Everyone accepts that a new service pistol will come; it’s really only a question of when. However, progress toward that goal has been at time glacial. Interest in new pistols for U.S. forces has been a protracted saga with debates over caliber dominating discussions. A series of initiatives to procure new pistols has only resulted in cancellation, postponement or reappearance under a new name.

In 2005, USSOCOM kicked off a Foreign Comparative Testing program for a new close quarter battle pistol to replace its P226 Navy. At this time, both the Army and Marine Corps were also considering a new weapon, based on a .45 ACP capable pistol. The former’s requirement designated the Future Handgun System. All three efforts were subsequently merged under the Joint Combat Pistol project, placed under the aegis of USSOCOM, and tasked with evaluating nondevelopment pistols with a requirement for nearly 650,000 pistols. This work was subsequently stopped, but the requirement remained, and in 2007 the Air Force issued an RFI to replace its M9s with a .40 S&W or .45 ACP sidearm, under the Air Force Future Handgun program. The request for funding was quickly quashed by Congress, which instead directed further studies of joint pistol requirements and the evaluation of available weapons from Beretta USA, Glock, FNH USA, H&K Defense and SIG Sauer. This time the procurement would be known as the Modular Handgun System and would be the responsibility of PEO Soldier Individual Weapons. Of note is that no caliber has been specified for this requirement other than to cite the improved lethality of the existing M882 9 mm round. This effort is still building specifications, but they are not releasable at this point.

BERETTA

The Beretta USA provides the mainstay of U.S. sidearms with the ubiquitous M9, which, despite being selected in 1985, continues to attract large DoD orders. Jeffrey Reh, vice general manager for Beretta USA, explained, “There are actually two large contracts in play right now. In January we were awarded a $220 million IDIQ contract for the purchase within the next three years of up to 450,000 pistols. The contract is intended primarily to supply pistols to U.S. allies, through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, with delivery to occur within the next seven years. The first 36,100 pistols have already been ordered for the Iraqi government. There have been other FMS customers in the past, but not in these quantities.” This contract is for the Model 92FS, identical to the M9 apart from the markings.

The second acquisition, another IDIQ contract for up to 100,000 M9 pistols, is specifically for the U.S. armed forces. Bids for this contract closed at the end of April. Reh expects this will meet its increased Army Acquisition Objective for the M9.

Beretta is the only manufacturer of the M9. However, as part of the original acquisition, DoD acquired a technical package and government usage rights, which allow the government to offer the design to be manufactured by other interested parties. The first deliveries are due in January 2009. This contract covers the M9—not the recent M9A1/Pistol Rail System with Integrated White Light Pointer—developed in conjunction with Insight Technology Inc. to meet military police and SOF Requirements and distinguished by the use of an integrated Picatinny rail.

Reh explained that the added material to the frame for the newer weapon actually enhances the pistols’ overall durability. There is no room in the front forward part of the receiver to subsequently add the rail to the standard M9.

Reh said, “Special forces was the first group that came to us and asked if we would explore an integral light rail, and they have bought small quantities. The USMC, however, really saw the advantages of the design and have purchased larger numbers.

“The M9 frame we produce for the Army is exactly the same as it has always been,” Reh said. “We have added metal in some locations, so we have a more robust design, and the remaining components are commercial equivalents that make the guns more producible without sacrificing reliability. The pistols are now at higher rates of reliability than they ever were, averaging about 21,000 rounds between malfunctions.”

Beyond the M9, Beretta has added the new PX4 Storm to its portfolio, which was selected for a homeland security role by the Canada Border Services Agency in 2007. PX4 stands for “pistol times four calibers” and fires .45ACP, .40 S&W and 9 mm. “We haven’t chosen a fourth caliber for it yet,” said Reh. The pistol is a polymer-famed semi-automatic design and has a larger magazine capacity than the M9, although it shares the same four major—and in some cases, redundant—safety features with the M9, which Reh describes as the safest design on the market.

These comprise an external safety decocker, a firing pin block so that in order to fire the pistol, the firer has to deactivate the safety and then pull the trigger all the way to the back to move the block, so that the hammer can hit the firing pin and discharge the cartridge. There is also an integral firing pin, which is basically a spring that holds the firing pin back. This integral firing pin prevents discharge if the pistol is dropped, and the trigger is deactivated if the safety is engaged.

Reh said, “In the 4 million Model 92 or M9 pistols worldwide, there is not a single accidental discharge that has been attributable to a defect in the pistol itself. That same technology is used in the PX4.”

