium from the moderator may be desirable after several years to reduce the risk of its escaping to the environment. Ontario Power Generations Tritium Removal Facility processes up to 2,500 tonnes of water a year. Deuteriums absorption cross section for thermal neutrons is about 0.52 millibarns, whereas that of oxygen-16 is about 0.19 millibarns and that of oxygen-17 is about 240 millibarns. Tritium is a product of the nuclear fission of uranium-235, plutonium-239. The release or recovery of tritium needs to be considered in the operation of reactors, especially in the reprocessing of nuclear fuels
17.
Red dot sight
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They are considered to be fast acquisition and easy to use gun sights for target shooting, hunting, and in police and military applications. Aside from firearm applications, they are used on cameras. On cameras they are used to flying aircraft, birds in flight. Telescopes have a field of view and therefore are often equipped with a secondary finder scope such as a red dot sight. The typical configuration for a red dot sight is a spherical mirror reflector with a red light-emitting diode at its off axis focus. The mirror has a partially silvered multilayer dielectric dichroic coating designed to reflect just the red spectrum allowing it to pass through most other light, the size of the dot generated by the LED is controlled by an aperture hole in front of it made from metal or coated glass. The LED as a reticle is an innovation that improves the reliability. There is no need for other elements to focus light behind a reticle. And the LED itself is solid state and consumes little power, allowing battery powered sights to run for hundreds. Using a dot shaped reticle also greatly simplifies the sight since the small diameter image does not require a sophisticated optical reflector to focus it, more complex reticle patterns such as cross hairs or concentric circles can be used but need more complex aberration free optics. This is compensated for by keeping the dot in the middle of the optical window, some manufacturers modify the focus of the LED/optical collimator combination, making models with the optical collimator set to focus the dot at a finite distance. These have an amount of parallax due to eye movement, equal to the size of the optical window, at close range. Red dot sights generally fall into two categories, tube or open designs, tube sights look similar to a standard telescopic sight, with a cylindrical tube containing the optics. Tube sights offer the option of fitted dust covers and the ability to add filters, such as polarizing or haze filters, since a reflector sight only really needs a single optical surface, the reflector, the tube is not needed. This allows for non-tubed open sights that consist of a flat base, the idea of attaching a reflector sight to a firearm has been around since the sights invention in 1900. Many different types of reflector sights designed for firearms have been marketed over the past half century, some lit by batteries. One, the Weaver Qwik-Point, even presented the viewer with a red aiming dot due to the red plastic light pipe used to collect ambient light, the sight was called the Aimpoint Electronic and had a closed tube design that could be mounted similar to a telescopic sight. The LED could run for 1500 to 3000 hours on mercury batteries, other manufacturers soon followed with over a dozen offering models today
18.
Iron sights
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Iron sights are typically composed of two component sights, formed by metal blades, a rear sight mounted perpendicular to the line of sight and a front sight that is a post, bead, or ring. Open sights use a notch of some sort as the rear sight, civilian, hunting, and police firearms usually feature open sights, while many military battle rifles employ aperture sights. The earliest and simplest iron sights are fixed and cannot be easily adjusted, many iron sights are designed to be adjustable, so that the sights can be adjusted for elevation or windage. On many firearms it is the sight that is adjustable. For precision applications such as hunting or sniping, the sights are usually replaced by a telescopic sight. Iron sights may still be fitted alongside other sighting devices for back-up usage, iron sights provide horizontal and vertical reference points that allow the shooter to train the weapon. Rear sights are mounted in a dovetail on the barrel or receiver, closer to the eye of the shooter. Front sights are mounted to the barrel by dovetailing, soldering, screwing, or staking close to the muzzle, frequently on a ramp. Some front sight assemblies include a detachable hood intended to reduce glare, with typical blade or post iron sights, the shooter would center the front post in the notch of the rear sight and the tops of both sights should be level. Since the eye is capable of focusing on one plane, and the rear sight, front sight. At 1,000 m, that same misalignment would be magnified 100 times, sights for shotguns used for shooting small, moving targets work quite differently. The rear sight is completely discarded, and the reference point is provided by the correct. A brightly colored round bead is placed at the end of the barrel, often, this bead will be placed along a raised, flat rib, which is usually ventilated to keep it cool and reduce mirage effects from a hot barrel. This method of aiming is not as precise as that of a front sight/rear sight combination, but it is faster. Some shotguns also provide a mid-bead, which is a smaller bead located halfway down the rib, open sights generally are used where the rear sight is at significant distance from the shooters eye. They provide minimum occlusion of the view, but at the expense of precision. Open sights generally use either a square post or a bead on a post for a front sight, to use the sight, the post or bead is positioned both vertically and horizontally in the center of the rear sight notch. For a center hold, the front sight is positioned on the center of the target, for a 6oclock hold, the front sight is positioned just below the target and centered horizontally
19.
NATO
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party, three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear-weapon states. NATOs headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries across North America and Europe, an additional 22 countries participate in NATOs Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total, Members defence spending is supposed to amount to 2% of GDP. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004. N. The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Unions Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. He got a hearing, especially considering American anxiety over Italy. In 1948 European leaders met with U. S. defense, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, marshalls orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty and it included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in. Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, the creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic cooperation. The members agreed that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor, although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which states that the response will be military in nature. It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily, the treaty was later clarified to include both the members territory and their vessels, forces or aircraft above the Tropic of Cancer, including some Overseas departments of France. The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, the roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved
20.
