Defense Articles

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DANVERS, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 4, 2002

Signal Technology Corporation (Nasdaq: STCO) today announced the receipt of a contract from Sierra Nevada Corporation, Sparks, Nevada, to produce switch matrices for the U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft. The award is valued in excess of $2 million.

Signal Technology’s switch matrix subsystems are key to performing the mission-critical and highly complex task of managing the distribution of multiple voice and data transmissions on a real-time basis. The Rivet Joint is a reconnaissance aircraft that provides the Air Force with on-scene intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities at both the theater and national levels.

“Our strategy is to emphasize higher value-added products as we exploit the natural synergies between our core electronic component business and our Systems Group’s expertise in complex assemblies,” said Signal Technology Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George Lombard. “The Company’s success in winning this switch matrix award is a result of this strategy, and we look forward to meeting customer requirements for even more complex switch matrix designs in the future.”
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President and Chief Operating Officer, John Cotumaccio, said, “This contract award represents another step forward in our drive to create a strong presence for Signal Technology on the Defense Department’s newest and most critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. Together with our recent contract wins in the emerging Homeland Security and Defense market, our selection to provide switch matrices for the Rivet Joint aircraft reinforces our position at a higher point in the ISR value chain, and demonstrates our customers’ confidence in Signal Technology’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities.”

About Signal Technology Corporation

Signal Technology is a leader in developing state-of-the-art electronic components, subsystems and system solutions for defense and space applications. The Company manufactures a wide range of RF, microwave and millimeter wave products, power conversion systems and power supplies. These devices are used in military communications networks, and systems related to electronic countermeasures, precision guidance, radar, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The Company sells its products to defense prime contractors worldwide. For further information about Signal Technology, please visit the Company’s Web site at www.sigtech.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements made in this news release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding Signal Technology Corporation’s realization of more than $2 million in revenue associated with a production contract from Sierra Nevada Corporation for switch matrices designed for the U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft; the Company’s ability to secure future contracts for more complex switch matrix products; the Company’s ability to design, produce and realize revenues from higher-value subsystem products in the future; and certain other statements identified or qualified by words such as “likely”, “will”, “suggests”, “may”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “expects”, “expected”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “plans”, “projects”, ” projected”, “believes”, “is optimistic about”, or similar expressions (and variants of such words or expressions). Important factors that may cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, future demand for the Company’s products, risks associated with court proceedings and litigation, fluctuations in the Company’s operating results, volume and timing of orders received, changes in the mix of products sold, competitive pricing pressure, the Company’s ability to meet or renegotiate customer demands, the ability to anticipate changes in the market, the Company’s ability to finance its operations on terms that are acceptable, the Company’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel including the Company’s management, changes in the global economy, changes in regulatory processes, the dependence on certain key customers (including the U.S. government), the Company’s ability to realize sufficient margins on sales of its products, the availability and timing of funding for the Company’s current products and the development of future products and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Signal Technology Corporation assumes no obligation to update the information included in this news release.

Rated 12 A, PXI-2585 and PXI-2586 are single-slot, 3U PXI modules with 10 channels each. Former is configured as 10×1 multiplexer, and latter has 10 independent SPST relays. Both products, rated for voltages up to 300 V ac/dc, can switch up to 3,000 VA in ac applications and feature power levels up to 300 W in dc applications. General-purpose PXI-2564 is single-slot, 5 A, 3U PXI module with 16 independent SPST relays and isolation voltage up to 150 V.

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New Modules Add to Growing Family of More Than 80 Switch Configurations

NEWS RELEASE - March 1, 2005 - National Instruments expanded its current offering of more than 80 switch configurations with the introduction of the NI PXI-258x series of 12 A switch modules and the NI PXI-2564 5 A switch modules. These modules are ideal for switching high-power signals in military, aerospace and automotive applications.