The PX4 includes additional features, such as a recoil buffer. Reh said, “It makes it feel like you are firing one caliber less; 40 S&W feels like 9 mm, and a 9 mm feels like a .380.”

Accuracy has been built upon for the new weapon. Reh said, “The M9 is relatively accurate for a combat pistol. With the PX4, we wanted an almost match grade level of accuracy with an off-the-shelf combat product, and we have had great success in doing that.”

SIG SAUER

Pete Kujawski, head of International Sales for SIG Sauer, outlined the success of the company’s pistols in meeting diverse requirements in the United States. “The P226 is the standard bearer of our classic line, with a steel slide and an aluminum frame. We have been providing the P226 to the Navy SEALs for in excess of 20 years. It is something that they have become endeared to because of its reliability, durability and its accuracy. There have been many attempts by other companies to offer something different, but the SEALs have stayed with the P226, despite advances in pistol technology.”

The British Special Air Service has used the P226 for a number of years, and the British Army has recently switched from its L9A1 FN High-Power to the P226 for conventional Army units deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

“The next generation in SIG Sauer’s combat pistols is the P250. This has a solid steel fire control mechanism or frame, married up with solid steel slide and interchangeable polymer grips of various sizes, making what we believe to be the world’s most modular handgun,” explained Kujawski. “The P250 is also the only pistol that will accept four different calibers: 9 mm, .357 SIG, .40 S&W and .45 ACP.” He argues that it is the only true multicaliber pistol. “Others offer what they call a family of pistols, but each pistol is a unique pistol. It’s not a dual or multicaliber pistol.”

“The P250’s revolutionary pistol design is by no means replacing the classic series of pistols. Many end users, like the Navy SEALs, would rather have something in their hands that is proven tried and true, for tens of years.”

The company has had a number of successes with its .357 SIG round, being taken up by the Secret Service and federal air marshals. Kujawski said, “They are convinced of its terminal ballistics, its velocity and flat trajectory. It is their round of choice because when it penetrates glass, it maintains its trajectory.”

DoD users of SIG Sauer pistols include the U.S. Army, which selected the P228 to meet its M11 requirement for a more compact sidearm to aid in concealment. The M11 is used by some SOF as well as the Army Criminal Investigative Division and the Navy Criminal Investigation Service—the latter recently opting to upgrade to the P229. The new P229 and the P239 are successors to the P228 in the compact and subcompact line and are largely distinguished by the replacement of the thick-gauge sheet metal slide used in the P228 with a machined stainless steel slide, to better cope with the .40 S&W round. The U.S. Coast Guard also recently selected the P229 DAK model for its personal defense weapon requirement, replacing the M9.

The SIG Sauer Range can be equipped either with a true Picatinny Rail, or a slightly modified version. “We don’t do it to exclude anyone’s accessory on the front end of the pistol like some of our competitors do. Customers are asking for the full spectrum of illumination devices, infrared and active pointing lasers and also right on into night vision equipment.”

SIG Sauer pistols are also being acquired by DoD to support allies, including local forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. In April of this year, SIG Sauer announced a $306 million contract through the U.S. Army Materiel Command, which will see Colombia’s police force standardize on the company’s SP2022 polymer pistol, with the first order for 55,890 pistols, due to be delivered shortly.

Kujawski said, “The Colombian National Police purchased several thousand SP2009s several years ago. They had tremendous success with that pistol in their war against the FARC and narco-terrorists and wanted something as reliable as they had come to experience. We no longer make the SP2009, but the SP2022 is a performance enhancement over the earlier generation pistol.”

TACTICAL ELECTRONICS

The effectiveness of sidearms is influenced less by the pistol and more by the accessories that can be added to the weapon. Tactical Electronics’ remote viewing camera (RVC), explained the company’s vice president, Ben Kimbro, has been in service with Naval Special Warfare units and with other special operators in naval boarding scenarios, using weapons such as the H&K MK23 and SIG Sauer’s P226 since 2007. The 2.715- inch-long RVC is affixed to a Picatinny rail on the pistol’s front receiver, weighs 3.70 ounces, and sends a real-time 240-line-ofresolution, black-and-white picture up to a half-mile away to a display, communicated by a 2.4 GHz. In a ship-boarding scenario, the user would affix the system’s Velcro strapped 2.5-inch display to the forearm, allowing the pistol to be pointed and to give the user realtime vision around corners or at the point of transition from boarding ladders to going over the rail onto the vessels. The camera can be quickly zeroized to the weapon, also allowing engagement of targets while in defilade.

