Plus or minus 30 seconds
18 Series Bags has a great feature on Blackbridge Defense CEO David Burnett and the Shadow Mount Weapon System. Below is an excerpt and a link to the full article.
David told us that while he was deployed, he had recognized countless unsolved capability gaps plaguing the overall Helicopter Assault Force (HAF) mission. After his honorable discharge, David began inventing equipment that filled requirement gaps, such as a quick-release clamping device necessary to secure gear inside any rotary-wing platform. Unfortunately, that new and exciting product, which took over four years to develop, while bootstrapping the company, would never make it to mass DoD market penetration. Defeated and exhausted by the setback he recounted, “Like all SOF components, we had a motto. That motto was instilled in me through our selection process and will continue to aid in my decision-making process until the day I die. Night Stalkers Don’t Quit.”
David came to 10th Group wanting to see if the quick-release clamping device, or Tac Clamp, would have any applications on our ground vehicle fleet. Unfortunately, team guys didn’t see any added value in incorporating the device into their fleet. However, what came from the meeting was a request to implement the same quick-release technology in the clamping device, into a quick-release M240/M249 weapon mount for the fleet of SOCOMs Family of Special Operations Vehicles (FOSOV). Having spent significant time behind an M240, a light bulb went off once the main weapon mounting problem was conveyed.
You can read the full article at 18 Series Bags. Learn more about the Shadow Mount Weapon System
