MHS Update: Services Embrace Army's New Sidearm

The U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps all intend to replace the M9 9mm pistol with the Army’s new Modular Handgun System, service officials said today.

The announcement comes as the Army waits for the Government Accountability Office to rule on a protest filed by Glock Inc. in February against the Army's selection of the Sig Sauer P320 as the replacement for its current M9 9mm pistol.

The GAO is expected to make a decision in early June, but the service is free to continue work on the effort.

If the GAO upholds the award to Sig Sauer, the Army and the other services intend to buy 421,000 MHS pistols.

I wrote a story today that talks about this and how the Army has selected the first unit to receive its new side arm.

The Army awarded Sig Sauer a contract worth up to $580 million Jan. 19. Sig Sauer beat out Glock Inc., FN America and Beretta USA, maker of the current M9 9mm service pistol, in the competition for the Modular Handgun System, or MHS, program.

The 10-year agreement calls for Sig to supply the Army with full-size XM17 and compact XM18 versions of its 9mm pistol. The pistols can be outfitted with suppressors and accommodate standard and extended-capacity magazines.

The service launched its long-awaited XM17 MHS competition in late August 2015 to replace its Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol. The decision formally ended the Beretta's 30-year hold on the Army's sidearm market.