USAF Shows off New Aircrew Takedown Bailout Rifles

By Chris Eger

Airman First Class Zack Day, 366th Operation Support Squadron, assembles an Aircrew Self Defense Weapon (Photo: USAF)
The U.S. Air Force recently highlighted the new Aircrew Self Defense Weapons that make up part of the survival kit pilots would rely on should they have to eject.
The compact modified GAU-5/A rifles, which have folding pistol grips and a quick-detach barrel/handguard, have been in development for the past several years and are a component of a 40-pound bailout set that includes flares, a flashlight, a life raft, medical and survival modules, noted the Air Force earlier this month. The guns can be quickly assembled and are packed with four, 30-round 5.56mm magazines.
“Survival kits are there to make sure our aircrew have everything they need should a bad day occur,” said Master Sgt. Mark Caron, with the 366th Operation Support Squadron, supporting F-15E Strike Eagle units at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. The 366th trains and outfits aircrews for what the military terms survival, evasion, resistance, and escape– in short, keeping bailed out pilots alive on the ground in often unfriendly areas until they can be rescued.
For decades, the military issued various revolvers and pistols to aircrews but in 2017 began to

Source: Guns.com