#USArmy

Over the last few weeks TFB have been keeping abreast of the US Army’s Sub Compact Weapon program. The program to arm Personal Security Details with a new compact, concealable submachine gun saw contracts awarded to as many as 13 companies to supply weapons for testing. You can check out my two-part breakdown of the weapons submitted by the 13 to the program here & here.

The US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, posted a sources sought notice for a ‘Modular Combat Shotgun’ based upon the Remington 870 on 23 May.

In the first part of this series, we looked at the numerous pistol calibre AR-pattern entries and the promising B&T designs submitted to the US Army’s Sub Compact Weapon program. If you missed it you can check it out here.

We have been closely following the developments of the US Army’s new Sub Compact Weapon Program since the release of an extremely broad Request For Information back in May. With the recent award of no less than 13 sole source evaluation contracts for submachine guns its time we broke down the entries. In this two-part series, we’ll look at the entries.

PepperBall has announced that they have won a substantial contract to equip the US Army with their non-lethal Variable Kinetic System launcher. The contract is worth $650,000 and the PepperBall VKS is destined to equip troops in Afghanistan.

At a recent Close Combat Lethality Tech Day at the Pentagon, Program Executive Office Soldier showed off some of the new Multifunction Aiming Light, or MFALs, they have been testing. The new MFALs are designed to help soldiers acquire and hit targets quickly and efficiently in a variety of combat situations.

The US Army has expanded its upcoming Sub Compact Weapon evaluations adding three more weapons to the trials. Back in May PEO Soldier – Project Manager Soldier Weapons issued a Request for Information to industry for a Compact, concealable 9x19mm submachine gun. Following this the US Army’s Contracting Command posted a notice on FedBizOps awarding 10 sole source contracts on 8 June.

The concept of stacking projectiles on top of each other inside a self-contained cartridge dates back to the 19th century. It has subsequently been revisited dozens of times by arms designers from all over the world. In the 1950s the US Military experimented with duplex (two projectiles) and multiplex (multiple projectiles) cartridges during Project SALVO. This experimentation eventually led to the creation of the 7.62x51mm M198 Duplex round.

The US Army has confirmed that the M110A1 Compact Semi-Auto Sniper System (CSASS) is due to undergo production qualification testing and should be approved for limited user testing in early 2019.

Representatives from the Army’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier have recently discussed their work to replace conventional brass ammunition casings in an effort to reduce the load on soldiers in the field.

The US Army’s new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, or SDM-R, is set to be fielded at the brigade level starting in September 2018, according to the Program Executive Office Soldier.

The US Army is set to evaluate 10 off the shelf submachine guns to fill its recently identified Sub Compact Weapon role. Last month (May 2018) the US Army’s PEO Soldier – Project Manager Soldier Weapons issued a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain industry feedback on possible submissions for submachine guns.

The US Army’s ‘Third Arm’ first emerged in 2015, designed to redistribute some of the weight soldiers carry in their arms and shoulders to their abdomen. This, in theory, could make carrying heavy equipment and weapons over long distances much easier, lowering short and long-term impacts on troops’ health.

A potentially fatal flaw with some of the US Army’s M4A1’s has recently emerged. Unofficial footage, filmed by troops, surfaced showing a serious malfunction where an M4A1 carbine unintentionally discharged as its selector was shifted from semi to full auto. At least 900 carbines are known to be affected by the flaw.

Soldier Systems Daily recently shared a video purporting to outline the US Army’s new rifle qualification. The video posted by Circle Dog Production shows the 40-round course of fire that soldiers may soon have to shoot to qualify.