Special forces
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Special forces and special operations forces are military or police units trained to conduct special operations. The term special forces in the United States refers to the U. S. Armys forces, in Russian-speaking countries special forces are typically called spetsnaz, an acronym for special purpose. Likewise, Russian speakers refer to special forces of nations as spetsnaz, for example. Special Forces would be referred to as amerikanski spetsnaz in Russian, other significant roles lay in reconnaissance, providing essential intelligence from near or among the enemy and increasingly in combating irregular forces, their infrastructure and activities. Hamilcar Barca in Sicily had specialized troops trained to launch several offensives per day, in the late Roman or early Byzantine period, Roman fleets used small, fast, camouflaged ships crewed by selected men for scouting and commando missions. In Japan, ninjas were used for reconnaissance, espionage and as assassins, bodyguards or fortress guards, during the Napoleonic wars, rifle and sapper units were formed that held specialised roles in reconnaissance and skirmishing and were not committed to the formal battle lines. The British Indian Army deployed two special forces during their wars, the Corps of Guides formed in 1846 and the Gurkha Scouts. During the Second Boer War the British Army felt the need for specialised units became most apparent. This unit was formed in 1900 by Lord Lovat and early on reported to an American, Major Frederick Russell Burnham, after the war, Lovats Scouts went on to formally become the British Armys first sniper unit. Additionally, the Bushveldt Carbineers, formed in 1901, can be seen as an unconventional warfare unit. Modern special forces emerged during the Second World War, in 1940, the British Commandos were formed following Winston Churchills call for specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast. A staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke, had already submitted such a proposal to General Sir John Dill, Dill, aware of Churchills intentions, approved Clarkes proposal and on 23 June 1940, the first Commando raid took place. The Special Service Brigade was quickly expanded to 12 units which became known as Commandos, each Commando had a lieutenant colonel as the commanding officer and numbered around 450 men. In December 1940 a Middle East Commando depot was formed with the responsibility of training and supplying reinforcements for the Commando units in that theatre, in February 1942 the Commando training depot at Achnacarry in the Scottish Highlands was established by Brigadier Charles Haydon. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Vaughan, the Commando depot was responsible for training complete units, the training regime was for the time innovative and physically demanding, and far in advance of normal British Army training. The depot staff were all hand picked, with the ability to any of the volunteers. Training and assessment started immediately on arrival, with the volunteers having to complete an 8-mile march with all their equipment from the Spean Bridge railway station to the commando depot, exercises were conducted using live ammunition and explosives to make training as realistic as possible. Physical fitness was a prerequisite, with cross country runs and boxing matches to improve fitness, speed and endurance marches were conducted up and down the nearby mountain ranges and over assault courses that included a zip-line over Loch Arkaig, all while carrying arms and full equipment
21.
Counter-terrorism
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Counter-terrorism strategies include attempts to counter financing of terrorism. If terrorism is part of an insurgency, counter-terrorism may employ counter-insurgency measures. Harcourt envisioned a permanent unit dedicated to the prevention of politically motivated violence through the use of techniques such as undercover infiltration. This pioneering branch was the first to be trained in counter-terrorism techniques and its name was changed to Special Branch as it had its remit gradually expanded to incorporate a general role in counterterrorism, combating foreign subversion and infiltrating organized crime. Law enforcement agencies, in Britain and elsewhere, established similar units, Counterterrorism forces expanded with the perceived growing threat of terrorism in the late 20th century. Most counter-terrorism strategies involve an increase in police and domestic intelligence. The central activities are traditional, interception of communications, and the tracing of persons, new technology has, however, expanded the range of military and law enforcement operations. Domestic intelligence is often directed at specific groups, defined on the basis of origin or religion, mass surveillance of an entire population raises objections on civil liberties grounds. Homegrown terrorists, especially lone wolves are often harder to detect because of their citizenship or legal status, good intelligence is at the heart of such preparation, as well as political and social understanding of any grievances that might be solved. Counterintelligence is a challenge with the security of cell-based systems, since the ideal. Financial tracking can play a role, as can communications intercept, in response to the growing legislation. United Kingdom The United Kingdom has had anti-terrorism legislation in place for more than thirty years, the Prevention of Violence Act 1939 was brought in response to an Irish Republican Army campaign of violence under the S-Plan. This act had allowed to expire in 1953 and was repealed in 1973 to be replaced by the Prevention of Terrorism Acts a response to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. From 1974 to 1989 the temporary provisions of the act were renewed annually, in 2000 the Acts were replaced with the more permanent Terrorism Act 2000, which contained many of their powers, and then the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was formally introduced into the Parliament November 19,2001 two months after the September 11,2001 attacks in the United States and it received royal assent and went into force on December 13,2001. On December 16,2004 the Law Lords ruled that Part 4 was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, but under the terms of the Human Rights Act 1998 it remained in force. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 was drafted to answer the Law Lords ruling and the Terrorism Act 2006 creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. The Act was drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, since 1978 the UKs terrorism laws have been regularly reviewed by a security-cleared Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, whose reports are submitted to Parliament and published in full
22.
FN Five-seven
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The FN Five-seven, trademarked as the Five-seveN, is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre-Herstal in Belgium. The pistol is named for its 5. 7-mm bullet diameter, the Five-seven pistol was developed in conjunction with the FN P90 personal defense weapon and the FN5. 7×28mm cartridge. The P90 was introduced in 1990, and the Five-seven was introduced in 1998 as a using the same 5. 7×28mm ammunition. The Five-seven is currently in service with military and police forces in over 40 nations, including Canada, France, Greece, India, Poland, Spain, in the United States, the Five-seven is in use with numerous law enforcement agencies, including the U. S. In the years since the introduction to the civilian market in the United States. NATO called for two types of weapons chambered for a new cartridge—one a shoulder-fired weapon, and the other a handheld weapon. According to NATO, these new weapons, termed personal defense weapons, were to provide protection in last-resort situations when the user is directly endangered by the enemy. Additionally, it was to be capable of penetrating certain types of body armor, the shoulder-fired personal defense weapon was to weigh less than 3 kg, with a magazine capacity of at least 20 rounds. The handheld personal defense weapon was to weigh less than 1 kg, although a weight of 700 g was deemed desirable, the original 5. 7×28mm cartridge, called the SS90, went into production with the P90 in 1990. This cartridge type was discontinued in 1993, and replaced with the 5. 7×28mm SS190, the reduced length of the SS190 projectile allowed it to be used more conveniently in the Five-seven, which was under development at that time. In 1993, Jean-Louis Gathoye of FN filed a United States patent application for a delayed blowback operating system intended for the Five-seven pistol, patent 5,347,912 was received the following year. In 1995, FN officially announced development of the Five-seven pistol, with some improvements, a double-action only model of the pistol went into production in 1998, and a single-action model called the Five-seven Tactical was then introduced shortly afterward. The Five-seven first entered service in May 2000, when the Cypriot National Guard purchased 250 pistols for their special forces group, in 2002 and 2003, NATO conducted a series of tests with the intention of standardizing a PDW cartridge as a replacement for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. The tests compared the merits of the FN5. 7×28mm cartridge and the HK4. 6×30mm cartridge. However, the German delegation and others rejected the NATO recommendation that 5. 7×28mm be standardized, as a result, both the 4. 6×30mm and 5. 7×28mm sporting ammunition. The IOM model incorporated several modifications to the design, such as the addition of an M1913 accessory rail, a magazine safety mechanism. Although offered only with sporting ammunition, the Five-sevens introduction to civilian shooters was met with opposition from gun control organizations such as the Brady Campaign. Further development of the Five-seven pistol led to the introduction of the Five-seven USG model, the USG model incorporates a conventionally shaped square trigger guard, a reversible magazine release, and other minor changes
23.
