Posted on 11/15/2008 8:29:49 AM PST by re_tail20
As the Army scales back on its M4 carbine buys, the service’s top official said Thursday it’s time to look for the next carbine soldiers will carry into battle.
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren’s comments set the tone for the small arms industry day that drew 19 companies from across the country to Washington, D.C., with the hope of replacing the service’s M4 carbine.
“Today is an important step in an effort to ensure that our soldiers always have the best,” Geren said. “Not just the best today, but the best tomorrow.”
The Army-sponsored event is the result of a “request for information” the service put out in August to assess what the U.S. small arms industry is capable of producing.
The Army purchased of the remaining balance of 473,000 M4s Wednesday, which will be delivered over the next two years, Geren said.
“That completes the Army acquisition objective for the M4,” Geren said, adding that the service would continue to buy the M4 in reduced quantities to maintain adequate replacements as needed.
The M4 is the Army’s primary individual weapon. For more than a year, it has been the subject of increased scrutiny by lawmakers on Capitol Hill concerned about whether soldiers have the best available weapon.
Geren said the goal of the event is to help the Army determine what is “achievable in terms of carbine technology.”
This is the first step toward a carbine competition the Army intends to open next year after Colt Defense LLC, the company that makes the M4, turns over the weapon’s technical data rights in June 2009. When that happens, the Army will have the opportunity to improve the M4 or buy a new carbine.
Geren has directed the Army to update its requirement for a carbine to reflect the current and future needs of soldiers.
The new requirement is scheduled to be completed by the end of the calendar year and approved by next summer, said Col. Doug Tamilio, Program Executive Office Soldier’s project manager for Soldier Weapons.
Provided that the new carbine requirement is approved and funding is available, the Army will issue a formal request for proposal for a new carbine to gun makers late next year, Tamilio said.
Even Eugene Stoner realized the flaw in the AR-15... which is why he went on to design the AR-18.
He tried to get the government to adopt that rifle instead, but they’d already settled on the -15 and weren’t interested.
One problem.
“bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-PIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG!”
DPMS sells 7.62x39 ar-15 barrels and magazines.
There was never a belt-fed BAR.
And my problem with overkill would be?...
I like the 7.62 Nato round for any situation that may arise. While my new Sig 556 is a great answer to the AR in the 5.56mmm realm (dependable and accurate, AK meets AR), the caliber still stinks overall IMHO considering the rounds out their that have much better ballistics. I prefer my (shortened) FAL tactical. Works great in close quarters and long range too with plenty of stopping power.
Of course what do I know... I always go for overkill.
"out their"???...'scuse me OUT THERE. Man I need coffee before I start posting in the AM.
I don’t have a lot of M-14 experience, but I agree that they were heavy and so was the ammo compared to the M-16. Our ground pounders are already wearing very heavy body armor, and I just can’t imagine dragging around an M-14 in that sort of situation.
At the end of the day it is in my opinion all about shot placement. You hit somebody in the heart twice and once in the head they are going down. BTW do not forget to make sure they do not get up.
I’ve heard that theory before. But I don’t think it rings true in the current battlefield environment because they don’t act like traditional military units in how they treat casualties. It’s not an organized atmosphere. If a dude gets shot he continues to fight most of the time if he is decisively engaged. And I personally am not aware of Shia or Sunni fighters going out of their way to help retrieve wounded comrades. My knowledge of how they fight (I’ve never personally been involved in a firefight) is that they more or less scatter like quail when you start applying effective suppressive firepower, and leave their wounds to the individuals concerned.
You’re right there.
I agree with you that it doesn’t ring true in actual reality against our current enemy. R. Lee Ermey just put it forward because it was true in his war, Vietnam
Yep. The reason I practice frequently is to improve accuracy through trigger control, sight picture and breathing. I'm just concerned about ever relying on target ammo for defensive purposes with a handgun, should I ever run out of the good stuff. I've used +Ps in 9mm but it does seem to be hard on the gun (Springfield XD-9). Perhaps I should just suck it up and buy up whatever HP's I can afford before Obama slaps a 500% surcharge on the SOB's.
Impressive toy, but what if you shoot left handed? Where do the hot empties go?
>>Ever tote an M-1 around all day in 120 degree heat?
Parris Island is pretty close to 120 degrees.
Thanks guys real nice reading!
The reason I asked is it would seem time to move on from a cased design. Imagine the weight savings.
Not that I have a clue about the specifics.
I do remember reading about Metal Storm. What ever happened to that? Isn’t there something that can be done to leap a generation ahead in small arms?
MetalStorm has many different problems:
1. You have to take it back to the armory or the factory to reload it.
2. You cannot tailor your load to what you need.
3. The point of impact changes with every round fired.
4. A MetalStorm weapon is HEAVY.
The leap forward (which nobody seems to have been interested in) would have been the H&K G11: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_&_Koch_G11
Forgot to mention, the US Army *is* also quietly funding research/competition for a caseless weapon as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_Small_Arms_Technologies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSAT_rifle
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