National Instruments PXI-2585 and PXI-2586 high-power switches are 12 A, single-slot, 3U PXI modules with 10 channels each. The NI PXI-2585 switch is configured as a 10×1 multiplexer and the NI PXI-2586 switch has 10 independent SPST (Form A) relays. Both switches have low-contact resistance and high-isolation voltage. The PXI-2585 and PXI-2586, rated for high currents (up to 12 A) and high voltages (up to 300 VDC/300 VAC), are ideal for switching power signals and loads in control applications and battery, power supply and automotive testing. In AC applications, the modules can switch up to 3,000 VA and in DC applications, the modules feature power levels up to 300 W. With the PXI-2585 and PXI-2586 modules, engineers can switch higher power signals in PXI than before with NI hardware.
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The National Instruments PXI-2564 switch is a 5 A, general-purpose switch in a single-slot, 3U PXI module. It has 16 independent SPST (Form A) relays with low-contact resistance of less than 100 milliohms and high-isolation voltage up to 150 V. It includes over-temperature protection to ensure that the relays are never operational with power amounts in excess of their ratings. If they approach the rated value, the control circuitry opens the relay contacts. The PXI-2564 switch is ideal for switching medium-to-high-power signals and loads in military, automotive or automated test applications. Engineers can double the density of their systems at a similar power level and lower price per channel with this new module compared to previous offerings.

All of the new modules are rated at Measurement Category II (CAT II) for long lifetimes even in harsh electrical environments, delivering better protection and making the modules less susceptible to damage from voltage transients. The relay-count tracking on the modules reduces system downtime by signaling to the test engineer when it is time to replace the relay. With common signal connection options, multiple vendors can provide the type of connectivity the system requires at an affordable price for reduced setup time and cost.

These switches come with high-performance driver software that gives engineers the maximum flexibility for system programming with the new module. Engineers can manage and maintain the system with NI Switch Executive and NI TestStand from validation to manufacturing test. The new module works with the entire suite of NI modular instruments, and engineers can use NI LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI and other common development environments to control the module for automated test applications.

About NI Modular Instruments

NI offers essential technologies for test, which combine high-performance hardware, flexible software and innovative timing and synchronization technology for test and design applications. NI modular instruments offer accurate, high-throughput measurements from DC to 2.7 GHz. The product family includes:

o High-resolution digitizers (up to 14 bits, up to 200 MS/s)

o Signal generators (up to 16 bits, 200 MS/s)

o Digital waveform generator/analyzers (up to 400 Mb/s)

o Digital multimeters (up to 71/2 digits)

o RF vector signal generators and analyzers (up to 2.7 GHz)

o Dynamic signal analyzers (up to 24 bits, 204.8 kS/s)

o Switching (multiplexers, matrices and general-purpose relays)

About PXI

PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) is an open specification governed by the PXI Systems Alliance (www.pxisa.org) that defines a rugged, CompactPCI-based platform optimized for test, measurement and control. PXI products are compatible with the CompactPCI industrial computer standard that is supported by more than 60 member companies and more than 1,000 products. PXI offers additional features such as environmental specifications, standardized software and built-in timing and synchronization.

About National Instruments

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation - a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists in industry, government and academia approach measurement and automation. Leveraging the PC and its related technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs through easy-to-integrate software, such as the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment, and modular hardware, such as PXI modules for data acquisition, instrument control and machine vision. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,400 employees and direct operations in approximately 40 countries. In 2004, the company sold products to more than 25,000 companies in 90 countries. For past six years, FORTUNE magazine named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Designed for automated test systems, PXI-2527 electromechanical switch module is 300 V, 32-channel multiplexer that offers switching capacity up to 300 Vdc/Vac CAT I or up to 2 A. It has scan rate of 140 channels/sec and integrates cold-junction compensation sensor. DMM/Switch Express VI for NI LabVIEW extends LabVIEW Express technology to facilitate multipoint DMM operations and synchronization with any NI multiplexer switch module, either in PXI or SCXI.

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AUSTIN, Texas - Sept. 13, 2005 - Engineers now can use the National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) PXI-2527 300 V, 32-channel multiplexer along with the new DMM/Switch Express VI to ease development for data-logging and high-channel-count functional test applications. The hardware and software combination seamlessly integrates with the NI PXI-407x FlexDMM series, so engineers can expand their channel counts and make voltage, current, resistance, capacitance and inductance scanning operations with one function call in the National Instruments LabVIEW graphical development environment. The new products are ideal for applications such as temperature scanning and functional test in a variety of industries, including military/aerospace, automotive and consumer electronics.

