#USArmy

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory (CCDC ARL),  has developed a novel type of polymer filament. This is said to be capable of offering the performance of injection molded ABS on components printed with low-cost extrusion 3D printers. This advancement may achieve the goal of providing troops with the means of manufacturing, fast and inexpensively, vital parts in the field, instead of waiting for long delivery lead times.

Heckler & Koch USA has delivered the first shipments of the M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifles (SDMR) to the US Army.

With the recent release of the US Army’s FY2020 Budget Justification Books, we’ve seen some more exciting developments like procurement projection figures for the Next Generation Squad Weapon and the desire to replace the M2010 sniper rifle with the Precision Sniper Rifle. But the US Army’s ongoing M4 carbine modernisation program is just as important as these other programs, as it forms part of the Army’s ‘Army Modernization’ initiative which aims to ‘Build a More Lethal Force through enhancement of Joint Lethality’.

From the Department of Defense’s budget justification books for the fiscal year 2021 we get an idea of the procurement scale and timescale for the winning entry/entries to the Next Generation Squad Weapon program. We also get an idea of how many  Next Generation Squad Weapons – Fire Control Units will be procured to accompany the new NGSW rifles and automatic rifles. The program is one of the US Army’s most important and represents one of their six modernisation priorities and is supported by the Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team.

The US Army is moving to supplement and superseded the M993 Armour Piercing round and M80A1 Enhanced Performance Round, introduced back in 2016, with the new 7.62x51mm XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing Round. In October 2019, the Army authorised the urgent materiel release of the XM1158 round to accelerate its fielding. The Army is planning on a full materiel release for the round in FY 2020.

The US Army is in the market for more 7.62x51mm M134 ‘Miniguns’. A Request for Information (or RFI) was posted on the US Government’s new SAM procurement website on 30th January, 2020. The sources sought notice covers not just the M134 weapon system but also the necessary tools, parts and accessories to keep the guns in action. The ‘market survey’ is seeking “to identify sources/vendors capable of supplying M134” and its accessories.

Surplus M17 pistols? Already? You’re probably thinking ‘but they’ve only just adopted the Modular Handgun System.’ You’re right but the reason these M17s are now available as surplus is because the US Army has decided to transition away from the original Coyote Tan controls to pistols with black finished controls (slide release, safety, trigger, etc). So the Army basically swapped the early pistols for new production guns, giving SIG Sauer a number of original surplus pistols to offer onto the market.

Last month during the US India Yudh Abhyas 19 training exercise Indian Army snipers had an opportunity to get acquainted with the US Army’s M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle. The exercise took place at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington State, aiming to strengthen the relationship and improve combined interoperability between US INDO-PACOM Land Component Forces and the Indian Army.

The US Army, US Marine Corps and British Army are collaborating on developing new lightweight small arms ammunition. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in hybrid ammunition, especially those using polymer case components. Todd Townsend, supervisor of the research, development, test and evaluation for the Product Manager for Small Caliber Ammunition recently gave an update on US efforts to develop lightweight ammunition. He explained the Army, USMC and UK are working together to evaluate and refine lightweight ammunition including 5.56x45mm, 7.62x51mm and .50 BMG.

Last month Maxim Defense was sponsored by the U.S. Army’s MCoE “Maneuver Center of Excellence” to be part of the AEWE (Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment).

Olin Winchester have been awarded the contract to run the US Army’s premier ammunition manufacturing plant. Lake City Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri has produced small arms ammunition since the beginning of World War Two.

The roll out of the US Army’s new Modular Handgun System continues, with the U.S. Army’s Pacific Command tweeting on 16 September, that soldiers stationed in Alaska and members of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Div (or Spartan Brigade) received their new M17s. The soldiers took part in a “train the trainer” course to help familiarise their units with the new side arm.

TFB have been closely following developments in the US Army’s Next Generation Small Arms Program and it has been a while since we heard any major developments. On the evening of the 29th August, however, the Army Contracting Command posted an award notice for the NGSW program that signals progress in selecting the US Army’s next rifle and automatic rifle.

The US Army has announced that two companies have been selected to produce mounted machine gun optic mounts, with the companies competing for the various orders within a $48,800,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the optics.

North Carolina-based High Speed Gear have confirmed that they have been contracted to provide Heckler & Koch with more than 30,000 of their TACO magazine pouches as part of Heckler & Koch’s fulfilment of the Army squad designated marksman rifle contract. The pouches will likely also be issued along with the new Compact Semiautomatic Sniper System as both the CSASS and SDMR are based on HK’s M110A1 (HK417-based) rifle.