Peak Knox, underway

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A beautiful photo essay on the Knox-class destroyer escort/fast frigate USS Donald B. Beary (DE/FF 1085), seen circa April 1989 off Hampton Roads. This is a great example of the class in its final weapon fit, which was undoubtedly its best including an SLQ-32, an MK-16 8-cell ASROC matchbox (with 8 reloads) that could also carry Harpoons in two cells, the Mk 42 5-inch gun, Sea Sprite hangar, towed array, and stern CIWS. 

These are U.S. Navy photos DN-SN-90-08276 through -08284 by photographer PH2 Vise, available in a much larger format in the National Archives.

Awarded 25 August 1966 to Avondale Shipyards, Inc., in Westwego, Louisiana, the only ship named for WWII Navy Cross recipient RADM Donald B. Beary was commissioned on 22 July 1972 at Boston NSY.

Following 19 years of service, at the conclusion of the Cold War, she was reclassified as a training frigate (FFT 1085) in 1991 as part of the failed NRF Frigate program which she was a part of for a few years before she was struck in 1995 and transferred to Turkey, renamed TCG Karadeniz (F-255).

While manpower-intensive due to their 1960s steam plants, a modern version with a diesel-electric plant and much-reduced manning would be a great ASW/ASuW asset today, especially if fitted with a VL-ASROC, MK 45 5″/62, and 16 NSMs. You know, kinda what the LCS should have been. 

Sako becoming the Sniper Platform of Choice in the Baltic

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The Estonian Defense Forces announced that a combined submission by Sako and Steiner has won a toughly fought tender to become the Baltic country’s new sniper rifle.

The new 40 million euro seven-year contract, made public in late April, covers the delivery of the modular Sako TRG M10 sniper rifle in .338 Lapua with a Steiner M5Xi 5-25×56 precision scope using an MSR-2 reticle. Also included are thermal imaging attachments and suppressors for the rifles.

The modular TRG M10 is a bolt-action magazine-fed rifle that is capable of caliber swapping on the fly via barrel/bolt/mag changes, swapping between .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70mm in European parlance), 7.62 NATO, and .300 Win Mag. All the tools needed to swap between calibers are stored in compartments in the bolt knob and forend. (Photo: Sako)

A similar package was already chosen by the Finnish military as part of a joint development project, with the Steiner M7Xi 2.9-20×50 and Sako’s M23 as the rifle system. Likewise, the Swedish military has entered into a joint agreement to field the same platform. 

More in my column at Guns.com

Wicked Monstah Boat

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The 25th Virginia-class hunter-killer, USS Massachusetts (SSN 798), was christened at Newport News over the weekend, with a tentative commissioning date of May 2024 in Boston. She will be the fifth such commissioned vessel (9th planned) named for the state filling the 61-year gap on the Navy List that was left when the SoDak class battlewagon USS Massachusetts (BB-59) was struck from the Naval Register on 1 June 1962.

HII photos: 

Massachusetts Logo Placement on Hull

Massachusetts SSN 798 Christening

Massachusetts SSN 798 Crew Photos

Massachusetts SSN 798 Christening Ceremony

Much as BB-59 was rushed into combat, it is possible that her follow-on namesake could come just in time to a war that she is much-needed.

An Unlikely All-steel Micro 9

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EAA, long known for its Regard, Witness, and Windicator models, two years ago began to import the Girsan MCP35 from Turkey. That later pistol seems to be modeled after the later post-1980 Browning Mark II/III models made by FN during the last few decades of the model’s run with that company. The latter includes an external extractor, a serrated ring hammer, a slim trigger, a windage drift-adjustable rear sight, ships with a Mec-Gar produced 15-shot aftermarket double-stack magazine and includes both an ambidextrous safety and a magazine-disconnect safety (more on this abomination later).

I really dug the standard-sized MCP35, seen here in a factory FDE option, finding it an excellent value and lots of fun on the range. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

While EAA introduced updated OPS and Match series MCP35s, which upgraded the legacy standard with accessory rails, optics cuts, and a better trigger, what I openly wished for was a shortened version optimized for carry. Hi-Power fans will immediately recall the old FM Detective.

Made by FM in Argentina, which had been set up under license by FN back in the 1960s to make BHPs for the Argentine military and police, the Latin American armory developed a shortened model that retained the same size grip and magazine capacity. It was only brought into the States for a few years in the 1990s, when it was marketed as the Detective by importers.

I was a huge fan of the Detective and bought and carried the gun on the right for several years. It was rough and basic, but it worked. For those interested, according to the online inflation calculators, $239 in 1992 is worth $514.18 today, which is around what the MCP35 PI runs. Also, do not try to go to SOG and get the above deal, as that importer closed its doors years ago.

Taking a cue from the old FM Detective, EAA teased the new MCP35 PI late last year and started shipping it a couple of months ago.

The basic concept trims an inch off the barrel length and almost an inch and a half in overall length, as well as a few ounces in weight, from the standard MCP35, leaving a more compact pistol, roughly akin to the concept of a Commander 1911.

The big kicker is that, in that size, it is the same size as guns like the SIG P365 XMacro and Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro, while being hammer-fired and all-steel. 

The EAA Girsan MCP35 PI is a factory-shortened Hi-Power clone that still accepts standard magazines and most parts, save for slide and barrel components. 

My full review on the PI after the jump.

A ‘Triumph of British Ceremonial Excellence’

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In what is being billed as “the largest UK military ceremonial operation for 70 years,” even more sweeping in scope than the late Queen’s funeral, King Charlie was installed over the weekend.

While I have no love for the shitshow that is the British Royal family, you have to admit the pageantry was splendid, including the Guards doing what they are known for as well as marching units from the Army Air Corps, Paras, RMs, and the like.

If you are a fan of military uniforms and units, it was a treat.

The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery performing a 6-gun salvo salute on Horse Guards Parade Ground as part of the Coronation of King Charles III

As noted by MoD:

More than 7,000 soldiers, sailors, and aviators from across the UK and Commonwealth participated in ceremonial activities across processions, flypasts, and gun salutes marking the historic event. With around 200 personnel providing a Guard of Honour at Buckingham Palace, together this made up the largest UK military ceremonial operation for 70 years. As well as marching detachments from across the Household Division, Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force, more than 400 troops from the Commonwealth nations and British Overseas Territories were on parade.

And three good (short) videos of the event, the sweeping gun salutes, and the behind the scenes:

 

Insult to Inury

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80 Years Ago Today: The 6th of May, 1943, near Tunis, Algeria. 1st. Lt. Jerry Collinsworth, USAAF, thumbs his nose at the pilot of a German Luftwaffe Fw190 he just shot down. This was the fourth of six victories scored by Collinsworth, all were Fw190s, all achieved in his Spitfire.

Col. Jerry D. Collinsworth, born in 1919 in Dublin, Texas, was one of the few Americans to become an “ace” flying the British-made Supermarine Spitfire in World War II. Volunteering for the U.S. Army Air Corps in August 1941, by late 1942 he was a pilot in the 307th Fighter Squadron of the 31st Pursuit Group in Europe and North Africa, where he would log 125 sorties, first in P-39 Airacobras and then in Mk. V Spitfires.

Between February and July 1943, he shot down six Axis aircraft along with one probable and one damaged.

“As I said, I shot down one a month. A couple of them bailed out. I even went back and thumbed my nose at one of them,” noted Collinsworth in a 2002 interview.

In all, just nine USAAF fighter squadrons (2nd, 4th, 5th of the 52nd FG; 307th, 308th, 309th of the 31st FG, and 334th, 335th, 336th– formerly “Eagle Squadrons” Nos. 71, 121, 133 RAF– of the 4th FG) flew “Spits” during WWII. Meanwhile, five reccee squadrons (13th, 14th, 16th, 22nd, and 111th) utilized a handful of Spitfire PR.XI photo birds and the U.S. Navy’s Cruiser Scouting Squadron Seven (VCS-7) flew Spitfire VBs instead of their floatplanes off Normandy in June-July 1944.

A Spitfire of the 307th Fighter Squadron “Stingers” after an emergency landing on the beaches of Paestum, Italy. In the background, LST 359 is beached at shore. (Incidentally, the 307th still exists, flying the F-15E Strike Eagle from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina while the ship, USS LST-359 was sunk by torpedo attack, on 20 December 1944, by the German submarine U-870 in the eastern Atlantic.)

Finishing the war stateside as a flight instructor, Collinsworth later became certified on jets and flew F-94s, F-104s, and F-100s, retiring as a full bird in 1965.

Postwar, he served as a Professor of Aerospace Studies at Southern Methodist University in Texas and, passing in 2010, is interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Section 18D, Site 1891.