Bullpup
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A bullpup is a firearm with its action behind its trigger group. This configuration permits a shorter overall weapon for a barrel length. This maintains the advantages of a barrel in muzzle velocity and accuracy, while improving maneuverability. The origin of the term bullpup for this configuration is unclear, in 1957, the word was reported to denote a target pistol, particularly one with a fancy stock. The bullpup design places the action behind the trigger, usually in front of a short buttstock. The configuration decreases the overall length while retaining the same barrel length which allows for better maneuverability in confined spaces. An often cited shortcoming of the configuration is spent casings being ejected into the face of a left-handed shooter. This is solved on some designs with ejection downward or forward, being held closer to the body, a bullpup causes less arm fatigue and allows faster reaction time from a lowered position. However, its rear-weighted design lacks balance, inducing muzzle rise, in addition, shorter weapon length results in a shorter sight radius, further impairing accuracy at distance, as well as reducing bayonet effectiveness in close combat. Also, due to the assembly and the necessary trigger linkage. It is known to have applied to semi-automatic firearms in 1918. After World War II, Western engineers drew inspiration from the German Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle, among them, Kazimierz Januszewski, a Polish engineer who had worked at the Polish national arsenal during the 1930s. After being mobilized during World War II he escaped German and Russian forces and made his way to England, the factory was run by lieutenant colonel Edward Kent-Lemon. As Januszewski was developing a new rifle, the Ideal Calibre Board was searching for a replacement for the.303 cartridge, the Board decided on an optimal 7 mm cartridge on which Januszewski and the two teams working at Enfield had to base their designs. One design team led by Stanley Thorpe produced a rifle with a locking system based on the Sturmgewehr. The design used steel pressings which were difficult to obtain, the result of the Polish design teams efforts was the EM-2, which broke significant new ground. The EM-2 contained some similarities to the Soviet AK-47, although Januszewski had never seen the Soviet rifle, the first significant bullpup assault rifle came from the British program to replace the service pistols, sub-machine guns, and rifles. In the two forms of the EM-1 and the EM-2, the new concept was born as a result of the experience with small arms that was gained during the Second World War
24.
Reflector sight
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These sights work on the simple optical principle that anything at the focus of a lens or curved mirror will look like it is sitting in front of the viewer at infinity. Since their invention in 1900, reflector sights have come to be used as gun sights on all kinds of weapons. They were used on aircraft, in a limited capacity in World War I, widely used in World War II. Reflector sights are used in civilian applications such as sights on surveying equipment, optical telescope pointing aids. The collimated reticle image can also be seen at any eye position in the volume of collimated light created by the sight behind the optical window. Eye movement perpendicular to the optical axis will make the reticle image move in exact relationship to eye position in the cylindrical column of light created by the collimating optics. A common type uses a lens and a beam splitter. This type tends to be bulky since it requires at least two components, the lens and the beam splitter/glass plate. The reticle collimation optics are situated at 90° to the optical path making lighting difficult, usually needing additional electric illumination, condensing lenses and this type is most often seen as the red dot type used on small arms. It is also possible to place the reticle between the viewer and the mirror at the mirrors focus. The reticle itself is too close to the eye to be in focus, the viewing portion of a reflector sight does not use any refractive optical elements, it is simply a projected reticle bounced off a beam splitter or curved mirror right into the users eye. This gives it the characteristics of not needing considerable experience and skill to use. The primary drawback of reflector sight is that they need some way to illuminate the reticle to function, reticles illuminated by ambient light are hard to use in low light situations, and sights with electrical illumination stop functioning altogether if that system fails. The idea of a reflector sight originated in 1900 with Irish optical designer and this arrangement would be of course equally impracticable for obvious reasons but it is instanced to show that a beam of light has the necessary qualifications for our purposes. It was noted soon after its invention that the sight could be an alternative to iron sights. The reflector sight was first used on German fighter aircraft in 1918, through their development in the 1930s and into World War II the sight was also being referred to in some applications by the abbreviation reflex sight. Reflector sights were invented as an improved gun-sight and since their invention they have adapted to many types of weapons. When used with different types of guns, reflector sights are considered an improvement over simple iron sights, the reflector sights single, parallax-free virtual image, in focus with the target, removes this aiming problem, helping poor, average, and expert shooters alike
25.
United States Secret Service
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The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the U. S. Department of Homeland Security. Until 2003, the Service was part of the U. S. Department of the Treasury, the Secret Services initial responsibility was to investigate counterfeiting of U. S. currency, which was rampant following the U. S. Civil War. The agency then evolved into the United States first domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency, the Secret Service has two primary missions, investigation of financial crimes and physical protection of designated protectees. After the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley, Congress also directed the Secret Service to protect the President of the United States, Protection remains the other key mission of the United States Secret Service. From 1997 until 2013, legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents, President Barack Obama signed legislation reversing this limit and reinstating lifetime protection on January 10,2013. The Secret Service investigates thousands of incidents a year of individuals threatening the President of the United States, the Director of Secret Service is appointed by the President of the United States. With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time, Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. It was commissioned in Washington, D. C. as the Secret Service Division of the Department of the Treasury with the mission of suppressing counterfeiting, the legislation creating the agency was on Abraham Lincolns desk the night he was assassinated. At the time, the other federal law enforcement agencies were the United States Park Police. Post Office Departments Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations, and the U. S. Marshals Service, the Marshals did not have the manpower to investigate all crime under federal jurisdiction, so the Secret Service began to investigate everything from murder to bank robbery to illegal gambling. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress informally requested that the Secret Service provide presidential protection, a year later, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for presidential protection. In 1902, William Craig became the first Secret Service agent to die while serving, the Secret Service was the first U. S. domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency. Domestic intelligence collection and counterintelligence responsibilities were vested in the Federal Bureau of Investigation upon the FBIs creation in 1908, the Secret Service assisted in arresting Japanese American leaders and in the Japanese American internment during World War II. Secret Service is not a part of the U. S, on October 16, the day of the summit, Burnham discovered a man holding a concealed palm pistol standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route. Burnham signaled a Texas Ranger, Private C. R. Moore, in 1950, President Harry S. Truman was residing in Blair House while the White House, across the street, was undergoing renovations. On November 1,1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, approached Blair House with the intent to assassinate President Truman, Collazo and Torresola opened fire on Private Leslie Coffelt and other White House Police officers. Though mortally wounded by three shots from a 9 mm German Luger to his chest and abdomen, Private Coffelt returned fire, as of 2017, Coffelt is the only member of the Secret Service killed while protecting a US president against an assassination attempt. Collazo was also shot, but survived his injuries and served 29 years in prison before returning to Puerto Rico in late 1979, in 1968, as a result of Robert F. Kennedys assassination, Congress authorized protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees
26.
