Looks like the Marine Corps has decided to purchase 35,000 P320 MHS (M17/M18) handguns in the upcoming year, as a replacement for their mish-mash of existing handguns, including the Beretta 92FS (M9/M9A1), Glock 19M (M007), and Colt 1911 CQBP (M45A1). Replacement of existing handguns is set to begin in early 2019.
The US Marine Corps is set to replace its M9s with 35,000 Modular Handgun System pistols, budgeting over $6 million for the procurement. Since the US army’s adoption of the XM17/18 in January 2017, there has been much speculation around if and when the other services would follow. It seems the Marine Corps will be the first.
The recently published 2019 Fiscal Year Budget Estimates Justification Book for United States Marine Corps procurement gives us some insight into the Corps small arms aims for the next couple of years. The adoption of SIG Sauer’s Modular Handgun System is one of the USMC’s major short term small arms programs.
The Corps’ 2019 Budget Estimates justified the adoption of the new pistol, stating:
"The Modular Handgun System will be purchased to replace the legacy M9, M9A1, M45A1, and M007 pistols with a more affordable and efficient pistol for maintenance. The MHS also provides modularity and greater shooter ergonomics over the current models which will allow for more accurate fire for military personnel of different sizes."
From this short passage we learn that the USMC is planning on also replacing their recently acquired Glock 19M pistols, which were adopted back in November 2017 as the M007, to fulfil the Corps’ conceal carry weapon requirement. The budget justification also notes that in addition to the procurement of MHS itself, the Corps will also spend an estimated $4 million on the purchase of accessories “such as customized holster, lights, etc.” for the new sidearms. This appears to be confirmed by a sources sought RFI recently posted on FedBizOpps.gov requesting: “industry input that identifies potential sources for holster sleeve for the Modular Handgun System (MHS) (P320 Sig Sauer handgun) Compact ([XM18]) version”
This may also indicate that the Marine Corps is more interested in the compact XM18 than the full size XM17, the RFI from the Marine Corps Systems Command confirms plans “to purchase a minimum of 2,000 with a possibility of up to the maximum quantity of 40,000 MHS holster sleeves over the life of the contract.”
The Marine Corps did not responded in time for publication to our request for confirmation of the procurement but last year a spokeswoman from the Marine Corps confirmed that the Corps has been involved in all of the MHS program testing, but admitted they did not yet have a timeline for procurement. The USMC’s Budget Justification Book indicates that the purchase will be made during the 2019 fiscal year, with 35,000 pistols acquired for $6.3 million. This gives a per pistol cost of $180.
The 35,000 pistol figure confirms earlier reports of the number of pistols the USMC would purchase. It remains to be seen if the estimates of 130,000 pistols for the Air Force and 61,000 Compact M18s for the Navy will also prove to be correct. According to the budget estimates the contract for the pistols is scheduled to be awarded in Jan 2019 with the first pistols to be delivered in Feb 2019.
Please, gentlemen, if you feel that you're about to rehash anything covered in this thread, refrain.
The thread currently stickied at the top of this area, contains information about known flaws and progress.
The P320 is here to stay, and will evolve in much the same way as many platforms before it. Lets try not to rehash old ground with this development.
Arc. ______________________________ "Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed"- Johnny Cash "I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel." - Pee Wee Herman Rode hard, put away wet. RIP JHM "You're a junkyard dog." - Lupe Flores. RIP
Posts: 27000 | Location: On fire, off the shoulder of Orion | Registered: June 09, 2004
Originally posted by arcwelder76: Interesting, but not surprising.
Yep.
The M17/M18 has also been accepted for service by the Air Force and Navy, but neither branch has of yet announced a plan or time frame for purchasing or issuing them.
Funny thing is ( doesn’t seem to matter if we talk about weapons field uniforms com gear etc) the military always talks about standardizing to simplify logistics and reduce costs and then a short time later to off on tangents. When I joined they had just started fielding the woodland BDU. This was planned to be the field uniforms for all services. A few years later the Marines decided they needed to be different and got a new pattern, then the other services followed suit (NO pun intended) right after the beretta was adopted a call for a compact pistol for limited applications resulted in the M11 adoption. Special ops formations have always added limited use items different from regular troops. I wonder when some element of the service will get approval for an alternative pistol for a specific purpose the sig is not ideal for?
Posts: 3287 | Location: Finally free in AZ! | Registered: February 14, 2003
Politics is always a factor. It's what brought about the advent of the M16, among many others, and it will always play a part.
Even the Military, will never do anything solely based on what is prudent militarily.
Of course, what exactly is that, besides a number of criteria based on cost, strategy, politics, security, and fuckall else?
Arc. ______________________________ "Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed"- Johnny Cash "I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel." - Pee Wee Herman Rode hard, put away wet. RIP JHM "You're a junkyard dog." - Lupe Flores. RIP
Posts: 27000 | Location: On fire, off the shoulder of Orion | Registered: June 09, 2004
Feedback I am receiving from active special ops people who have used the P320 is that they are quite pleased with the pistol, and it becomes more popular among all the services as more knowledgeable folks go to the range with them. No surprise that the Marines are adopting it. Also, please note that Special Ops folks have their own checkbook so they can get whatever special weapons they need for their missions without going through a long drawn out evaluation process.
Almost everyone will shoot a 320 better than a B92. That is not to say there are plenty of da/sa guys who prefer the Beretta. I love Berettas. I have more of them than Sig’s probably. But, put 100 sailors/Marines/soldiers/airmen on a range and go back to back and they will overall shoot the 320 variant better. That is quantifiable.
The 320 is good stuff, as is the Glock, as is Beretta.
Posts: 7469 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 18, 2005