The NI PXI-2527 multiplexer, which adds to the more than 125 switch configurations from NI, is a 300 V CAT I electromechanical switch module designed for medium- to high-density automated test systems. The module raises the density of PXI high-voltage multiplexers from NI by 500 percent. The multiplexer offers multichannel configurations, including 64×1 1-wire, 32×1 2-wire and 16×1 4-wire, with a switching capacity of up to 300 VDC/300 VAC CAT I (UL/CE certified) or up to 2 A. The module includes a cold-junction compensation sensor in the front-mounting terminal block to assist in thermocouple scanning applications with a scan rate of 140 channels per second.
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The new DMM/Switch Express VI for NI LabVIEW extends LabVIEW Express technology to facilitate multipoint DMM operations and synchronization with any NI multiplexer switch module, either in PXI or SCXI. While most synchronized DMM/switch systems require extensive programming to route trigger signals between modules, the DMM/Switch Express VI abstracts this complexity from the engineer for high-level options, such as synchronous mode and full-hardware handshaking, with either PXI backplane or front-panel trigger-signal options. The DMM/Switch Express VI combines the most common setup and module configuration steps into one function call, which greatly simplifies programming.

The NI PXI-2527 multiplexer and DMM/Switch Express VI integrate with a variety of NI software including the LabVIEW graphical development environment, NI TestStand test management software and NI Switch Executive switch management software.

About PXI

PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) is an open specification governed by the PXI Systems Alliance (www.pxisa.org) that defines a rugged, CompactPCI-based platform optimized for test, measurement and control.

It is supported by more than 65 member companies and more than 1,150 products are available. PXI products are compatible with the CompactPCI industrial computer standard and offer additional features such as environmental specifications, standardized software and built-in timing and synchronization.

About NI Modular Instruments

NI offers essential technologies for test, which combine high-performance hardware, flexible software and innovative timing and synchronization technology for test and design applications. NI modular instruments offer accurate, high-throughput measurements from DC to 2.7 GHz. The product family includes:

o High-resolution digitizers (up to 24 bits, up to 200 MS/s)

o Signal generators (up to 16 bits, 200 MS/s)

o Digital waveform generator/analyzers (up to 400 Mb/s)

o Digital multimeters (up to 7A,1/2 digits)

o RF vector signal generators and analyzers (up to 2.7 GHz)

o Dynamic signal analyzers (up to 24 bits, 500 kS/s)

o Switching (multiplexers, matrices and general purpose)

About National Instruments

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation - a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists in industry, government and academia approach measurement and automation. Leveraging PCs and commercial technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control and design applications through easy-to-integrate software, such as NI LabVIEW, and modular measurement and control hardware for PXI, PCI, USB and Ethernet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,600 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. In 2004, the company sold products to more than 25,000 companies in 90 countries. For the past six years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company’s investor relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.

It being a good day for kind sentiments and messages of love, and so on, I thought it would be nice to ask you to spare a thought for the following: Johnny May, Frank Gusenberg, Pete Gusenberg James Clark, Adam Heyer, Al Weinshank and Reinhardt Schwimmer.

Do the names ring any bells?

They probably won’t, unless you are a quiz fanatic.

Here is a clue. They all died on the same day, in the same place, 77 years ago. Today.

I am afraid that is all the clues you are going to get, because if you haven’t already guessed that they were the victims of the St Valentine’s Day massacre, you never will.

Yes, 77 years ago today Johnny, Frank, Pete and the others were in a big warehouse waiting for a lorry full of illicit whisky to arrive from Detroit. They were all (except one) employees of Bugs Moran, Al Capone’s chief rival in the moonshine business, and Al Capone knew that they were going to be there on that day, with Bugs in charge, and this seemed like a good opportunity to do some Bugs spraying.

So what actually arrived outside the warehouse was not a lorry but a police car full of policemen, who went into the warehouse and told everyone there to stand against the wall for a routine check, which they did. Only, these guys weren’t policemen. They were employees of Al Capone, dressed up as policemen. And when the Bugs Moran gang were standing up against the wall, the fake policemen drew tommy guns and gunned them all down as they stood there.
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Nobody survived. Except for Johnny May’s dog. Johnny May was a crook who had been hired by Bugs Moran as a mechanic, and he was actually working on the engine of a truck when the fake policemen arrived. He had brought his dog to work with him and tied it to the bumper. Al Capone’s men apparently had no instructions covering dogs working for Bugs Moran, so they spared him. Thanks, guys.

In a way, you can’t blame Al Capone for organising a massacre like this, because Bugs Moran had previously tried to do the very same for Al Capone. A year or two before, Bugs had organised a drive- past of several cars, going very slowly past Al Capone’s HQ, riddling the place with machine-gun bullets, hoping to eliminate Capone.