Assault rifle
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An assault rifle is a selective-fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles were first used during World War II, examples include the StG44, AK-47 and the M16 rifle. However, other sources dispute that Hitler had much to do with coining the new name besides signing the production order, the StG44 is generally considered the first selective fire military rifle to popularize the assault rifle concept. Today, the assault rifle is used to define firearms sharing the same basic characteristics as the StG44. The U. S. Army defines assault rifles as short, compact, in a strict definition, a firearm must have at least the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle, It must be capable of selective fire. It must have a cartridge, more power than a pistol. Its ammunition must be supplied from a box magazine. It must have a range of at least 300 metres. Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are not assault rifles. For example, Select-fire M2 Carbines are not assault rifles, their range is only 200 yards. Select-fire rifles such as the FN FAL battle rifle are not assault rifles, semi-automatic-only rifles like variants of the Colt AR-15 are not assault rifles, they do not have select-fire capabilities. Semi-auto rifles with fixed magazines like the SKS are not assault rifles, selective fire rifles like the Fedorov Avtomat which in hindsight could be classified as prototypical assault rifles. However,6. 5x50mm Arisaka is still very much a full-powered rifle cartridge and they would soon develop a select-fire intermediate powered rifle combining the firepower of a submachine gun with the range and accuracy of a rifle. The result was the Sturmgewehr 44, which the Germans produced in large numbers and it fired a new and revolutionary intermediate powered cartridge, the 7. 92×33mm Kurz. This new cartridge was developed by shortening the standard 7. 92×57mm Mauser round and giving it a lighter 125-grain bullet, a smaller lighter cartridge also allowed soldiers to carry more ammunition to support the higher consumption rate of automatic fire. The Sturmgewehr 44 features an inexpensive, easy-to-make, stamped steel design and this weapon was the prototype of all successful automatic rifles. The barrel and overall length were shorter than a traditional rifle, on July 15,1943, a Sturmgewehr was demonstrated before the Peoples Commissariat of Arms of the USSR. The Soviets soon developed the 7. 62×39mm M43 cartridge, the semi-automatic SKS carbine, shortly after World War II, the Soviets developed the AK-47 assault rifle, which would quickly replace the SKS in Soviet service
27.
Selective fire
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Selective fire means the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, multi-short burst, and/or automatic firing mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector which varies depending on the weapons design, some selective-fire weapons have burst fire mechanisms to limit the maximum number of shots fired automatically in this mode. The most common limits are two or three rounds per trigger pull, fully automatic fire refers to the ability for a weapon to fire continuously until either the feeding mechanism is emptied or the trigger is released. Semi-automatic refers to the ability to fire one round per trigger pull and this capability is most commonly found on assault rifles and military weapons of the 20th and 21st centuries. Early attempts at this technology were hindered by one or both of two obstacles, over-powerful ammunition and mechanical complexity, the latter led to excessive weight and unreliability in the firearm. Another is the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle developed during the first World War, the BAR and its subsequent designs incorporated a variety of selective-fire functions. The selector lever is located on the side of the receiver and is simultaneously the manual safety. The next version had a unique rate-of-fire reducer mechanism purchased from FN Herstal with two rates of automatic fire and this reducer mechanism was later changed to one designed by the Springfield Armory. The final version provided two selectable rates of automatic fire only. During World War II the Germans began development of the function which resulted in the FG42 battle rifle developed in 1942 at the request of the German Air Force in 1941. Another German design that used selective fire was the StG44 that was the first of its kind to see major deployment and is considered by historians to be the first modern assault rifle. The selective-fire function was seen in the Russian AK-47, the British EM-2. This allows for rapid and aimed fire, in some weapons, the selection is between different rates of automatic fire and/or varying burst limiters. The selection is often by a small rotating switch often integrated with the safety catch or a separate from the safety. This is useful for situations where a rapid volley of rounds is more effective for suppressing a close enemy rather than a single-round burst. The current U. S. standard assault rifle, the M16A4, in this design, it retains the count of previously fired rounds and may fire fewer than three rounds. Other designs reset the count with each pull, allowing a uniform three-round burst as long as rounds remain. A common version of the Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun fires single shots, three-round-bursts, a special variant uses a two-round-burst to minimize the chances of missing with a third round
28.
Semi-automatic firearm
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A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm, is one that performs all steps necessary to prepare it to discharge again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the firearms feed device. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism. For the other forms, the mechanism would require cycling manually prior to firing the next round. An automatic or a selective-fire firearm set to fire automatically would be able to discharge continuously as long as the trigger is held until the magazine or feed device runs out of ammunition. Obviously, this additional feature complicates the design of the sear and disconnector, the first successful design for a semi-automatic rifle is attributed to German-born gunsmith Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher, who unveiled the design in 1885. The Model 85 was followed by the equally innovative Mannlicher Models 91,93 and 95 semi-automatic rifles.5 mm ammunition that were fed into the M1894 by a stripper clip. The Auto-5 relied on long recoil operation, this remained the dominant form in semi-automatic shotguns for approximately 50 years. Production of the Auto-5 was ended in 1999, in 1903 and 1905, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company introduced the first semi-automatic rimfire and centerfire rifles designed especially for the civilian market. The Winchester Model 1903 and Winchester Model 1905 operated on the principle of blowback in order to function semi-automatically, johnson, the Model 1903 achieved commercial success and continued to be manufactured until 1932 when the Winchester Model 63 replaced it. Winchester introduced a medium caliber semi-automatic sporting rifle, the Model 1907 as an upgrade to the Model 1905, utilizing a system of operation. Both the Models of 1905 and 1907 saw limited military and police use, in 1906, Remington Arms introduced the Remington Auto-loading Repeating Rifle. Remington advertised this rifle, renamed the Model 8 in 1911 and this is a locked-breech, long recoil action designed by John Browning. The Model 81 superseded the Model 8 in 1936 and was offered in.300 Savage as well as the original Remington calibers, the first semi-automatic rifle adopted and widely issued by a major military power was the Fusil Automatique Modele 1917. This is a breech, gas-operated action which is very similar in its mechanical principles to the future M1 Garand in the United States. The M1917 was fielded during the stages of WWI but it did not receive a favorable reception. However its shortened and improved version, the Model 1918, gave complete satisfaction during the Moroccan Rif War from 1920 to 1926, the Lebel bolt-action rifle remained the standard French infantry rifle until replaced in 1936 by the MAS-36 despite the various semi-automatic rifles designed between 1918 and 1935. In 1937, the American M1 Garand was the first semi-automatic rifle to replace its nations bolt-action rifle as the infantry weapon. The gas-operated M1 Garand was developed by Canadian-born John Garand for the U. S. government at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, after years of research and testing, the first production model of the M1 Garand was unveiled in 1937
29.
Body armor
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Body armor or Body armour, or personal armor/armour is protective clothing, designed to absorb and/or deflect slashing, bludgeoning and penetrating attacks by weapons. It was historically used to military personnel, whereas today, it is also used to protect various types of police, private citizens. Many factors have affected the development of personal armor throughout human history, significant factors in the development of armor include the economic and technological necessities of armor production. For instance full plate armor first appeared in Medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made the formation of plates faster and cheaper, with the development of capitalism and technological advancements armor became more available to the lower classes often at a cost of quality. Eastern armor has a history, spanning several thousand years. The oldest known Western armor is the Dendra panoply, dating from the Mycenaean Era around 1400 BC, mail, also referred to as chainmail, is made of interlocking iron rings, which may be riveted or welded shut. It is believed to have been invented by Celtic people in Europe about 500 BC, most cultures who used mail used the Celtic word Byrnne or a variant, suggesting the Celts as the originators. The Romans widely adopted mail as the lorica hamata, although they made use of lorica segmentata. While no non-metallic armor survives, a linen laminate known as linothorax is repeatedly mentioned in ancient Greek sources, in East Asian history laminated armor such as lamellar, and styles similar to the coat of plates, and brigandine were commonly used. Later cuirasses and plates were also used, in pre-Qin dynasty times, leather armor was made out of rhinoceros. Chinese influence in Japan would result in the Japanese adopting Chinese styles, gradually, small additional plates or discs of iron were added to the mail to protect vulnerable areas. By the late 13th century, the knees were capped, a variety of methods for improving the protection provided by mail were used as armorers seemingly experimented. Hardened leather and splinted construction were used for arm and leg pieces, the coat of plates was developed, an armor made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat. Early plate in Italy, and elsewhere in the 13th to 15th centuries were made of iron, Iron armor could be carburized or case hardened to give a surface of harder steel. Mail continued to be used to protect those joints which could not be protected by plate, such as the armpit, crook of the elbow. Another advantage of plate was that a lance rest could be fitted to the breast plate, the small skull cap evolved into a bigger true helmet, the bascinet, as it was lengthened downward to protect the back of the neck and the sides of the head. Additionally, several new forms of fully enclosed helmets were introduced in the late 14th century to replace the great helm, such as the sallet and barbute and later the armet and close helm. By about 1400 the full harness of plate armor had been developed in armories of Lombardy Heavy cavalry dominated the battlefield for centuries in part because of their armor
30.
Small arms
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In international arms control, small arms include revolvers and pistols, rifles and carbines, assault rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns. Together with light weapons, they comprise the Small Arms and Light Weapons protocol, in the U. S. military, small arms are man portable, individual, and crew-served weapon systems used mainly against personnel and lightly armored or unarmored equipment. However, in regard to management, the U. S. Army says small arms/light weapons are, Handguns, shoulder-fired weapons, light automatic weapons up to. Much of the work to address the illegal arms trade is raised in the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms. In 2013, the Small Arms Survey said that of the 875 million small arms distributed globally,650 million — almost 75 percent — are in civilian hands, about 200 million are controlled by armed forces and about 26 million by law enforcement agencies. Gang members hold between 2 and 10 million small arms and armed, non-state actors hold about 1.4 million, together, the small-arms arsenals of non-state actors and gangs account for 0.4 to 1.3 percent of the global total. Arms trafficking Firearms Gun control Small arms trade SALW Dikshif, P. Proliferation of Small Arms and Minor Weapons, Strategic Analysis, Vol.17 May 1994. Gould, C. and Lamb, G. Hide & Seek, Taking Account of Small Arms in Southern Africa, Institute for Security Studies, federation of American Scientists Small Arms Monitoring page Small Arms Survey How Small Arms Work - Training Film on YouTube
31.
Grain (unit)
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A grain is a unit of measurement of mass, and, for the troy grain, equal to exactly 7001647989100000000♠64.79891 milligrams. It is nominally based upon the mass of a seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance the average masses of wheat, rather, expressions such as thirty-two grains of wheat, taken from the middle of the ear appear to have been ritualistic formulas, essentially the premodern equivalent of legal boilerplate. Another book states that Captain Henry Kater, of the British Standards Commission, the grain was the legal foundation of traditional English weight systems, and is the only unit that is equal throughout the troy, avoirdupois, and apothecaries systems of mass. The unit was based on the weight of a grain of barley. The fundamental unit of the pre-1527 English weight system known as Tower weights, was a different sort of known as the wheat grain. The Tower wheat grain was defined as exactly 45⁄64 of a troy grain.79891 milligrams, 7000100000000000000♠1 gram is approximately 7001154323600000000♠15.43236 grains. The unit formerly used by jewellers to measure pearls, diamonds, or other stones, called the jewellers grain or pearl grain, is equal to 1⁄4 of a carat. The grain was also the name of a traditional French unit equal to 6995531150000000000♠53.115 mg. In both British Imperial and U. S. customary units, there are precisely 7,000 grains per avoirdupois pound, the grain is commonly used to measure the mass of bullets and propellants. The term also refers to a particle of gunpowder, the size of which varies according to requirements. In archery, the grain is the unit used to weigh arrows. In dentistry, gold foil, used as a material to restore teeth, is measured in grains, in North America, the hardness of water is often measured in grains per US gallon of calcium carbonate equivalents. Otherwise, water hardness is measured in the metric unit parts per million, one grain per US gallon is approximately 6995171000000000000♠17.1 ppm. Soft water contains 1–4 gpg of calcium carbonate equivalents, while hard water contains 11–20 gpg, though no longer recommended, grains are still used occasionally in medicine as part of the apothecaries system, especially in prescriptions for older medicines such as aspirin or phenobarbital. For example, the dosage of a standard 6996325000000000000♠325 mg tablet of aspirin is sometimes given as 7000500000000000000♠5 grains, in that example the grain is approximated to 6995650000000000000♠65 mg, though the grain can also be approximated to 6995600000000000000♠60 mg, depending on the medication and manufacturer. The apothecaries system has its own system of notation, in which the symbol or abbreviation is followed by the quantity in lower case Roman numerals. For amounts less than one, the quantity is written as a fraction, or for one half, therefore, a prescription for tablets containing 325 mg of aspirin and 30 mg of codeine can be written ASA gr
32.
