Question on new equipment and weapons used in Iraq

[CarlosI]

Hey i would like to ask people that know what new equipment and weapons are currently being used in Iraq by the British, Americans and Aussie and what the info on them are (Aka is it effective).

The new equipment and weapons doesn't directly have to be 2003 stuff. The new Marine cammo for instance came out during the war yet the war began before alot of Marines got it, this new cammo for Marines i find new piece of Equiptment since it was the first time it was used in combat and at most only a year old.

I deicded to ask these questions because after seeing many documentarys on WW2 i found out how many new weapons and equiptments were Introduced in the war. Espically by the Germans who made design for hundreds of arms and pieces of equiptment (The Germans made alot of strange weaponary yet somewhat effective weaponary, Such as that barrel of a gun which is shaped in such a way it allows someone to poke it around a cornor and shot someone without exposing themselves, which is usefull in urban combat, even though the life span of the barrel was short).

And another type of Gernade in a barrel pistol looking thing that sometimes had a habit of sometimes blowing up in your face when you fired it, but when used was effective in limited cirsumstances.

I was just wondering if these 3 nations are bulding, deployed, or plan to deploy anything similar to this.

Thanks in advances.

[turan8]

Hey i would like to ask people that know what new equipment and weapons are currently being used in Iraq by the British, Americans and Aussie and what the info on them are (Aka is it effective).

The new equipment and weapons doesn't directly have to be 2003 stuff. The new Marine cammo for instance came out during the war yet the war began before alot of Marines got it, this new cammo for Marines i find new piece of Equiptment since it was the first time it was used in combat and at most only a year old.

I deicded to ask these questions because after seeing many documentarys on WW2 i found out how many new weapons and equiptments were Introduced in the war. Espically by the Germans who made design for hundreds of arms and pieces of equiptment (The Germans made alot of strange weaponary yet somewhat effective weaponary, Such as that barrel of a gun which is shaped in such a way it allows someone to poke it around a cornor and shot someone without exposing themselves, which is usefull in urban combat, even though the life span of the barrel was short).

And another type of Gernade in a barrel pistol looking thing that sometimes had a habit of sometimes blowing up in your face when you fired it, but when used was effective in limited cirsumstances.

I was just wondering if these 3 nations are bulding, deployed, or plan to deploy anything similar to this.

Thanks in advances.

Well probably the biggest advance in terms of new creations in iraq is the Steel-Cage armor that is now used in most wheeled APCs in Iraq. Obviously this was caused by the abundance of RPGs in Iraq and the normal APC's inability to deal with them. I've seen the cage armor first used on the Stryker, then the British APC's (I think the Warrior used it although technically the Warrior is an IFV not an APC but thats another issue), then the Australian APC's, and finally back round to the American M113 APCs. The most interesting vehicle being fitted with cage armor right now is the M1A1 and A2 Abrams receiving the TUSK upgrade in which cage armor is being added to the rear of the vehicle to protect against the Abrams (comparatively) vulnerable backside.

While not exactly new, there are some other interesting items used in different ways. One example is the Interceptor vest. No other force in history has implemented ballistic body armor to the degree of the US. While some see this as just the extenison of the Vietnam era flak vest, it's important to not that a lot of people didn't wear flak jackets, primarily because they didn't work in a wide variety of roles. Not so in Iraq. Everywhere you go, everyone has armor. The key here is that everyone is wearing it because it actually works, and it works for not just explosions but obviously direct ballistic impacts. The wide issuance of ballistic armor to infantrymen in Iraq is definitely a logistic advance if nothing else.

In terms of new gear, the MARPAT, ACU, and MICH helmet all made their debut in Iraq and all are currently fielded with success.

One item I find interesting that is going to be deployed is the robotic mule. Basically it's just a small electronic armored car deployed at the squad level that follows the squad leader by means of radio signals and carries the teams gear. It can also be used to hide behind in an ambush. I think I read this in Janes Defense Weekly, but don't qoute me on it.

[digrar]

I've moved this to the equipment and gear section, you will have more luck here.
Most of the information you are after is probably on here, if you look for it. Then again you never know your luck someone might spoon feed it to you.

[RecceGuy]

Just before the outbreak of war British CVR(T) Scimitars were fitted with add on armour in the form of the perforated strips you can see on this wagon. It's bolted to the vehicles stowage bins and other "soft" areas that might not initiate an RPG warhead before it strikes the hull. Basically it's hard enough to trigger the warhead and not allow the correct amount of standoff for the heat round to be as effective as it should. This is in effect a different working on the same theme as slat armour.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/maximus8425/Picture887.jpg