Not only did they not get Capone, they did not get anyone. As gangland massacres went, it was a total failure.

But that seems typical of Bugs Moran. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Bugs Moran was never in danger of being called the brains behind anything. Brawn, yes, brains, no. There was one time, for instance, when he had ambushed a much-feared rival, Johnny Torrio and, as Torrio lay riddled with bullets, Moran stood over him to deliver the coup degrce in the head. The story is that his gun jammed. Or he ran out of ammo. Either way, Torrio survived.

And the reason that Bugs Moran survived the Valentine’s Day Massacre is that he turned up very late for the rendezvous. By the time he got there, the fake policemen had already arrived, and, from his car, Moran spotted them going into the building. He skedaddled. For once, his inefficiency had saved him.

The oddest thing about the whole business is that one of the victims was not a criminal or gangster at all. That was the one called Reinhardt Schwimmer, whose day job was involved with making spectacles and who is variously described as an optometrist, or an optical mechanic. Dull work, I guess, which is probably why he fell in love with the life of the Chicago mobsters, who had a much more glamorous job than he did.

He got to know them, he hung out with them - and, on the morning of 14 February 1929, he asked if he could come along to be there when the whisky shipment arrived from Canada, via Detroit. “Sure, why not?” was the answer. It was the wrong answer. The right answer was: “No, you can’t because you’ll be shot dead, along with the rest of us.”

On that cheerful note, a happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.

Al Capone’s men apparently had no instructions covering dogs working for Bugs Moran, so they spared him. Thanks, guys

Yeah, right. I’ll admit there’ve been a few free ones in the past 25 years. Very few. More often you get nagging letters and phone calls from the gun companies because you are overdue on the 90- or 120-day consignment period. Once, someone called and asked for a gun back before it had even arrived. Always nicely, but they do ask you to pay up or send back a loaner gun. I always have. By the way, that return shipping is almost always at your own expense.

Free ammo? Yes, and I’ve always tried to not overdo my requests–usually they are only for two boxes of any type at one time. But, get this, a couple of years ago, after 25 years of dealing with Remington, they turned me down. Some young MBA-type there told me if I wanted to do articles on the cartridges THEY wanted publicized, like their Ultra-Mags, they would send something, but otherwise take a hike. I don’t shoot much Remington ammo anymore since I don’t shoot those fancy magnums.

Back to the real question: What does it take to be a gunwriter? It helps to know guns. I mean really KNOW them, which means a lifetime of studying them in detail. A fantastic memory is a great boon. Through high school and college I studied guns, not exactly what those palaces of learning thought I should study. Perhaps that’s the reason I’ve had some success at writing but graduated from college with a 2.11 grade point average.
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However, really KNOWING guns isn’t always the requirement it should be. So many of today’s writers have proven what you really need to know is only a little more than the editor you’re writing for. (Luckily at these digs the editors DO know guns and it keeps me hopping!) It also helps to own a great big cowboy hat, regardless of what part of the country you live in. (Duke doesn’t wear a cowboy hat ’cause he can’t find one to fit that inflated head he has/John Taffin.)

Being able to write is a benefit, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. Few people know less about punctuation and grammar than Clint Smith does, yet I consider him the best natural writer I’ve ever read. I majored in journalism in college so editors don’t have to work too hard on my material. I think that’s why it started to get accepted in the first place–lazy editors.

Good Shot?

Some would say being able to shoot well would be a great benefit. A few friends have chided me saying, “If you could shoot those teeny-tiny groups some other gunwriters always do, you would go farther in your career.” Maybe they’re right. I’ve been sent the exact same handguns as many other writers and yet they wouldn’t shoot as good for me even when mounted in my machine rest. I guess its one of my failings.

Having a desire to shoot does seem to help, even if you’re not real good at it. I’ve been to “gunwriter get-togethers” at seminars and such, and its amazing how many of them will pass up all that free ammo. You would almost think they don’t like to shoot in front of one another. I’m not so inhibited. At one seminar an ammo company put some H&K MP-5 sub-guns out with cases of 9mm shells. I stepped forward and said to one of our hosts, “Show me how to run one of these things.” And brother did I have a ball then! But, all by myself.

