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The 'real deal' LeMas 'blended metal' continues to impress
Read evaluator comments on LeMas ammo What makes LeMas ammo special is its ability to penetrate hard barriers, such as body armor and steel plate, yet not pass through a soft medium, such as a human torso. And its effectiveness against glass gave rise to what had become an annual Shoot-out showdown between ballistic glass manufacturer ADS and LeMas. Evaluators at this year's demo, like most of those at previous Shoot-outs, were unanimous in the opinion that LeMas ammo should be subjected to realistic testing — live-tissue testing — by the military. If it performs as well during a formal, scientific evaluation as it appears to have during our unscientific demos, and as well as its supporters insist it will, it should be rushed into service with selected military units. AFJ has said this before. In response, in a letter to the editor in May 2004, Col. Thomas F. Spellissy, the former (now retired) director of special programs at the U.S. Special Operations Command, which was to oversee blended metal bullets testing, said testing would occur. More than a year later, we're still waiting. This year's demo by LeMas put various rifles and pistols (some types with varying barrel lengths) into evaluators' hands and let them shoot steel, body armor, raw meat and clay with LeMas ammo and with the shooters' choices of other ammo by top producers. No surprise, the LeMas rounds won, hands down. Although we've heard similar comments before, here's what some of this year's evaluators said. "DoD had better buy all of this ammunition before anyone else gets hold of it and shoots it at us. LeMas rounds are much more effective than our 5.56 ammo." From a first-time observer: "That's one hot load. If I were using my .308 in CQB [close-quarters battle], this would be a good choice. Makes very large temporary cavities. Clearly appears better than current service ammo." And this, after seeing a 9mm LeMas round fired from a pistol about 10 feet away from a 1/8-inch T308 stainless steel panel punch through the target while other manufacturers' ammo only dented it: "Both pistol rounds [a .45 delivered similar results] showed performance completely unexpected for pistol rounds. Armor piercing and limited penetration? The Army needs this for its new pistol!" LeMas' demo prompted an evaluator to pen the longest commentary received at Shoot-out '05: "Having seen these rounds several times over the past few years, I can summarize by saying they not only continue to perform but to exceed expectations. "What is disappointing is that there continues to be little to no improvement in the attention DoD and the services pay to this ammo. Ironically, this is ammunition that could be saving lives in current conflicts by increasing the lethality of U.S. ground troops. It has potential secondary effects of reducing non-combatant casualties by eliminating the over-penetration of current rounds. As with many, many other Shoot-out items, it's time for the 'good old boy' network of large defense contractors and lethargic acquisition authorities to wake up and smell the cordite. "The only thing keeping this capability from falling into the hands of our adversaries is that the manufacturers are great Americans. Like thermobaric [technologies], our adversaries will eventually obtain a similar capability and we'll be playing catch-up at the cost of soldiers' and civilians' lives. "... The DoD acquisition authority recently announced the intent to implement Six Sigma for defense acquisitions, using the industry standard. From determining the voice of the customer to selecting and evaluating potential capabilities, this event and what the innovations by industry represent are examples that should be benchmarked. "… It's time to change the attitude of the Fort Bennings and other combat developers who, when presented with several of these innovative capabilities, resort to the 'we don't have a written requirement for that' line. Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, there was no 'written requirement' to defend our airspace against suicide attacks using commercial airliners. Thousands paid with their lives." |
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