Index

It's the grunt that counts

Fancy technology does not a warrior make. We see this time and time again, thanks to bureaucrats and technicians who've never seen a field latrine, let alone a real shoot-em-up war. Victory is rarely bought with high tech, and failure is rarely because the other side had a better rifle. What makes the difference is the sophont behind the gun. But quantitating a soldiers ability, disciple and moral is hard for paper-pushers to measure, spec out. That takes good commanders who work with their people, down in the dirt. We should not slight our people, cutting training and pay to buy new toys. As an ancient sage once said "There is no such thing as a dangerous weapon. There are only dangerous people."

The first weapon our test team examined was the Ling Standard 9mm Auto pistol, Service model LSMA916. Our team first examined the outward condition of the weapon. The examination determined that the weapon may have originally been well cared for. Now however, the 9mm was a clotted mass of grime and mud. Our team even detected a bit of humanoid bio matter among the workings of the weapon. Definitely not a weapon that is field ready. The team next stripped the 9mm to determine if any damage had been acquired during its last battle. Disassembly of the weapon was interrupted occasionally by the need to remove foreign matter from the handgun's mechanisms. Once the handgun was cleaned up and checked over we found that it was quite serviceable. The three other handguns we received were of similar condition.

The next weapon we examined was a MilTech model 9A12 RAM grenade launcher.

What can we say. This piece of equipment was in even worse condition than the handguns. Our team decided not to examine the grenade launcher any further upon discovering the remains of a human hand in the launch tube. Obviously the collectors and sellers of this lot had little time to make sure that the buyers of their battlefield recovery wouldn't lose their lunch while unpacking their purchase.

The Instel Arms ACR was the cleanest of the lot of weapons we purchased. It was at least hosed off and had any remains of its previous owner removed. The ACR was easily cleaned up and serviceable in a short period of time. A set of replacement ranging optics in the electronic sights were required though. This was a minor inconvenience.

Overall we found the weapons not much of a bargain. We would not recommending making any major equipment purchases from this seller.

The Ammo. Here we were even more surprised at the poor attention given to the lot of ammunition we purchased. Our order included specific information regarding the type of ammunition we desired. We were also very specific in requesting the ammunition be separated for shipping to other locations. Imagine if you will a very large cardboard box with a mishmash of magazines and loose rounds for just about any type of combat weapon available. Although we didn't order any RAM grenades, we found 5 rounds of HE RAM grenades in the box. We also found a variety of fingers, toes, and 16” of small intestine.

We strongly recommend not making any large ammo purchases from this company as well. Unless of course you are into organ legging, or the medical profession. Battle Recovery Division Inc. leaves a great deal to be desired as far as a supplier of recovered equipment and ammunition.

The combat armor version (seen here) is fully compatible with all makes and configurations of combat armor. Our test engineers found that the VES was easily retrofitted into an existing combat armor's helmet functions. Defense Systems VES model R15T includes Infra Red, Light Intensifying, Ultra Violet spectrums. In addition it has effective thermal imaging. It also has unique holographic display feature, which utilizes the latest T135 imaging emitters. This permits the best resolution that our test engineers have seen so far. This also allows the wearer the opportunity to keep a "see-through" image on the visor.

This unit also increases the peripheral vision in the field of view. The maximum effective range as reported by the manufacturer, is approximately 200m. Our test engineers found this to be a bit exaggerated. Our effective range was just over 130m. The thermal imaging system range was roughly about the same as the effective range.

The big improvement is the decrease in size and weight of the unit. Our testers were also able to recognize a 15% decrease in the "sparkle" effect in the L.I. mode. With the new onboard class "A" dual processors. Images that before were only identifiable as plumes or blurred shapes, now have a more computer enhanced defined outline. This makes it much easier to identify and classify targets.

The BDU version (right) contains many of the same features of the Combat armor version. The primary difference is the lack of the holographic imagers and the additional bulk of the external power cell. The combat armor version weighs in at 1.5kg. The BDU version weighs slightly more at 1.7kg. Again the difference is primarily due to the addition of an external power cell for the BDU version.

Overall we found this VES to be one of the best available. The enhanced features cutting edge technology make this VES a good piece of hardware for the superiorly equipped mercenary. The high cost of the unit does seem to prohibit mass use by planetary forces. Which will give the mercenary the edge when it's needed. But if you are spending the 20Kcr to purchase a new set of combat armor the addition cost will seem relatively small.

They may be hard to find however, as they are available only from a few select distributors. We were fortunate enough to have one of our testers recently returned from the Rim with the unit.