The improvements are part of a series of modernization efforts scheduled over the next seven years, according to an Army release.

As part of the modernization initiative, Burroughs Range was upgraded to extend a section of the range from 800 meters to 1,100 meters. A future upgrade includes some target areas being expanded to distances of up to 1,200 meters, offering improved training opportunities for soldiers using the range.

“The current sniper rifle system used by the Army has an effective range of about 1,000 meters,” said Shane Duncanson, Fort Benning range planner.

The Army’s newest sniper rifle, the Mk22, can strike targets as far as 1,500 to 1,800 meters, Duncanson said.

The Mk22 is a multi-caliber, bolt-action rifle that replaces the M2010, M110 and M107 sniper rifles.

“The requirements for changes to the training ranges came from new weapons systems being introduced,” said John Nolt, acting director of Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization & Security at Fort Benning.

Completed in 1976, Burroughs Range was initially designed as a heavy sniper training facility, with armored targets placed throughout the training area, according to the release.

Additionally, a two-meter tall, 225-meter-long, 21-meter-deep berm, complete with a moving target rail system to its rear, is located on the west side of the range at 800 meters from the shooting positions.

“As the battlefield changes, our training ranges have to change, too,” said Jason Olive, Fort Benning range officer. “As Burroughs Range transitions to the Army’s newest Multipurpose Sniper Range, the requirement for a moving armored target was eliminated, which required the removal of the berm and tracks behind it, allowing additional line of sight and an area to incorporate the Army’s newest trackless moving target technology.”

The construction work at Burroughs Range involved leveling the berm, demolishing the obsolete rail system — which featured a 44-centimeter concrete base and a 20-centimeter rebar barrier extending along the entire 225-meter length — gradually leveling the land behind the berm, removing trees and clearing debris throughout the range.

“Burroughs Range was built back in a day when 1,000 meters was the farthest someone could shoot, and typically a solider would train at 600-800 meters,” Duncanson said. “We’re in the process of doing small incremental improvements so that we can use the new weapon systems and rounds at 1,200 meters.”

Personnel from Fort Benning, as well as the Georgia Army National Guard’s 177th Engineer Support Company, 878th Engineer Battalion out of Augusta, Georgia, and the Army Reserve’s 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion out of Birmingham, Alabama all contributed to modifying the range.

“This type of training allows us to meet directly on the job site with our active duty and Reserve counterparts,” said Warrant Officer James Jarrett, a construction officer with 177th Engineer Support Company.

The ongoing modernization of training ranges across Fort Benning is focused on improving soldiers’ training, readiness and operational capabilities, according to the release.

Axil Brands uses compression methods to cut off dangerous noises that could damage hearing while still allowing users to hear speech and communicate despite the noise level.

Tyler Smith, Axil’s national sales director, told Gear Scout that the company’s devices, which include XCOR and XCOR Pro wireless earbuds, MX electronic earmuffs and the recently released X30i earplugs, give users assorted options for hearing protection.

The XCOR and XCOR Pro earbuds, priced at $200 and $308, respectively, cut off noises at the 85-decibel range, protecting hearing. At the same time, they allow users to hear speech and localize noise origin.

This gives users a safer experience, especially in loud military environments.

The XCOR Pro includes Bluetooth connectivity, while the XCOR does not, as some military and law enforcement units don’t allow connectivity due to security concerns.

Both models have an industry-leading single number rating, or SNR, of 29, Smith said. SNR is the average noise production provided by hearing protection across a range of frequencies. The higher the number, the greater the protection.

For example, a 29 SNR means that a 100-decibel sound will be reduced to an estimated 71 decibels at the ear.

The XCOR and XCOR Pro can run up to 12 hours on a single battery charge and their charging cases allow for two additional charges, pushing their use up to 36 hours.

Axil’s recently released X30i earplugs don’t feature electronics. Its open-and-close mechanism allows users to toggle protection on or off to better hear lower-level sounds. But in case the user forgets to toggle back to protected mode, a mechanical device will shut off sound that meets the 85-decibel threshold.

