- is going on right now in Washington D.C.:



Here is a preview of this immense show:



Like SHOT, it is not open to the public.

However, many of the companies exhibiting their products also make civilian weapons and other equipment  (more on that later).

Attended the show with RockHard13F today, and visited (among others):

-AimPoint,

-Sig USA,

-FN-USA,

- Glock

-Remington Defense,

-Winchester Ammunition,

-Barrett, and many others.

Noticed this Textron unmanned light tank at the entrance of the basement hall (it even had the capability to launch an on-board quad drone in the field).



BAE Systems had a competing model robotic tank:



I did not make it to the Reinmetall exhibit, but they are supposed to have had this light tank on display:



Found my next truck (with all the options I want).  I’ll add my own photo of this later:



But this is what I REALLY came to see:



- the newest Saab M4 version of the 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle (please don’t call it a “launcher”).  Yes - it really is just 14 lbs!  This display gun had the old traditional optical sight instead of the newer AimPoint integrated sight.



The integrated AimPoint sight has an astounding array of automatic adjustments.  It even receives information from the latest M4 to identify the exact type of munition in the chamber and adjust the sight to match.

The other big item (at least on the web) to see & hold was the Textron 6.8 CT carbine:



Not to knock over the same tired can of worms, but SOME people believe this is the new weapons system the Pentagon really wants.

They had examples of the 6.8 telescoping / polymer case ammo.  The linked ammo was especially light weight.

The 556 equivalent looked to be loaded with the newest M885A1 non-lead wonder-bullet.

The guns on display had a well-used look to them, and I got the impression this system is fairly well developed and far into the expected testing phase.  If we don’t adopt this system, I’d bet someone will.

Although it uses traditional brass case ammo and  links, I was also impressed by a lightweight 338 belt-fed medium-to-heavy machinegun.  It seemed to bridge the gap between the 240 and the M2, and the weight was not terrible. (Sorry don’t have a photo).

As for my overall impression:

- an increasing level of automation is coming to the battlefield.  In addition, expect computer integration to affect nearly every land based weapons system we know of.

I would guess RockHard13F will have far more to add, based on his time at the show.

Anyone have any photos?

We build vehicles like the taliban now?

Would Marines drive that truck into battle?

A) it is an Army show, and

B) I would drive that truck to work.  

I was selected to attend one of those years ago during height of OIF/OEF an deploying units had tens of Thousands of dollars in funds to blow...lord I walked away with a ton of swag

The only requirement to get in the AUSA show is to be a member of AUSA.  It's $40 for a 2-year membership.  I don't think being in the Army is really a requirement.  Usually in the August or September issue of Army magazine is an application to get a admission ticket.  I went in 1986, awesome show, like SHOT except with hand grenades and anti-tank rockets!

https://www.ausa.org/membership/individual

I wish I could go with my company. Shit looks fun.

Attached File

Was Serge there with the Survival Boutique and the Annihilator 2000?

I was at AUSA today too.

Sounds like a show with a bunch of stuff that I should be able to purchase but the government will say otherwise.

I still love that they got that guy's truck decals and all. He was not happy about it.

I attended the Infantry Conference as a rep for Barrett in 2004. I was qualified because I can lift & carry a lot of gear, and I like to talk about guns.

@Lexington

Can you share any photos you might have taken or what new system most interested you?

We should go as a group next year with RockHard13F and DK.

Yes we “build” vehicles for all types of warfare.

I did not take any pictures at AUSA. I'm a veteran of the trade show circuit (CES, SHOT, Modern Day Marine, AUSA, others) and even though there was a lot of cool stuff I just passed it by. I am an AUSA member and my particular PEO has an interest in some of the technology presented.

This is the final product



of this prototype:

A few from today. More tomorrow.

They also sell this stuff to whichever Saracen proxy army is the new ally of the moment.  They all use these pickup trucks.

@Dominion21

Tell @RockHard13F to check his PMs if he doesn't see it.

Roger wilco (though he’s probably in his rack at this hour; he was up at 04:00).

*cough*
weak
*cough*

Neat. Having been to SHOT it is cool to see the new stuff coming out and all of the prototypes and wunderguns.

I can only imagine some of the cool shit here.

I have a friend who works for Lockheed and he assures me there are some cray things in the works.

Blends in with the locals and it’ll fit in the back of a CH47 (minus the rocket launcher thingy.)

What percentage of attendees had Russian or Chinese accents?

Small arms are incredibly dull when you compare them to sophisticated defense tech.

The hell did dewalt have in their booth!?

- a bright yellow cordless drill next to a large block of oak; attendees could try out the drill by drilling a hole.

An FDE model might have been better suited to this show.

Their 60V cut off saws are the new hotness for mechanical breaching.

Did you happen to a close up of the gas tube on the AK? Looks different than an Ultimak

What's old is new

I wish I could post Zorg ZF1 pod weapon (Gary Oldman) from the Fifth Element.

wish I could go and see that

Join AUSA.

They are trained to hide it well. But it is interesting to see foreign military milling about.

Indeed.  I noticed several highly decorated officers uniforms I could not easily identify.

Also noticed a booth manned by 2 Canadian soldiers dressed in their version of BDUs.

I am sure there were many other nationalities there too.

I doubt anything close to being classified is on display at a show of this size.

Besides, our adversaries probably do most of their spying on the web or by hacking smart phones these days. Cheaper and less risky.

I read battle as brothel at first. Understandable I guess.

cool toys

Anybody get run over by the guys driving the EOD bot down the hallway?

Read something interesting the other day...that they may be misdiagnosing PTSD when in fact it's TBI from firing "recoiless rifles". No dog in the fight, just glad they're looking at all the probable causes.

One small bit that made news in the geek circles...one of the Army GOs got up and said they're buying 200,000 IVAS (that's .mil for Hololens II) in the short term. Industry is piling in also. Worth taking a look at who Microsoft is going to as their component suppliers

You mfers told me the Army wouldn't pursue unmanned tanks.

Awesome!

Now how did I happen to miss the booth where they were handing out solid gold MagPuls for free??!?

A show full of DEATH!

I see that tandem 84mm goodness. Any closeups?