"Ironman" backpack now being deployed to the sand boxes.

The Ironman ammo back pack is another example of American Ingenuity.
www.spacewar.com...
Bringing peace through superior fire power, the men of The 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa National Guard (another group of Hero's), needed a way to quickly reload their Mk-48. If your unfamiliar with the Mk-48

, see the video below.


That's when Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski, a great man of Winged Polish Husaria descent , came up with this idea, a modified ALICE with MOLLE.
"When we first arrived in theater in late October (2010), we were issued the Mk 48 7.62 mm machine guns," Winkowski said. "This was a new piece of equipment for us, and we struggled to come up with a solution for carrying and employing ammunition for it due to our small size and the inability to have a designated ammo bearer, as is common doctrine with the M240B. The ammunition sacks that came with it made it too cumbersome and heavy to carry over long, dismounted patrols and especially when climbing mountains. Initially, we came up with using 50-round belts and just reloading constantly, which led to lulls of fire and inefficiency.
So Winkowski grabbed an old ALICE (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) frame, welded two ammunition cans together - one atop the other after cutting the bottom out of the top can - and strapped the fused cans to the frame. To that he added a MOLLE (modular, lightweight load-carrying equipment) pouch to carry other equipment. "We wondered why there wasn't some type of dismounted (Common Remote Operating Weapons Station) that fed our machine guns instead of a mini-gun as portrayed in the movie," Winkowski said.
"So, I decided to try it using the feed chute assembly off of the vehicle CROWS. We glued a piece of wood from an ammo crate inside the ammo cans to create the decreased space necessary so the rounds would not fall in on each other. "My Mark 48 gunners, Spc. Derick Morgan and Spc. Aaron McNew, who also had input to the design and evaluation, took it to the range and tested it, and even with its initial shortcomings, it was much better than the current TTP (tactics, techniques and procedures) we employed.
On Feb. 26, 2011, our prototype 'Ironman' pack even saw its first combat use by Spc. McNew when our squad was ambushed by up to 50 fighters in a river valley, and it worked great!"
After attaching pictures of the prototype to a request for information, Winkowski gave it to forward-deployed science advisers from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.
The request landed on the desk of Dave Roy, a current operations analyst in the Quick Reaction Cell of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, or NSRDEC, military deputy's office.
"We looked at it," Roy recalled. "My first reaction was, 'Wow, that's cool.' I thought it was great."
In his 21 years as a Soldier, he had seen his share of ingenious solutions to problems.
"Our doctrine encourages Soldiers to think for themselves," Roy said. "That's why we're so effective on the battlefield. One of the things that makes us so effective against our opponents throughout history is the fact that we recognize the value of the doctrine, but we are not slaves to it."
Roy knew that there was no time to waste, because Soldiers on the ground needed a solution as quickly as NSRDEC could get it to them.
He consulted with Natick experts in prototypes, load carriage, machining and fabrication. Forty-eight days after the request was received, and after inspecting and measuring the Soldier's original, QRC had a prototype of the "High-Capacity Ammunition Carriage System" back in theater.
"I've dubbed it the 'Ironman,' because the unit in the field that developed the initial design is from the Iowa National Guard," said Roy, "and they are considered Task Force Ironman."


May G_D Bless our troops and American Ingenuity.
Violater1 out.

Hmm.. that weapon looks suspiciously like an M-249 S.A.W.

In my entire Army career I've never heard of an MK48.. unless it's a brand new invention. Or is that basically what they're calling an M-249 that has been fitted with an adaption that can fire 7.62?

I will admit I am currently Army Reserve ended my term of Active Army in April 2011 and haven't had interaction with military grade weapons since then.. so if that's a new weapon it is brand spankin' new.

ETA: That's Special Forces firing that weapon.. you can tell by the sword and lightning bolts. They get to do EVERYTHING without having to wear protective gear.. I hate'em By the way OP, I see the video says MK48 S.A.W. so that answered my question.

they took a concept that has been done in hundred of video games, movies, books, anything scifi related, and implemented it in real life as the military usually does. wouldnt called in american ingenuousness though it is cool.

the military likes using ideas other people create through works of fiction.

Originally posted by XelNaga
they took a concept that has been done in hundred of video games, movies, books, anything scifi related, and implemented it in real life as the military usually does. wouldnt called in american ingenuousness though it is cool.

the military likes using ideas other people create through works of fiction.

Other people like to implement military ideas into works of fiction. Trust me much of the technology you see in your video games has been around for awhile, you only get to see it and play with it on your high def tv as that is your only exposure, they get to play with it in real life.

