FN Herstal rolled out the latest update to the company’s light machine gun line, the MINIMI Mk 3. Â The company stated the new Mk3 was designed around the feedback received from actual combat troops using the gun in the field. Â Essentially, all updates are focused on improved ergonomics and improved mobility.
While there are undoubtedly small changes under the hood, the most prominent updates are:
The Russian military still uses the SKS at the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School.  These photos were taken by Vitaly V. Kuzmin, a photographer of amazing skill.  Kuzmin took these photos at the June 23 graduation ceremony.
There is a new Mosin-Nagant replacement stock being made by Archangel. Â For a variety of reasons, making a detachable magazine for the Mosin-Nagant rifles has been difficult. Â The basic rifle design is more than 120 years old, so adapting it to modern conventions is bound to have a few difficulties.
A quick check of YouTube found this video from mixflip on the new Mosin-Nagant stocks from the ProMag/Archangel booth at the SHOT Show:
The FN SmartCore was rolled out at the EUROSATORY 2012 last week. Â Formerly known as the FN Black Box, the SmartCore is very similar to the recording devices found in airplanes that the project was originally named after.
The SmartCore is an electronic system that records and examines the firearm’s use for a variety of purposes. Â It does several rather mundane things like help armorers keep track of which weapons are in need of service.
One of the more interesting aspects of the recorder is its ability to transmit use information to military commanders. Â This allows the chain of command to know specifically which units are engaging the enemy, and at what location, without the need for radio communications.
The US Marine Corps has decided to train as it fights. Â At weapon qualifications, Marines will be allowed to use the weapons and approved optics they carry into battle.
“The intent is to ensure Marines train with the weapon system with which they will fight, †wrote Lt. Gen. Richard Mills in an administrative message.
Not being a Marine, I didn’t realize this, but it seems that firearms qualification scores are part of how promotions are calculated. Â Therefore, in an effort to ensure “fairness” in the promotional process, it appears the Marines have not allowed their personnel to qualify with what they carry.
For example, the free-floated barrel on the Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR) could provide an accuracy advantage to the shooter as compared to a Marine shooting a standard M16 or M4, and therefore could have been removed from qualifications to promote the concept of fairness.