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Old 10-20-2011, 10:06   #1
Fonzy
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Iowa NG creates "predator-style" ammo packs

Never underestimate the creativeness of a soldier in need. Thought some of you gentlemen would like to see this.

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Remember in Predator when Jess Ventura is unleashing his M-134 Mini-gun into the forest? It was being fed by an ammo box strapped to his back. Turns out, that wasn't an actual piece of Army kit, at least until members of the Iowa National Guard created it themselves.

The National Guard division had been recently deployed to a forward operating base in Afghanistan and were issued Mk 48 machine guns when they arrived. The problem was, the belts of ammunition were extremely cumbersome and difficult for the gun's operator to carry while on foot-patrol. The initial solution of chopping the belts into 50-round lengths and reloading constantly was abandoned after a harrowing 2.5 hour long firefight proved it untenable.

So, Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski welded two ammo boxes atop one another (with the upper case's bottom removed), lashed them to an all-purpose ALICE pack frame, and mounted the feed chute assembly from a vehicle-mounted CROW to the top of it. This allowed the gunner to carry a full load of ammo—500 rounds—unassisted. Even with ammo, the entire system weighed a mere 43 pounds.

The pack, dubbed The Ironman, proved so reliable in combat that Winkowski submitted the design to Army science advisers who also immediately recognized its value. Within 48 days, the Quick Reaction Cell of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) had created an improved, lighter-weight version of the pack.

As, Dave Roy, a current operations analyst at NSRDEC, explains,

We've already gotten email traffic from (one of) our science advisers that everybody in theater wants one of these — and by in theater, he means his specific area of operation, Regional Command East in Afghanistan — because word has spread. That (Iowa National Guard) unit is not the only unit 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 prototype at this stage, Roy hopes to have acquisition funding secured by early next year. [US Army]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5850742/how-the-i...yle-ammo-packs
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Old 10-20-2011, 10:58   #2
Santo Tomas
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back pack

My TM SGT and I built one while in Panama. We riveted the plastic E-Type silhouttes together to make the case. A large wooden spool assisted the linked 7.62 coming out of the case to not get stuck. We attached the case to a rucksack frame. It held about 600 rds. We took it to Colombia once and put in on one of the little guys. They held up pretty well but the weight of the ammo put some of them on their knees.

I do like how they will feed the ammo on the new one. But I think the gunner will have to pull the ammo belt out as I don't think the weapons feed mechanism has enough pull. We had that problem also.
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Old 10-20-2011, 12:37   #3
bk1133
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I was a Huey Crew Chief in the Corps in the early 80's. A SEAL on our cruise, 83-84 USS Guam, used one of our M60 feed shutes in the same way. I don't know how he rigged it inside the ALICE pack.
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Old 10-20-2011, 12:51   #4
Papa Zero Three
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Natick screwed up on this one

Not to discount what the Joe did on the ground with what he had, but Natick dropped the ball when they decided to spend tax payer money to "develop" something that has been a COTS item way before Iowa Joe put his contraption together. TYR tactical has built and sold the MICO for awhile now and it's been readily available, it's not like TYR was back ordered and couldn't provide them in time. This kind of stuff just makes me shake my head. Maybe someone should tell the woman who lead the Natick project about this new device called the Internet and how to search it....that is if she isn't busy creating a world wide web herself.
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Old 10-21-2011, 16:00   #5
mark46th
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I used a canteen cover to hold a belt of ammo for the A6 that I had to carry in training group!
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Old 10-22-2011, 06:58   #6
Iraqgunz
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Tyr Tactical is down the street from me- about 15 minutes or so. Someone should send that link to someone at Natick and then remind them how stuipd they are.

Kind of like the money that was wasted on the new M4/M16 magazine follwer because they didn't want to pay money to Magpul or give them credit.

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Originally Posted by Papa Zero Three View Post
Not to discount what the Joe did on the ground with what he had, but Natick dropped the ball when they decided to spend tax payer money to "develop" something that has been a COTS item way before Iowa Joe put his contraption together. TYR tactical has built and sold the MICO for awhile now and it's been readily available, it's not like TYR was back ordered and couldn't provide them in time. This kind of stuff just makes me shake my head. Maybe someone should tell the woman who lead the Natick project about this new device called the Internet and how to search it....that is if she isn't busy creating a world wide web herself.
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Old 10-22-2011, 10:19   #7
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In the field as with everywhere else, necessity is the mother of invention.
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