“We have [a] proprietary mesh filter behind [the] sound tube that decreases impact noises,” Smith said. “The earplug will also mechanically swell to reduce frequency threats.”

The earplugs cost $39. They can be cleaned with dish soap and water for low-maintenance needs.

Axil’s MX electronic earmuffs, released in April, offer 85-decibel compression and six-times hearing enhancement. They’re powered by two AAA batteries and are compatible with helmets. They’re also sweat- and water-resistant.

The MX earmuffs retail at $93.

Company owner Mitchell Wein’s grandfather had the good fortune of housing his watchmaking business in the same building as the Canadian Army’s procurement office as the nation entered the WWII.

It had only been a few years since the Marathon Watch founder had broken off from the family watch business to design his own product.

Those first watches went on the wrists of soldiers headed to fight in Italy. The company eventually delivered an estimated 160,000 watches during WWII, Wein said, and has remained in the military watch game nearly ever since.

“Combining military-grade durability with precise engineering, the Original Search and Rescue with Date, or OSAR-D, builds on Marathon Watch’s legacy of the original 41mm SAR, which set the standard for Search and Rescue timepieces in the early 2000s,” according to a company release.

The expanded OSAR-D family of watches maintains the enhanced features introduced last year with the launch of the 41mm OSAR-D with black dial.

Those include the improved MaraGlo illumination, larger indices and increased clarity on the cyclops date window.

The company also added the Arctic white dial, which is designed to improve legibility in bright conditions, offering unparalleled readability in extreme environments.

All the company’s timepieces are powered by Marathon x Sellita automatic movements. The SW-200 movement drives 36mm and 41mm sizes.

The 46mm jumbo edition is equipped with the new SW600 movement, which includes a 62-hour power reserve, now the largest power reserve Marathon has to date.

Each OSAR-D model is also fitted with an Incabloc shock absorber to reinforce its durability.

The 41mm size watches are available for preorder, with shipments slated for mid-May, company officials said. Prices start at $1,500 with the 3-piece rubber strap kit. The stainless steel bracelet option costs $1,800.

The 36mm and 46mm sizes will be available in late 2025, with prices ranging from $1,000 to $2,500.

The company built its general-purpose mechanical watch in 1976 for the U.S. military and started building chronometers for ships in the early 1980s, Wein said.

“We didn’t really make money on the government watches,” Wein said, adding that they would get orders of 7,000 or 11,000 watches and make between $3.50 and $5 per watch.

One of the reasons mechanical watches remain part of military inventory in an age of their smart counterparts is that mechanical timekeeping remains impervious to electromagnetic pulse tactics that could blow out any electronics in range. They also do not emit a signal that can be detected by electromagnetic warfare tools.

And then there’s the battery, or lack thereof, which adds to their long-lasting durability. The watch can operate for 30 years, as compared to a traditional quartz watch that usually requires a new battery every six years.

Special, synthetic oil blends keep the watch going. Those only need replacement every 15 years or so, Wein said. Tritium gas tubes that provide glow-in-the-dark features stay bright for 12 to 25 years.

The service’s Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition broke ground Feb. 5 on a 6.8 mm ammunition production facility at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, according to an Army release.

Current plans show the facility being completed by 2026 and fully operational by 2028, officials said.

The move aims to give the service its own production line for the 6.8 mm cartridge, which is the caliber the Next Generation Squad Weapon is chambered for, both in its rifle and automatic rifle configuration.

The XM5 and XM250, respectively, are replacing their counterparts, the M4 carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, among the close combat forces. Both are chambered in the legacy 5.56 mm cartridge.

The Army is leading the project, while the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command have been closely involved in the development of the weapon and round in recent years.

Lake City has been a major source of small arms ammunition for the Army and other services for decades. Historically, the plant has produced 5.56 mm, 7.62 mm, .50 Browning Machine Gun, and 20 mm ammunition.