Thickish Skin

Being a gunwriter takes patience and sometimes a thick skin. I’ve written over 1,200 articles concerning almost every type of firearm, from .17 HMRs to .58 caliber Civil War rifle-muskets in long guns, and .22 rimfires to .454 Casulls in handguns, yet I’ve had editors tell me I must be more versatile so their advertisers will like me better. Funny how those same editors never worried much about what the readers liked. Luckily our editors here realize no one ever bought a gun magazine to see what Mike Venturino had to say about some sort of Super Short Magnum, or the .500 S&W for that matter.

Thick skin? You bet. Occasionally readers will write telling you how stupid you are because their favorite load will shoot better than what you listed. Once in a great while there will be death threats because you said something derogatory about someone’s favorite gun or cartridge. No one’s made good on that yet.

So why do I do it? When in New Zealand a few years back I was asked that by one of their Ministers of Parliament. I told him it was because I was too lazy to work, and too dumb to steal. After he laughed politely, I told him the real reason–I failed as a bikini designer, although I do claim credit for inventing those thong types. But nobody knows that and I swear I don’t get the credit I deserve for it either.

In grade school my goal was to become a Mexican bandit, but my West Virginia accent didn’t fit there. In junior high I wanted to be a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot but literally grew too big to fit in their cockpits, and learned they weren’t in use anymore anyway. In high school I decided to be a cowboy and later actually went west and tried that for a bit. It’s really HARD work and dangerous too.

In college I finally decided to become a gunwriter. My parents thought that was absolutely ridiculous because they knew I was obviously lawyer material. There’s no telling what Yvonne’s parents thought when we began making marriage plans and she told them my dream was to become a “gunwriter.”

The classic Browning .50-caliber machine gun enjoys preferred status with American troops for many reasons, not the least of which that it is a straight shooter.

Part of the reason for that preference is the superior accuracy and easy cleaning that results from the bore geometry and surface finish of barrels made by UKbased Sabre Defence Industries. Since installing a Sunnen HTB tube hone from Sunnen Products Co. (St. Louis, MO) at its Nashville, TN plant, test fire groupings from sample barrels have tightened up nearly 100% over the Army’s requirement.

“We have been making military .50-caliber barrels and guns since 1979, as well as commercial rifle barrels for various companies over the years,” explains Charles Shearon, general manager of the Nashville plant, which was acquired by Sabre in late 2002. “The new owner, Guy Savage, planned to reposition our operation to be about 50/50 military and commercial,” says Shearon.

The Nashville plant was to be a launch pad for US production of Sabre’s XR15/16 rifles, a premium variant of the AR15/16 for the civilian and police markets. The start of the Iraq war in early 2003 changed that.
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“We received military orders for our .50-caliber machine-gun barrels, 7.62-mm M60 machine gun barrels, M134 minigun barrels, and M6 weapons mount. The demand for .50-caliber barrels grew in the next few years from about 100 per month to 1200 per month and employment at the plant was ramped up from 15 to 85,” says Shearon.

Sabre makes two variations of the 50-caliber barrel: the heavy barrel for the M2 Browning gun and a lighter, shorter version for the M3 aircraft machine gun. Both have a Stellite liner for the chamber throat and first few inches of rifling. The liner and a retainer for attaching the barrel to the receiver are both shrink-fit. The Stellite liner (75% cobalt and 25% chrome) withstands the intense heat and gas erosion of the initial discharge better than any ordnance steel.

The heavy barrel starts as a 45″ (1143-mm) piece of bar stock 2.625″ (66.7 mm) in diam, that weighs about 73 lb (33 kg). “For the heavy barrel we use MIL-S46047, a special alloy with extra vanadium to increase life,” explains Shearon. The aircraft barrel is MIL-S11595, which is also used on Sabre’s commercial guns. Steel is bought by the mill run, cut by the mill, and heattreated when received.

“We do some preliminary operations to prep it, then gun-drill the chamber end with a 0.75″ [19-mm] diam hole about 11″ [279-mm] deep. A temporary liner is then installed and the rest of the barrel is gundrilled with a 0.490″ [12.45-mm] diam hole. We ream after drilling and have a hole size tolerance of ±0.001″ [0.03 mm] at that point, but the next step is to stress relieve and that often changes the bore.”

Honing allows Sabre to control final geometry and hole size of the bore to a fraction of the allowable MIL-Spec, which is helpful because of the small variations introduced later by burton rifling and chrome plating.

Sabre had been using a manual lapping machine to finish bores, but the increase in military orders resulted in a bottleneck of work at that operation. “We consulted with Ron Williams, Sunnen’s senior field engineer in our area, on how current technology could improve our processes,” says Shearon.