FN HERSTAL

FN Herstal’s Five-seven Tactical pistol, built around the company’s 5.7x28 round and originally conceived for its P90 personal defense weapons, is the latest new caliber offering in its pistol range. Designed to penetrate soft body armor at ranges of 200 meters from the P90 and an effective range of 50 m from the Five-seven, the round has a virtually flat trajectory and tumbles on impact when fired from either weapon. SS190 Ball rounds fired from the Five-seven have a velocity of 615 meters per second. The pistol carries a 20-round magazine but weighs only 775 grams loaded.

The delayed blowback Five-seven design began with a double-action-only solution, subsequently switching to a single-action option. This latter route was continued in the Five-seven Tactical variant released in 2004, which is now considered FN Herstal’s stabilized design for the weapon. New features in the tactical variant include the switch to metal sights from plastic, ergonomic changes to the design of the rear of the slide, and changes to the trigger guard, together with a reversible magazine catch.

The Five-seven pistol is typically sold as part of a weapon system package that includes the P90, and customers include some U.S. federal agencies.

FN Herstal is not pursuing a multicaliber pistol design. Instead the company is offering the FNP9 in 9 mm for both defense and law enforcement markets outside the United States and adding the FNP40 and 45 in .40 S&W and .45 ACP respectively for the North American market. All are polymerframe weapons.

FN Herstal has noted serious discussion in European military circles regarding switching to alternative calibers, such as .45 ACP, outside of SOF, but have yet to see this move to a definitive change in requirements or procurement.

All these weapons in the FNP family have now been upgraded and designated “improved.” The pistols are now offered as single action/double action or single action double action with safety. The option of single action only on these pistols has now been eliminated from the offering.

Efforts have also been made to improve ergonomics via multiple options giving the products a modular approach. The pistol grip design now uses pyramidal studs and has a number of backstrap options. Standard safety options include a visible red indicator when the round is chambered and visual and tactile cues to indicate the weapon is uncocked, decocked or cocked. Each weapon also includes an MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail as its standard accessory interface.

H&K

Heckler and Koch’s (H&K) offerings in the pistol domain remain based on the Universal Self-loading Pistol (USP), originally built for the .40 S&W, but subsequently extended to include 9 mm, .357 SIG and .45 ACP.

Hilmar Rein from H&K explained the emphasis the company was putting on matching the USP to the ergonomic requirement of the individual: “What we have tried to achieve is to ensure that everyone can use our pistols by having interchangeable grip shells left and right as well as back straps. We have female officers in the military and this is more so in the police.”

The 9 mm P30 with internal safety has recently been acquired by both German federal police and customs, and Norwegian law enforcement. Rein said, “The P30 was developed primarily to the specifications of the German police force. In this case, we were trying to achieve the maximum adaptation possible for different hand sizes.”

The USP and principally the USP Compact have also been sold to the Spanish police. Rein noted that he believes that the Spanish armed forces may move to this pistol as well. Sold to the German armed forces and selected by Èstonia, the P8 is a designation given to the USP variant.

The USP40 Compact in .40 S&W was also selected by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration in 2003 as its standard handgun for commercial airline pilots and is also used by the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Rein sees little demand for a multicaliber capable weapon. “When you are talking about SOF or police, they have a designated caliber that they use. It is easy and more convenient to allow them to carry more than one pistol for another caliber.”

For SOF, H&K has developed a number of weapons beginning with the MK23 Mod 0, which resulted from USSOCOM’s offensive handgun weapon system project, initiated in 1991 and for which H&K was selected in 1996, leading to the acquisition of over 2,000 pistols. The USP Tactical is a subsequent development that has taken many of the features of the .45 ACP MK23 but also features several options, including the use of .40 S&W. The most recent SOF offering is the USP45CT, a more compact offering with a standard eightround magazine with features such as an extended o-ring with polygonal bore profile and raised sights for use with a sound suppressor.

H&K also has developed its own new ammunition, the 4.6x30 mm round, which produces 50 percent of the felt recoil of a 9 mm round but can penetrate a CRISAT body armor target beyond 200 meters. Thus far, however, the P46—the pistol developed for the round—has not found a launch customer. Rein argues that is because of the success of the larger MP7A1 personal defense weapon, which is the primary user of the round. “The P46 so far has no market because the MP7A1 is so compact that you can fire it one-handed instead of [like] a pistol. The only reason for a pistol would be if you carried a very large, bulky system. But the quantities of pistols required for that role are so small that it is not worth the development.” ♦

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