Both excellent guns, but the XDS is manufactured in Croatia, and the Shield is made in the US.
What really pissed me off is, as soon as I bought the Shield, they came out with it in .45. Only a tiny bit bigger. I may have another 4473 in my future.
Which brings us back to the original discussion, the best side arm (and caliber,) for the US Military. Using JHP's, the reason for the the .45 over the 9mm is greatly diminished. But the Military does not use JHP's, so I would recommend we go back to the .45 to produce a nice large wound cavity.