The result was the installation of a Sunnen HTB-2000 tube hone system in early 2006. Equipped with Borazon CBN stones, a traveling steadyrest, and whip guide bushings, the PLC-controlled machine has an output of 10-12 barrels an hour compared to about one an hour with the old process.

“The load-sensing system on the machine automatically adjusts the stone feed for optimum stock removal without tool crashes, which reduces our labor and helps improve output,” explains Garry Hogan, Sabre’s plant manager. “More important to us is the automatic gaging system. The machine gages the bore after every stroke, allowing us to control hole size, roundness, and straightness to 0.0005″ [0.013 mm] without operator intervention.

“Even after button rifling and plating, we are able to stay well below the MIL-Spec of ±0.004″ [0.10 mm] on bore dimensions, which is quite a feat on a bore length of 33″ [838 mm]. Tool life for the process varies with the amount of stock removal, which typically runs 0.002-0.004″ [0.05-0.10 mm],” Hogan explains.

The crosshatch pattern that honing leaves on the bore surface aids in rifling the barrel by maintaining a consistent lubricant film. To create the rifling, a 0.517″ (13.1-mm) carbide button is pushed through the bore, which is 0.503″ (12.8 mm) at this stage. The button has the rifling form in high relief on it, and is rotated at the correct twist rate. Lands on the button engrave the grooves in the bore.

“The very round hole we get with the hone helps prevent high and low spots in the rifling, and keeps the grooves concentric with the bore, all of which aid accuracy,” Hogan adds, “We’re unique in the business in that we make our own buttons, too, which gives better control of our quality.”

Most training simulations sprang from theories that originated in psychology, sociology, or economics. Techniques vary from simple role-playing to elaborate computer models. Some simulations partially replace real-world events, while others create miniature, selective societal replicas. The most effective simulations model the precision and richness of reality by exposing participants to life-like events. Researchers generalize these theories by developing verbal descriptions of social interactions or mathematical representations of interacting agents (Bredeweg & Voss, 1992).

Simulations permit military personnel to practice tactics under conditions that replicate elaborate battleground conditions. Unfortunately, the use of reality-based simulators has been limited in American public schools. Few, if any, simulations available for public education approach the imagination of those created by the computer-game industry.

Gredler (1996) described the essential components of experiental simulations that emulate reality including: complex task that adapts to participant behavior; serious roles in which participants assume responsibility for scenario-required activities; multiple plausible paths through the experience; and participant control over decision-making. The infant simulator known as Baby-Think-It-Over (BTIO) is a good example of an experiental simulation because it is a nonlinear, psychological experience in which participants play a defined role with specific responsibilities within the evolving reality of parenthood. It is a fluid, dynamic case study with participants on the inside.
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The infant simulator is a life-like model with different ethnic characteristics that is 21 inches long and weighs 6.5 to 7 pounds. It randomly displays infant behaviors by following the schedules of real infants. Students feed the infant with a bottle or breast feeding device, change diapers, and hold the infant while rocking or burping it. The infant’s head falls back if it is not properly supported. If the infant is handled roughly, it cries and must be comforted until the crying stops. A computerized monitoring unit produces reports that document how well students cared for the infant. The report shows how many times the infant was neglected, handled roughly, and shaken, as well as how many times feeding, burping, rocking, or changing were required. Usually the infant is used as a device related to a public school health curriculum that includes child development and child care as major sections of the curriculum. Typically students care for the infant during a weekend that begins on Friday afternoon and ends on Monday morning.

BTIO is an intelligent simulation that assesses student behavior, diagnoses problem-solving performance, and remediates performance deficiences. Students who use the infant enter a structured, model-based reality in a setting designed to elicit specific, appropriate behaviors. As a training strategy, it allows students to practice effective behaviors and learn from errors.

Because BTIO is an unusually realistic, attractive device directed toward the serious social concern of unwanted teenage pregnancy, it has attracted the interest of researchers. Studies assessing the effectiveness of infant simulators are beginning to appear in the literature. However, studies to date have not included control groups nor have they included a structured, competency-based curriculum as part of the treatment. This study was designed to compare the impact of the simulator as an independent training tool with the use of the simulator in combination with a well-defined curriculum.

Simulators

The use of simulation as an effective training tool is well documented in the medical profession, space industry, armed services, and drivers’ education. A study reported that human patient simulators (HPSs) were superior to animal models in teaching surgical procedures. Medical students strongly supported the use of human simulators in teaching advanced trauma life support programs (Block et al., 2002).

