SYMPOSIA AT SHRIVENHAM: THE 22ND SMALL ARMS & CANNON SYMPOSIUM

By Dan Shea

Symposia at Shrivenham attendee Gregory Welteroth fires the British EM-2 Bullpup rifle in .280 caliber at an earlier Symposia. The Collection at Shrivenham is quite inclusive, and each year during the firing demo the Armoury Staff attempt to bring out some interesting firearms Photo by Dan Shea

19-21 August, 2008, Shrivenham, UK

There are two small arms conferences in the West that this author considers to be the most important in the world for the serious small arms community to attend: the NDIA Small Arms Symposium held every May in the United States, and the Small Arms and Cannon Symposium at Shrivenham held every August in the UK. While there are many excellent, larger trade shows that have some educational aspects to them, these two conferences stand out as events that encourage the dialogue between the shakers and movers in small arms design and end use.

There are differences between the two events, and how they are focused. NDIA is the larger of the two, but the sister event at Shrivenham has a very personal quality to it that keeps it popular with attendees, and important to the community.

The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom sponsors many defence related scholarly events every year. The Symposia at Shrivenham had its 22nd annual Small Arms event in August of 2008. The normal schedule was followed: three days of short lectures on various subjects, interspersed with breaks in the trade show exhibit area to share coffee, snacks, luncheon and tea with the exhibitors. This format has worked quite well in the past, allowing breaks from the lectures, and close interaction with the exhibitors.

*AIM InfraRot-Module’s display of infrared and visible source security cameras and surveillance systems introduced the attendees to what was possible for detail in their new modules.*

There were approximately 15 seminars in the lecture program; here are some examples of the seminars attended by the participants:

Less-Lethal Ammunition presented by Anthony Williams
Nammo’s 50 Caliber Ammunition Family by Jorn Amundsen
New Extended Range Shoulder Fired 40mm Grenade Systems by Danie Els
Aimpoint BR8 by Lennart Ljungfelt
Incremental Excellence; Tomorrow’s State-of-the-Art Assault Rifle Today by Jim Schatz
NATO Infantry Weapons Standardization by Per Arvidsson
Current and Future UK Small Arms Capability by Lieutenant Colonel James Daniel, MBE
UK Soldier Modernization Update by Colonel Peter Rafferty, MBE

The “Shrivenham” Small Arms & Cannon Symposium is located at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, UK. This is to the west of London off the M4 motorway. Contact

Lennart Ljungfelt, President of Aimpoint, shows the BR8 Fire Control System that he gave a presentation on. This appears to be one of the fastest 40mm target acquisition sights ever made. It was demonstrated for NATO recently and hopefully this system will be tested at the NDIA Small Arms Symposium Live Fire Demonstration in May in Las Vegas.

*Qioptic presented their VIPIR and VIPIR-2 Thermal Weapon Sights, and had a very active presentation.*

Mrs. Lynn Anderson,
Symposia Organiser
Symposia at Shrivenham,
MH23, DA-CMT
Cranfield University,
Defence Academy of the
United Kingdom, Shrivenham,
Swindon, SN6 8LA.
Tel: +44 1793 785648
E-mail: Lynn@symposiaatshrivenham.com
Website: www.symposiaatshrivenham.com
SAR would like to encourage the small arms community to lend their support to the 23rd Small Arms & Cannon Symposium on August 25-27 of 2009. Hope to see you there.