Originally posted by 31Bravo
Hmm.. that weapon looks suspiciously like an M-249 S.A.W.

In my entire Army career I've never heard of an MK48.. unless it's a brand new invention. Or is that basically what they're calling an M-249 that has been fitted with an adaption that can fire 7.62?

I will admit I am currently Army Reserve ended my term of Active Army in April 2011 and haven't had interaction with military grade weapons since then.. so if that's a new weapon it is brand spankin' new.

ETA: That's Special Forces firing that weapon.. you can tell by the sword and lightning bolts. They get to do EVERYTHING without having to wear protective gear.. I hate'em

By the way OP, I see the video says MK48 S.A.W. so that answered my question.

edit on 2-5-2012 by 31Bravo because: (no reason given)

Your correct, it does. The MK-48 is it's bigger brother in a 7.62 size (as opposed to .223).

Originally posted by XelNaga
they took a concept that has been done in hundred of video games, movies, books, anything scifi related, and implemented it in real life as the military usually does. wouldnt called in american ingenuousness though it is cool.

the military likes using ideas other people create through works of fiction.

Really?
I disagree.
It is an American, that ingeniously improved on it to make it better, like the modern mechanical Cotton Gin, MRI Scanner, or Semi-automatic shotgun.
Please give credit, where credit is due.

reply to post by XelNaga


There is a difference between an idea and a functioning creation. It takes effort and ingenuity to turn ideas into reality. I wouldn't belittle them for it.

For the reader who wanted to know what the mk 48 mod 0 is.
MK 48 Mod 0 basic information

The mk 48 is essentially a scaled up FN minimi (aka M249 by US forces.) It is chambered in 7.62 x 51mm NATO and is essentially a very light gun compared to an m240B. They were initially issued to socom units first but now are being issued to other units as well.

Now onto the "ironman" backpack.... This product or idea has been built before and will be built again ... the earliest versions I heard about were actually civilian and used an aluminum ammo can from a helicopter not two normal ammo cans welded together.

This link here talks about the same packs being used in vietnam

Over on the Navy side, SEALs liked their regular M60s, used since ‘Nam with sawed-off barrels and no front sights. Some even utilized clever backpacks fitted with flexible feed chutes, capable of delivering a thousand rounds or more when things got particularly hairy. Yeah, the 5.56mm Stoner LMG and the M249 SAW had their place, but there’s no substitute for hard-hitting 7.62mm rounds. Unfortunately, the troubled E3 wasn’t up to the job.

In addition to this I know of several civilian machine gun owners that have been building predator style ammo packs for at least the last few years. This is not to denigrate the people in the field I'm just pointing out that this is not exactly new... and they aren't exactly doing it in the optimum manner either (reference my earlier comment about people using actual helicopter ammo cans and feed chutes which are all aluminum cutting down the weight drastically)

this video shows a similar backpack at an ar 10 demo in the 50's to 60's era www.youtube.com...=750s

civilian version of the same backpack
here's another civvie project for good measure

Originally posted by roguetechie
For the reader who wanted to know what the mk 48 mod 0 is.
MK 48 Mod 0 basic information

The mk 48 is essentially a scaled up FN minimi (aka M249 by US forces.) It is chambered in 7.62 x 51mm NATO and is essentially a very light gun compared to an m240B. They were initially issued to socom units first but now are being issued to other units as well.

Now onto the "ironman" backpack.... This product or idea has been built before and will be built again ... the earliest versions I heard about were actually civilian and used an aluminum ammo can from a helicopter not two normal ammo cans welded together.

This link here talks about the same packs being used in vietnam

Over on the Navy side, SEALs liked their regular M60s, used since ‘Nam with sawed-off barrels and no front sights. Some even utilized clever backpacks fitted with flexible feed chutes, capable of delivering a thousand rounds or more when things got particularly hairy. Yeah, the 5.56mm Stoner LMG and the M249 SAW had their place, but there’s no substitute for hard-hitting 7.62mm rounds. Unfortunately, the troubled E3 wasn’t up to the job.

In addition to this I know of several civilian machine gun owners that have been building predator style ammo packs for at least the last few years. This is not to denigrate the people in the field I'm just pointing out that this is not exactly new... and they aren't exactly doing it in the optimum manner either (reference my earlier comment about people using actual helicopter ammo cans and feed chutes which are all aluminum cutting down the weight drastically)

this video shows a similar backpack at an ar 10 demo in the 50's to 60's era www.youtube.com...=750s

civilian version of the same backpack
here's another civvie project for good measure

OH RAH! Lock n Load, Rock n Roll