Driver education with actual on-the-road experience was once viewed as the primary prevention technique to train young drivers to avoid traffic violations, injury, and death. Personal computers now present photorealistic simulations creating risky, cognitively demanding traffic scenarios that require responses without putting the participant at risk. Fisher et al. (2002) reported that younger inexperienced drivers who were trained on simulators operated their vehicles in a safer, less risky style. The study concluded that simulators have the potential to reduce the risk of traffic accidents.

Pregnancy

Recent data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 54% of high school students had sexual intercourse, a rate virtually unchanged since the study began in 1990. By the time they reach the age of 20, 80% of boys and 76% of girls have had sexual intercourse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

The Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer (ISMT) is an interactive training system designed for use in a classroom setting. It was developed by FATS Inc., of Suwanee, Ga. Shooters fire laser-fitted infantry weapon simulators to engage threedimensional graphic target sets projected on a large screen. Using Bluetooth wireless technology, the Bluefire upgrade eliminates the tether that was attached to the simulation system to provide feedback to trainees and instructors.

SCOPE

As a part of an upgrade to the ISMT system, the Marine Corps ordered approximately 1,200 Bluefire simulators and 4,000 optical devices. The total value of the contract is more than $12 million. The Bluefire systems will be compatible across all of die ISMT platforms.

TIMELINE
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The first Bluefire weapons and optic devices were delivered to the Weapons Training Battalion at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., in March. The balance began fielding in April, first targeting the Marine bases at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Camp Lejuene, N.C.

WHO’S IN CHARGE

Phyllis Pearce, program manager at FATS Inc., has been with the company for nearly 20 years. She spent the last five as a program manager working directly on U.S. military programs, including the production and fielding of the Marine Corps Reserves systems and the Marine security Guard system and weapons.

“We are bringing new technology to these systems because the Marines are getting new equipment that they are expected to use, such as. optics. We are putting the optics on our Bluefire weapons, enabling Marines to train with those new devices in environments like range courses, closecombat courses and other simulated scenarios. Marines can remediate their skills as needed, and when they go out into the real world, they’re qualified.

The Marine can bring in any optic, like Image Intensified optics, and we can put a filter on the system to replicate what he or she would see.

All the weapons we’d delivered up to this point were tethered. Recently, using Bluetooth technology, we have taken that cord away. We can simulate scenarios for certain situations that are filmed and loaded onto the system, such as clearing a house or a checkpoint operation at a border.

We have the capability of linking multiple systems to create a training regimen for four to five Marines. Each Marine could have a different weapon; some could have responsibility for indirect fire, some could have machine guns, some could be at close range. Depending on what presents itself in that virtual battle space, each one would have a particular role.

When combatants are in a stressful experience, they will fall back on their training. So what we’re doing here is [eliminating] whatever bad habits they may have, so they will instinctively do the right thing. Feedback from instructors is immediate.

We want to expand our role with the services to other parts of the battle space. We can replicate the motions of ships or Humvees. We can do a dome application to put a soldier in a room with 360-degree environment. Technology is being refreshed every few months. Bluetooth is one of those. We continually look at ways to incorporate new technologies to improve our training systems.

“I engaged the enemy with that new canister round at 1,100 meters but it had no effect!” (1) Live and virtual gunnery training, prior to deployment and employment could have prevented this, but we have struggled to implement either. As the user representative for the Abrams fleet and armor crewman, part of our charter is to manage and prioritize improvements to the Abrams training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations (TADSS). We struggled to get canister added to the standards in training commission (STRAC); it is now there, even if limited to only two rounds per crew.

Currently, Abrams gunnery devices are being upgraded with the canister round capability. Ideally, this should have been completed 6 months prior to fielding the canister round in Iraq, but the round was rushed to theater based on an urgent operational needs statement (ONS). This is but one example of the improvements we have been working on with our acquisition partners in the Product Manager (PM) Abrams Office, Warren, Michigan, and Program Executive Office Simulations Training (PEO STRI), Orlando, Florida.

Several new capabilities are being made available to the field and the Armor School, which include additions to the M1A2 SEP advanced gunnery training system (AGTS) and later to the M1A1 conduct of fire trainer (COFT)-AGTS, an investment of over $7 million. PM Ground Combat Tactical Trainers (PM GCTT)/ PEO STRI recently added a military operations on urbanized terrain (MOUT) database for section and platoon training to the M1A2 SEP AGTS. The U.S. Marine Corps developed this database for their M1A1 COFT-AGTS using Joint Readiness Training Center urban terrain. The Army borrowed this software and integrated it into the AGTS. It is not perfect; an unaware tank commander will hit buildings or poles, if he is not careful with the tank’s main gun orientation, and end the exercise sooner than planned. By doctrine, it is limited to section or platoon as the Armor Center does not support tanks operating individually in urban operations for survivability reasons.
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The PM GCTT also added a Korean terrain database to the M1A2 SEP AGTS. In its latest software upgrade to the AGTS, PM GCTT will add five special-purpose exercises for canister training using the following databases: desert, European, Korean, and urban. With this upgrade, crews will quickly learn when it is appropriate to use canister as they learn the round’s capabilities and limitations. During these special-purpose exercises, the crew will have access to the MOUT database. The AGTS software will also be upgraded with the joint combat identification marking system (JCIMS), the M829A3 sub-designation, and later be aligned with the new gunnery manual yet to be published. (2) Lastly, a long-range goal is to upgrade many of the AGTSs to the mobile configuration. Two mobile AGTSs (MAGTS) are in Baghdad, Iraq; one is at Fort Bliss, Texas, for the 1st Cavalry; and one is at Fort Carson, Colorado, for the 4th Infantry Division. Another four have been contracted for 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, and one is scheduled for delivery in 2008 to Fort Bliss, Texas, to support the experimental brigade combat team and the 1st Armored Division.

The M1A1 COFT-AGTS is also scheduled to be upgraded alongside the AGTS with a more complex “Middle Eastern” MOUT database, which was also developed by the U.S. Marine Corps. The image generator in the current AGTS cannot process this database and requires additional funding for a future upgrade; the M1A1 COFT-AGTS will have new image generators installed, completing a re-hosting effort that began several years ago. The M1A1 COFT-AGTS will also finally get some of its initial production “bugs” corrected. Beginning in April 2007, the COFT-AGTS will have the correct .50-caliber sound; a more realistic limit on the amount of .50-caliber ammunition available; long-range, special-purpose exercises limited to below 4,000 meters in accordance with the tank’s limitations; corrected gunner’s auxiliary sight reticle size and color; corrected forward unity periscope; and all of the improvements highlighted for the AGTS.

Work has also started to add the canister capability to the close combat tactical trainer.

Other TADSS improvements for the armor force and Armor School are forthcoming. The PM procured 61 improved through site video recording (TSVR) systems primarily used with the M1A2 SEP. These new systems are being fielded and Fort Bliss and Fort Carson will each receive 14; Fort Hood will receive 28; and Fort Benning and Fort Knox will each receive 2. The system will work on any variant of Bradley or tank, but is required to capture the commander’s independent thermal viewer (CITV) imagery of the M1A2 SEE The system is in final testing stages and requires additional hardware to work with the Bradley. Once this work is complete, over the next 6 to 12 months, these systems will be available at the fielded installations’ training support centers (TSC) for use on gunnery tables for video augmented after-action reviews.

Terrible things happen when you fire and fire your machine gun without switching barrels. The barrel becomes VERY HOT, which can cause:

* a cookoff

* a warped barrel

* a worn-out bolt and barrel

* ruined headspacing, which can cause the machine gun to explode .during firing

That’s why the M2, M240, and M249 machine guns come with a spare barrel and why it’s important you keep track of rounds fired and rate of fire. Take the spare to the field and change barrels when your machine gun needs it.

M2 Limits Changed
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The rule on when you change the M2 machine gun’s barrel has changed. The old rule was that you changed the M2 barrel at the end of a day of firing no matter how many rounds were fired. No more. If you’re firing single shot, you can still wait until the end of the day to change barrels. But if you’re firing slow fire (40 or fewer rounds per minute), change the barrel every hour and if you’re firing rapid fire (200 rounds per minute), change it every 1/2 hour.

Other Machine Gun Limits

For the M240, change the barrel every 10 minutes during sustained tire (100 rounds per minute) and every two minutes during rapid fire (200 rounds per minute).

For the M249, during both sustained fire (40 rounds per minute) and rapid fire (100 rounds per minute), change the barrel every 200 rounds.

Change the barrel even more frequently on hot days. Heat heats up the barrel quicker. And remember blanks heat up a barrel just as much as live rounds.