During the height of the post-9/11 wars, from 2007 to 2018, the plant produced nearly 1.4 billion rounds, according to Northrop Grumman.

“It is not lost on me that victory on the battlefield begins in our production facilities,” Maj. Gen. John T. Reim, program executive officer for armaments and ammunition, said in a statement. “Lake City has been central to our nation’s ammunition production since 1941, and this new facility builds on that proud and historic legacy.”

The 6.8 mm round delivers the distance and energy on target of the larger 7.62 mm round but at a lighter weight and with better accuracy, according to Army officials.

Currently, rounds for the Next Generation Squad Weapon are being produced by Sig Sauer, manufacturer of both the rifle and automatic rifle variants.

Ammunition manufacturer Olin Winchester will operate the new plant. The facility will span 450,000 square feet at the Missouri site, according to the Army.

The operation will include manufacturing systems for cartridge cases and projectiles, quality controls, packaging and testing laboratories. According to the release, industries in the Kansas City, Missouri, region will support an estimated 90% of the work.

When the facility hits operational status, it is expected to produce 385 million cases, 490 million projectiles and 385 million loading and packaging operations rounds each year.

There are about a dozen units in the fielding pipeline for the Next Generation Squad Weapon in fiscal 2025. They include:

• From October to December, the Army Reserve’s 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Shafter, Hawaii; elements of the 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; the Army’s Ordnance School, at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia.
• From January to March, the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, at Fort Bliss, Texas.
• From April to June, the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia.
• From July to September, the 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division with the Minnesota Army National Guard; multiple 10th Mountain Division battalions.

Last October, the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division was one of the units to conduct live-fire testing of the weapon. The “Red Curahee” soldiers ran tactical patrols after having run shooting ranges at limited visibility, according to the Army.

The squad-sized elements put the weapon through its paces on terrain at their home station of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. At the time, Maj. Craig Hymel, the battalion executive officer, explained the culminating event.

“The squad live [fire] will be the last event in conjunction with the stress shoot that participants execute,” Hymel said. “At which point, the Operational Assessment Team is going to collect and finalize all the data.”

California-based Anduril formerly assisted Microsoft with the $22 billion program by integrating the Lattice platform into the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS. Lattice allowed soldiers to see threats in real time by removing delays in processing signals between devices, according to a company statement.

Anduril will assume oversight of production, future development of hardware and software, and delivery timelines, according to a joint release from the two companies. Microsoft will continue to partner with Anduril on the project. Microsoft Azure will be the “preferred hyperscale cloud” for Anduril on all things related to IVAS.

Anduril Founder Palmer Luckey, the designer of the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift, laid out his vision for the future of the IVAS program Tuesday in a blog post titled, “Turning Soldiers into Superheroes.”

“For me, this announcement is deeply personal. Since my pre-Oculus days as a teenager who had the opportunity to do a tiny bit of work on the Army’s BRAVEMIND project, I’ve believed there would be a headset on every soldier long before there is a headset on every civilian,” Luckey wrote.

He wrote that IVAS will allow troops to “surpass the limits of human form and cognition, seamlessly teaming enhanced humans with large packs of robotic and biologic teammates.”

The Army has conducted IVAS-controlled drone flights for microdrones, such as the Black Hornet and other squad-level drones. The device is also used for inter- and intra-squad communication, both through voice and chat. Users can share map information, coordinates or other data via the headset.

In his blog post, Luckey said his involvement with IVAS signals his return to the forefront of technology. He maintains that the program is more than just a headset.

“IVAS isn’t just another product, it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine how technology supports those who serve,” Luckey wrote. “Whatever you are imagining, however crazy you imagine I am, multiply it by ten and then do it again. I am back, and I am only getting started.”

The Army has worked closely with Microsoft on IVAS since 2018. The current system was originally built on the commercially available Microsoft HoloLens device.

The service is working on the third of five prototypes of the device since the program began.

