Remember in Predator when Jess Ventura is unleashing his M-134 Mini - gun into the woodland ? It was being fed by an ammunition box strapped to his back . Turns out , that was n’t an actual piece of Army outfit , at least until member of the Iowa National Guard created it themselves .
The National Guard division had been recently deploy to a forward operating base in Afghanistan and were issuedMk 48machine guns when they arrived . The trouble was , the belts of ammunition were extremely inept and difficult for the gun ’s operator to carry while on foot - patrol . The initial solution of chopping the belt into 50 - round lengths and reloading always was empty after a harrowing 2.5 60 minutes long firefight prove it untenable .
So , Staff Sgt . Vincent Winkowski weld two ammo boxes atop one another ( with the upper case ’s bottom removed ) , lash them to an all - purposeALICE pack frame , and bestride the feed chute assembly from a vehicle - jump on CROW to the top of it . This permit the machine gunner to hold a full load of ammo—500 rounds — unassisted . Even with ammo , the entire organization consider a simple 43 pound .
The clique , dub The Ironman , prove so authentic in fighting that Winkowski submitted the intention to Army science advisor who also straightaway recognize its value . Within 48 days , the Quick Reaction Cell of the Natick Soldier Research , Development and Engineering Center ( NSRDEC ) had created an improved , lighter - system of weights version of the mob .
As , Dave Roy , a current operations psychoanalyst at NSRDEC , explain ,
We ’ve already amaze email traffic from ( one of ) our skill advisers that everybody in theater want one of these — and by in theater , he means his specific area of military operation , Regional Command East in Afghanistan — because word has spread . That ( Iowa National Guard ) whole is not the only unit of measurement on that FOB . As they ’re walking around the FOB with that piece of kit , very senior people are taking a look at it . They recognize it as a game - changer .
While The Ironman is still a image at this stage , Roy hopes to have attainment funding secured by betimes next year . [ US Army ]
you could keep up with Andrew Tarantola , the author of this post , onTwitter , Facebook , orGoogle+ .
gunsPredator
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and polish news in your inbox day by day .
News from the time to come , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