Ukraine Drawdowns Top 200 Million Rounds of Small Arms Ammo

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The Pentagon on Wednesday announced the latest security assistance package for Ukraine provided by the Biden Administration, including a lot more small arms ammunition, which is everything short of 12.7mm (.50 cal).

The latest package, valued at up to $300 million, marks the 37th White House-authorized drawdown from the Department of Defense’s equipment stockpiled for Ukraine since August 2021. Besides additional 155mm tube artillery and shells, assorted anti-armor weapon systems, HIMARS rockets, TOW missiles and mortar rounds, the latest transfer also transfers more “small arms and small arms ammunition” to Ukraine. 

With a total of over $36.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, a fact sheet provided by the Pentagon this week puts the running tally of small arms ammunition at “over” 200 million rounds. This is up from the 150 million rounds listed in a similar tally made public just six weeks ago. 

DOD officials in late November listed the cumulative amount of small arms ammo drawdown for Ukraine as 104 million rounds, a figure that has seemingly doubled in the past six months. 

Besides lots of 7.62 NATO for M240s transferred with light armored vehicles, Ukrainian regulars have increasingly been spotted with 5.56-caliber M4A1 Carbines and M16A4 rifles, complete with Trijicon ACOG optics and M203 40mm under-barrel grenade launchers, so you can bet a lot of the recently transferred stockpiles will be 5.56.

Soldiers of the Ukrainian Army’s 47th OMBr (separate mechanized brigade) “Magura” train with M16A4 rifles. The newly created unit is armed with much U.S.-supplied equipment including repainted M2A2 Bradley vehicles. (Photo: Ukraine Ministry of Defense)

In related news, with over 10,000 Javelin systems transferred to Ukraine, a figure that represents something like 13 years of standard production, this contract just hit DOD’s list yesterday (emphasis mine):

Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $1,024,355,817 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for the Javelin Weapon System and associated support equipment. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 2, 2027. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-23-D-0014). (Awarded May 3, 2023)

The ceiling on the Javelin contract, running through 2027, is actually $7.2B, with a B, or almost the cost of five new Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

Prepping for the King

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There hasn’t been a coronation in England in 70 years, at which point both the British military and the Commonwealth were much larger. For Charlie’s upcoming event, set for Saturday, the London Garrison and cadres from just about every proper MoD unit (and dozens of Commonwealth contingents) have been hard at work practicing for the big show and it will be fairly majestic, likely larger than Elizabeth’s state funeral services.

Largely under the cover of darkness, 7,000 soldiers, sailors, air force personnel, and 300 horses took to the streets of London this week in a series of dress rehearsals, and the pictures coming from MoD are fantastic, no matter your opinion of the Royals.

Last night, beneath the glow of London’s street lamps, sailors, soldiers and aviators paraded through the empty streets of the Capital as they mounted their final full-scale rehearsal of the Coronation processions ahead of 6 May. Personnel from all regiments of the British Army, and from across the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, formed up into the eight processional groups that will lead Their Majesties The King and Queen Consort back to Buckingham Palace after the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey. The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment had the furthest to parade, as they will lead the ceremonial charge for both The King’s Procession to Westminster Abbey, and the return procession from the Abbey.

Combat Fleets Briefings

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I bought my first hardcover edition of the U.S. Naval Institute’s Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, a sort of upgraded Jane’s Fighting Ships, in 1995, and I still often flip through it. Of course, they long ago went digital and, many don’t know, but USNI also runs a regular online Combat Fleets column where they cover some of the most interesting (and terrifying) warships afloat.

In the past few weeks, they have also started releasing short yet still in-depth videos on select classes including the massive People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 055 Renhai-class guided-missile cruisers– which are very much today’s Admiral Hippers in terms of the China Sea– Russia’s Steregushchiy-class Frigates, and China’s Jiangdao-class Type 056 and Type 056A guided-missile corvettes.

Enjoy, and do your homework.

 

Those pesky censors

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III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) Vietnam, 2 April 1968. Official caption: “Machinegunner on Hill 881 returning fire at a sniper after receiving heavy fire on resupply choppers.”

The image was taken during the brutal hill fights around Khe Sahn.

Marine Corps Photo A191080, Photog: Harlan. National Archives Identifier 26386425 127-GVB-88-A191080

On a closer look at the M60 gunner, his M1 helmet cover is scrawled with, “We are no children of America. We are headhunters.”

Needless to say, the image was not cleared for open publication. You had to be able to put the right spin on the war.

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