The current version, IVAS 1.2, is the second engineering validation build, Army Times previously reported. This version includes some design changes that must be implemented in the next prototype, as the service continues gathering troop feedback.

The following updates are in the works for IVAS 1.2:

• A low-light camera with increased sensitivity
• Improved low-light focus mechanism, especially when wearing gloves
• More robust bumpers, cables, bungees and tethered solar caps
• Hinge improvements for usability, display clarity and durability
• Improved transport case and mission bag for better storage and protection
• Minor visor and display improvements for greater clarity and durability
• Software improvements

This spring, soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, will conduct a battalion-sized operational field assessment of the device. Following the development of its 1.2 version, the Army will be poised to award a production contract to build the device for full fielding.

Two recent postings under the U.S. Special Operations Command small business innovation research program seek solutions for those two issues among special operations forces.

SOCOM wants a helmet mount that will work across various aviator helmets with “various night vision goggle systems,” including the AN/AVS-6 and Wide Field of View Aviation Goggles. The mount must also work within the Aviation Night Vision Imaging System mount currently used by special operations forces, according to the listing.

The portable oxygen device must not only hold oxygen but also generate it. The purpose, according to the posting, is to “improve oxygen therapy at point-of-need in an austere, pre-hospital environment.”

Operators need a rugged, compact instrument that can provide oxygen “as far-forward as possible” to cut down on the use of oxygen cylinders, according to the posting.

The Pentagon has focused in recent years on improving the delivery of medical aid in remote and austere locations across the services. Decades of ready medical services during the Global War on Terror allowed for rapid response to medical emergencies and theater evacuations for advanced medical care.

Most war game projects are showing higher casualties and less access to medical care in future conflict than in previous combat operations.

SOFWERX, a platform that conducts research and development for SOCOM, plans to hold a virtual Q&A session on the two initiatives on Feb. 18, according to the listing.

Marine Corps Systems Command posted a request for information from industry on July 15 seeking white papers on how developers would provide sensing, detection, defensive and offensive ways to counter drone threats at the Marine squad and platoon-level.

A Marine squad is one of the service’s smallest units of action and contains between 13 and 15 Marines depending on manning. A traditional Marine Corps platoon holds up to three squads.

In February, the Corps began the search for counter drone tech to defend installations, according to a service solicitation. That equipment would also allow operators to jam drones and capture them without destroying them.

Industry submissions are expected by August 2 and those selected for consideration may get an invite to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California for a September live fire demonstration, according to the solicitation.

The service has been using the Light Marine Air-Defense Integrated System, or L-MADIS, which uses two all-terrain vehicles that combine jamming technology and traditional firepower, such as Stinger missiles, to take out drones.

But both of those solutions are for larger threats and must be either vehicle-mounted or stationary.

The squad and platoon-level Marines need to carry their own devices to detect, defeat and destroy group 1 and 2 drones. Group 1 drones weigh up to 20 pounds and fly under 1,200 feet.

Group 2 drones weigh between 21 and 55 pounds and can fly as high as 3,500 feet.

The new capability that the Corps wants would include detecting and tracking gear that uses acoustic or radio frequency detection, according to the solicitation. Those sensors would be worn by individual Marines and could have a handheld tablet, bracelet, earpiece or glasses “that receives alerts, warnings, notifications from an external sensor.”

The same capability at the platoon level could be vehicle, mast or tripod mounted, according to the solicitation.

On the offensive side of the counter-drone tech, the Marines want this individual piece of equipment to have either directional radio frequency or global positioning system jammers that can mount to a rifle.

But to destroy the threat at both the squad and platoon level, they’re looking for a rifle and rifle optic combination that can track the drone and use “enhanced ammunition” for weapons already in their inventory, to include “buckshot-like” 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50 caliber and 40mm grenade launchers.

Weapons that use those ammunition configurations include the M72 Infantry Automatic Rifle, the M240 machine gun, the M2 machine gun and the M320 and M32 grenade launcher and Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher.