Simunitions
September 9th, 2010
Simunitions is a brand name used for ammunitions used in military training which was made by a Canadian Company called General Dynamics – Ordnance and Tactical Systems – Canada Inc. (GD-OTS) in Quebec, Canada. The product came about in the late 1980’s and is used worldwide by emergency response teams to achieve a more realistic method of training so the new trainees can experience more real life drills to better prepare them for real life situations.
Simunition ammunitions were created with the intention of firing it through police and military service weapons. Most Simunition cartridges require slight adjustment to the weapon to ensure that the normal service rounds cannot be fired during training.Simunitions also aim to reproduce a full recoil with reduced velocity rounds so trainees are able to get a more realistic training. These basic equipments help to improve the tactical skills of the trainees and increases their ability to respond to emergencies in order to save lives. The Simunition program includes many different types of training rounds, such as the CQT System, the FX Marking Cartridge, the Securiblank System, Greenshield System, Short Stop and DragonFly. Each round can be used in different situation.
The CQT System also called the Close Quarters Target Ammunition are polymer projectiles that utilize a pressurized gas system as FX in order to be used. This method allows the ammunition to travel at a much slower speed so that the target does not experience a lot of penetration. These ammunitions are mostly used for close range indoor training so persons can practice with it without using a bullet trap system. One of the advantages of the CQT System is that it is much cheaper to produce because the supplies used to make it can be bought at a reduced price.
The FX Force-on-Force System are training bullets that can be fired with a regular gun and it is particularly utilized in the USMC known as SESAMS. This ammunition maneuvers a special pressurized gas system to decrease the impact of the bullet. At first a detergent-based, water soluble colored marking compound is used to fill the projectile. The projectile then breaks upon impact and stains the target which allows the trainers to assess the accuracy and lethality of the hits.
Securiblank cartridges are blanks that can be fired through modified service weapons to fire simunition. Greenshield ammunitions don’t require the gun to be customized in order to be fired, the ammunitions are standard, lead-free, non-toxic lethal round made to be used in indoor training ranges. When the round is fired it fractures when it hits the target. Short stop simunitions are designed to be used in short-range training complexes in situations where ricochets and stray bullets could be a major concern. This ammunition is deadly and is made to shatter the target on impact and at the while retaining comparable recoil characteristics and accuracy out to 100 meters. This ammunition is made with a tracer variant that allows the rounds to be tracked visually in the day and night. Short Stop ammunition also does not need adjustments to the firearm. DragonFly is a 40x46mm training grenade designed to be fired from military grenade launchers such as the US M203. The grenade is available in three weights; light, medium, and heavy and comes with a reusable steel cartridge case. The round is made of inert black polymer and can be utilized in force-on-force training. The purpose of the DragonFly grenade is to minimize the possibility of injury by providing less damages to the range infrastructure and the fees associated with the preservation of the firing range.
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