Projectile
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A projectile is any object thrown into space by the exertion of a force. Although any object in motion through space may be called a projectile, mathematical equations of motion are used to analyze projectile trajectory. Blowguns and pneumatic rifles use compressed gases, while most other guns and cannons utilize expanding gases liberated by sudden chemical reactions, light-gas guns use a combination of these mechanisms. Railguns utilize electromagnetic fields to provide a constant acceleration along the length of the device. Some projectiles provide propulsion during flight by means of an engine or jet engine. In military terminology, a rocket is unguided, while a missile is guided, note the two meanings of rocket, an ICBM is a guided missile with a rocket engine. An explosion, whether or not by a weapon, causes the debris to act as high velocity projectiles. An explosive weapon, or device may also be designed to produce high velocity projectiles by the break-up of its casing. Many projectiles, e. g. shells, may carry a charge or another chemical or biological substance. Aside from explosive payload, a projectile can be designed to cause damage, e. g. fire. Typical kinetic energy weapons are blunt projectiles such as rocks and round shots, pointed ones such as arrows, among projectiles that do not contain explosives are those launched from railguns, coilguns, and mass drivers, as well as kinetic energy penetrators. Other types of weapons are accelerated over time by a rocket engine. In either case, it is the energy of the projectile that destroys its target. Some kinetic weapons for targeting objects in spaceflight are anti-satellite weapons, since in order to reach an object in orbit it is necessary to attain an extremely high velocity, their released kinetic energy alone is enough to destroy their target, explosives are not necessary. For example, the energy of TNT is 4.6 MJ/kg, and this saves costly weight and there is no detonation to be precisely timed. This method, however, requires direct contact with the target, some hit-to-kill warheads are additionally equipped with an explosive directional warhead to enhance the kill probability. With regard to weapons, the Arrow missile and MIM-104 Patriot PAC-2 have explosives, while the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile. A kinetic projectile can also be dropped from aircraft and this is applied by replacing the explosives of a regular bomb with a non-explosive material, for a precision hit with less collateral damage
33.
Special Forces Group (Belgium)
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The Special Forces Group is the special forces unit in the Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. Members of the Special Forces Group are usually selected from the units of the Belgian Army. They must have at least four years experience in the military, preferably as a paracommando, in January 1942 the first Belgian parachutists were trained at RAF Ringway, Manchester, England. The same year, the Belgian Independent Parachute Company was established and commanded by Captain E. Blondeel, later, the unit was incorporated into the Special Air Service Brigade and became the 5th Special Air Service. The SAS squadron was active during WWII until enemy activities were discontinued and they performed several operations using the parachute regiment and armoured jeeps. Thereafter, the unit took part in counter intelligence operations. On the 21st of September 1945 5th SAS was transferred from the British Army to the newly reformed Belgian Army, from 1952 on the traditions of 5th SAS were continued by 1st Parachute Battalion of the Paracommando Regiment. In 1955 the SOE, translated as the Special Detection Unit, was created and included operators from all divisions of the Army, the unit was part of the 1st Belgian Corps and was commanded by Captain J. BYL and succeeded by Major R. Tagnon. In 1961, the first Company ESR-GVP, translated as the Specialized Reconnaissance Teams, was established with R. Tagnon as the first Corps commander. The company was made up of members from the Army. They worked in conjunction with all the division as well as the 1st Belgian Corps, the unit consisted of 16 teams of 4 operators as well as support members, for a total of about 120 men. The unit was stationed in Weiden, then in Euskirchen, in 1994, the detachment LRRP was established following the tradition of the 1st GVP-ESR. The LRRP was dependent on the Para Commando brigade and was stationed in Heverlee till it was disbanded in 2000, in April 2000, the Special Forces Group was established from the 3rd Regiment Lanciers Parachutisten and was moved to Flawinne. In February 2003, the Special Forces Group became an independent unit when the 3rd Regiment Lanciers was disbanded, in 2012 the SFG moved to new barracks in Heverlee and became part of the Light Brigade. The Special Forces Group training program, Qualification as a Special Forces Group operator consists of four parts, The selection phase, the Qualification course, a complementary education course, a functional course. Consists of a week, where candidates are tested on their physical condition, map reading ability, general military knowledge. A psychological evaluation is also performed and this is followed by a one-week specialized training program, which focuses on reaching the basic level necessary for beginning the actual stage. While many topics are covered, map reading and shooting techniques are emphasized, finally, there is a one-week ‘Identification of Military material’ course
34.
Tracer ammunition
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Tracer ammunition are bullets or cannon caliber projectiles that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited by the powder, the pyrotechnic composition burns very brightly, making the projectile trajectory visible to the naked eye during daylight. This enables the shooter to make aiming corrections without observing the impact of the rounds fired, tracer fire can also be used to signal to other shooters where to concentrate their fire during battle. When used, tracers are usually loaded as every fifth round in machine gun belts, platoon and squad leaders will load some tracer rounds in their magazine or even use solely tracers to mark targets for their soldiers to fire on. Tracers are also placed two or three rounds from the bottom of magazines to alert the shooter that his weapon is almost empty. Unfortunately, this practice would similarly alert an astute enemy that his foe was nearly out of ammunition, more often, however, the entire magazine was loaded four-to-one, on both fixed offensive and flexible defensive guns, to help mitigate the difficulties of aerial gunnery. The United States relied heavily on tracer ammunition for the defensive Browning M2 and this proved true of fixed forward firing guns as well. Tracer rounds can also have an incendiary effect, and can ignite flammable substances on contact. Before the development of tracers, gunners relied on seeing their bullet impacts to adjust their aim, in the early 20th century, ammunition designers developed spotlight bullets, which would create a flash or smoke puff on impact to increase their visibility. However, these projectiles were deemed in violation of the Hague Conventions prohibition of exploding bullets and this strategy was also useless when firing at aircraft, as there was nothing for the projectiles to impact on if they missed the target. Designers also developed bullets that would trail white smoke, however, these designs required an excessive amount of mass loss to generate a satisfactory trail. The loss of mass en route to the severely affected the bullets ballistics. The United Kingdom was the first to develop and introduce a tracer round, the United States introduced a. 30-06 tracer in 1917. Prior to adopting red bullet tips for tracers, American tracers were identified by blackened cartridge cases, tracers proved useful as a countermeasure against Zeppelins used by Germany during World War I. The airships were used for reconnaissance, surveillance and bombing operations, normal bullets merely had the effect of causing a slow leak, but tracers could ignite the hydrogen gasbags, and bring down the airship quickly. In World War II US naval and marine aircrew were issued tracer rounds with their arms for emergency signaling use as well as defense. A tracer projectile is constructed with a base filled with a pyrotechnic flare material, made of a mixture of a very finely ground metallic fuel, oxidizer. Metallic fuels include magnesium, aluminum, and occasionally zirconium, the oxidizer is a salt molecule which contains oxygen combined with a specific atom responsible for the desired color output
35.
Speed of sound
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The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. In dry air at 20 °C, the speed of sound is 343 metres per second, the speed of sound in an ideal gas depends only on its temperature and composition. The speed has a dependence on frequency and pressure in ordinary air. In common everyday speech, speed of sound refers to the speed of waves in air. However, the speed of sound varies from substance to substance, sound travels most slowly in gases, it travels faster in liquids, and faster still in solids. For example, sound travels at 343 m/s in air, it travels at 1,484 m/s in water, in an exceptionally stiff material such as diamond, sound travels at 12,000 m/s, which is around the maximum speed that sound will travel under normal conditions. Sound waves in solids are composed of waves, and a different type of sound wave called a shear wave. Shear waves in solids usually travel at different speeds, as exhibited in seismology, the speed of compression waves in solids is determined by the mediums compressibility, shear modulus and density. The speed of waves is determined only by the solid materials shear modulus. In fluid dynamics, the speed of sound in a medium is used as a relative measure for the speed of an object moving through the medium. The ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound in the fluid is called the objects Mach number, objects moving at speeds greater than Mach1 are said to be traveling at supersonic speeds. During the 17th century, there were attempts to measure the speed of sound accurately, including attempts by Marin Mersenne in 1630, Pierre Gassendi in 1635. In 1709, the Reverend William Derham, Rector of Upminster, published an accurate measure of the speed of sound. Measurements were made of gunshots from a number of local landmarks, the distance was known by triangulation, and thus the speed that the sound had travelled was calculated. The transmission of sound can be illustrated by using a model consisting of an array of balls interconnected by springs, for real material the balls represent molecules and the springs represent the bonds between them. Sound passes through the model by compressing and expanding the springs, transmitting energy to neighbouring balls, which transmit energy to their springs, the speed of sound through the model depends on the stiffness of the springs, and the mass of the balls. As long as the spacing of the balls remains constant, stiffer springs transmit energy more quickly, effects like dispersion and reflection can also be understood using this model. In a real material, the stiffness of the springs is called the modulus
36.
Heckler & Koch
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Heckler & Koch GmbH is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, military rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and also has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, the Heckler & Koch Group comprises Heckler & Koch GmbH, Heckler & Koch Defense, NSAF Ltd. and Heckler & Koch France SAS. The company motto is Keine Kompromisse, all firearms made by HK are named by a prefix and the official designation, with suffixes used for variants. HK has a history of innovation in firearms, such as the use of polymers in weapon designs, HK also developed modern polygonal rifling, noted for its high accuracy, increased muzzle velocity and barrel life. Not all of its technologically ambitious designs have translated into commercially successful products, in its extensive product range, HK has used the following operating systems for small arms, blowback operation, short-recoil, roller-delayed blowback, gas-delayed blowback, and gas operation. With the fall of Germany at the end of World War II, Oberndorf came under French control, all records in the factory were destroyed on orders of the local French Army commander. On December 28,1949, the Engineering Office Heckler & Co. changed its name and was registered officially as Heckler & Koch GmbH, initially the new company manufactured machine tools, bicycle and sewing machine parts, gauges and other precision parts. The German Government awarded Heckler & Koch this tender and by 1959, in 1961, Heckler & Koch developed the 7. 62×51mm HK21 general-purpose machine gun, based on the G3 battle rifle. In 1966, Heckler & Koch introduced the HK54 machine pistol, two years later, the company introduced the 5. 56×45mm HK33 assault rifle, which is a smaller version of the G3 battle rifle chambered in 5. 56mm NATO. In 1974, Heckler & Koch diversified into the two business areas, HK Defense and Law Enforcement Technology and HK Hunting and Sports Firearms. Since then HK has designed and manufactured more than one hundred different types of firearms and devices for the military and law enforcement organizations as well as sportsmen. In 1990, Heckler & Koch finalised over two decades of development with their revolutionary case-less weapon system and produces prototypes of the HK G11, in addition, the company produced prototypes of the HK G41 military rifle intended for the Bundeswehr. In the following year, the Heckler & Koch company was sold to the British Aerospaces Royal Ordnance division, during 1994 and 1995, the German Government awarded Heckler & Koch with contracts for producing an updated standard assault rifle and updated standard sidearm for the Bundeswehr. As a result, Heckler & Koch developed and produced the Project HK50, a lightweight carbon fiber–reinforced polymer assault rifle, in addition, Heckler & Koch produced the HK P8 derived as a variant based upon its Universale Selbstladepistole series of handguns. The P8 was adopted as the standard issue handgun for the Bundeswehr in 1994 and this contract entailed a modification programme to the SA80 series of rifles to address a number of reliability issues with the SA80. Three years later in 2002, BAE Systems restructured and sold Heckler & Koch to a group of private investors, in 2004, Heckler & Koch was awarded a major handgun contract for the DHS, worth a potential $26.2 million for up to 65,000 handguns. This contract ranks as the single largest handgun procurement contract in US law enforcement history, HK was contracted by the United States Army to produce the kinetic energy subsystem of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, a planned replacement for the M16/M203 grenade launcher combination. The OICW was designed to fire 5.56 mm bullets and 25 mm grenades, the kinetic energy component was also developed separately as the XM8, though both the OICW and XM8 are now indefinitely suspended
37.
Picatinny rail
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Whereas the earlier Weaver design is based on a low wide dovetail, the Picatinny variation has a more pronounced angular section. The Picatinny locking slot width is 0.206 in, the spacing of slot centers is 0.394 in and the slot depth is 0.118 in. This means that an accessory designed for a Weaver rail will fit onto a Picatinny rail whereas the opposite might not be possible The rail itself dates from work by the A. R. M. S. Company in the early 1980s and Otto Repa in standardizing the Weaver design, specifications for the M16A2E4 rifle and the M4E1 carbine received type classification generic in December 1994. These were the M16A2 and the M4 modified with new upper receivers where rails replaced hand guards, the rail is named after the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, USA. The Picatinny Arsenals role with the rail was to test/evaluate it and this was Mil-STD-1913, dated February 3,1995. Because of their uses, Picatinny rails and accessories have replaced iron sights in the design of many firearms. Their usefulness has led to their being used in paintball and airsoft
38.
Self-defense
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Self-defense is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many jurisdictions. Physical self-defense is the use of force to counter an immediate threat of violence. Such force can be armed or unarmed. In either case, the chances of success depend on a number of parameters, related to the severity of the threat on one hand. Many styles of arts are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other martial or combat sports can be applied for self-defense. Some martial arts train how to escape from a knife or gun situation, or how to break away from a punch, a wide variety of weapons can be used for self-defense. The most suitable depends on the threat presented, the victim or victims, legal restrictions also greatly influence self-defence options. In many cases there are legal restrictions. Non-injurious water-based self-defense indelible dye-marker sprays, or ID-marker or DNA-marker sprays linking a suspect to a scene, would in most places be legal to own. Tie-wraps double as an effective restraint, weapons such as the Kubotan have been built for ease of carry and to resemble everyday objects. Ballpoint pen knives, swordsticks, cane guns and modified umbrellas are similar categories of concealed self-defense weapons that serve a dual purpose, mental self-defense is the ability to get into the proper mindset for executing a physical self-defense technique. Many martial arts schools and self-defense classes focus primarily on the nature of self-defense. If you are skilled in the aspects of a defensive technique. Controlled environments cannot easily mimic the stress and adrenaline dump which occurs during an attack, there is a very real need to be able to enter the proper warrior mindset if one is to have a realistic chance of surviving a potentially deadly encounter. The ability to go over, under, around or through any obstacle is the essence of this never quit mindset - similar to that of the Samurai of Japan, being aware of and avoiding potentially dangerous situations is one useful technique of self-defense. Attackers will typically select victims they feel they have an advantage against, such as physical size
39.
Human factors and ergonomics
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The field has seen some contributions from numerous disciplines, such as psychology, engineering, biomechanics, industrial design, physiology, and anthropometry. In essence, it is the study of designing equipment, devices and processes that fit the human body, the two terms human factors and ergonomics are essentially synonymous. HF&E is employed to fulfill the goals of health and safety and productivity. It is relevant in the design of such things as safe furniture and easy-to-use interfaces to machines, proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability. Human factors and ergonomics is concerned with the fit between the user, equipment and their environments and it takes account of the users capabilities and limitations in seeking to ensure that tasks, functions, information and the environment suit each user. He used it to encompass the studies in which he had engaged during. The expression human factors is a predominantly North American term which has adopted to emphasise the application of the same methods to non work-related situations. A human factor is a physical or cognitive property of an individual or social behavior specific to humans that may influence the functioning of technological systems, the terms human factors and ergonomics are essentially synonymous. Ergonomics comprise three main fields of research, Physical, cognitive and organisational ergonomics, there are many specializations within these broad categories. Specialisations in the field of physical ergonomics may include visual ergonomics, specialisations within the field of cognitive ergonomics may include usability, human–computer interaction, and user experience engineering. New terms are being generated all the time, for instance, user trial engineer may refer to a human factors professional who specialises in user trials. Physical ergonomic principles have been used in the design of both consumer and industrial products. Physical ergonomics is important in the field, particularly to those diagnosed with physiological ailments or disorders such as arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Pressure that is insignificant or imperceptible to those unaffected by these disorders may be painful, or render a device unusable. Many ergonomically designed products are used or recommended to treat or prevent such disorders. One of the most prevalent types of work-related injuries is musculoskeletal disorder, every year,1.8 million U. S. workers experience WRMDs and nearly 600,000 of the injuries are serious enough to cause workers to miss work. Certain jobs or work conditions cause a higher rate of complaints of undue strain, localized fatigue, discomfort. These types of jobs are often those involving activities such as repetitive and forceful exertions, frequent, heavy, or overhead lifts, awkward work positions, or use of vibrating equipment
40.
Pistol grip
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For firearms, the pistol grip is generally used by the hand that operates the trigger. Rifles and shotguns without pistol grips are generally referred to as having straight or upland style stocks, some firearms, such as some versions of the Thompson submachine gun, have a forward pistol grip which is used to stabilize the firearm in operation. The pistol grip often serves multiple functions such as a housing, bipod. In some firearms, like the Finnish light machine gun Kk 62, pistol grips are a defining feature in United States gun law. A forward pistol grip on a pistol is restricted under the National Firearms Act, pistol grips which protrude below the weapon and are not integrated with the shoulder stock are currently regulated in some states and were regulated by the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban. In the context of law, the National Rifle Association deemed pistol grips a cosmetic feature. Tools with pistol grips run the range from hand saws to pneumatic nailers, often the word gun appears in the name of pistol-gripped tools such as the glue gun, caulking gun and nail gun. A number of tools, like firearms, have a pistol grip. Drills and grinders often include this feature for added control, one of the reasons the pistol grip style is so common in machinery is because it is possible to ergonomically position the operating controls. The first rifle ever to use a pistol grip was the DELVIGNE PATENT carbine made by LESOINNE ET PIRLOT FILS, LIEGE in 1840
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