M4, in Their Sights
Competitors See Opening To Challenge Colt For Billion-Dollar U.S. Army Carbine Market
The U.S. Army says it's standing by its M4 carbine, but doubts about the weapon's reliability have energized the small-arms world, which is now painting a target on a billion-dollar market that has been seemingly locked up by M4 maker Colt Defense LLC.
The latest round of controversy surrounding the M4 came in late November, when the embattled carbine finished last in an Army reliability test against several peers.
The M4 suffered more stoppages than the combined number of jams by the three other competitors - Heckler & Koch XM8, FNH USA's Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) and the H&K 416.
The Army downplayed the test results, maintaining that soldiers using the M4 in combat praised the weapon in a recent study by the Center for Naval Analysis.
"What we are hearing from the field is that we are not seeing any great amount of stoppages due to the conditions. What soldiers are doing is cleaning their weapons often," said Richard Audette, deputy program manager for soldier weapons, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
Nonetheless, service officials did acknowledge that changes could be made to the magazine to decrease the amount of stoppages. Now, the Army is redesigning the M4 carbine's magazine to help it feed rounds more consistently.
"The magazine spring is going to be made of thicker wire, will have a wider coil profile and flat end coils. The follower, or material on top of the spring that allows for consistent feeding of rounds into the weapon, is being improved as well," said Lt. Col. Tim Chyma, product manager for individual weapons. Audette added that testing of the improved magazine is slated for this summer.
But these recent test results aren't the first time the M4's performance has come under scrutiny.
The Army's Delta Force replaced its M4s with the HK416 in 2004 after tests revealed that a piston operating system reduces malfunctions while increasing the life of parts.
The M4, like its predecessor, the M16, uses a gas tube system, which relies on the gas created when a bullet is fired to cycle the weapon. Weapon experts say the M4's system of blowing gas directly into the receiver of the weapon spews carbon residue that can lead to fouling and heat that dries up lubrication and causes excessive wear on parts.
U.S. Special Operations Command has also revised its small-arms requirements. In November 2004, SOCom awarded a developmental contract to FN Herstal to develop another piston for its new SCAR, which is also piston-operated, to replace its weapons from the M16 family.
Officials with Colt declined to comment.
These moves to oust the M16 family have ignited enthusiasm and creativity in the small arms community. Many gun companies view the controversy surrounding the M4 as justification to plan ahead for the chance to produce the Army's next rifle.
Even small players like Magpul Industries are daring to dream big. The Boulder, Colo., company - best known for inventing a molded-plastic, magazine attachment that helps combat troops perform speedy magazine changes - just last year unveiled a new carbine system known as the Masada.
The weapon features a gas piston operating system, tool-less quick change barrels, multi-adjustable folding stock and is compatible with a number of M16 family parts.
"There is a huge amount of energy in the small arms industry," said Magpul President Richard Fitzpatrick, who described how his company produced a firing prototype of the Masada in four months for less than $100,000 without military support. "You don't need to spend five years and millions of dollars to do it."
There is also a growing frustration among arms makers that the Army is wedded to a single company.
The Army adopted Colt's M4 in the mid-1990s. So far, the service has bought roughly 280,000 M4s and plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to arm the entire Army with it.
The Army has made many small changes to the M4 in the last decade, but some argue that the carbine still has the same operating system as the M16s combat troops carried 40 years ago in the jungles of Vietnam.
Hot Topic
This is likely to be one of the main topics of conversation at the National Defense Industry Association's (NDIA's) International Infantry & Joint Services Small Arms Systems Symposium this May in Dallas, said Brian Berger, chairman of NDIA's Small Arms Committee.
The event, "Enhancing Small Arms Effectiveness in Current and Future Operations," will include a presentation focusing on the M4 and its recent performance in Army reliability tests, Berger said.
Army weapons officials agreed to perform the dust test at the request of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in July, following reports that elite special operations units wanted to ditch the M4 in favor of carbines they consider more reliable. The Army plans to spend more than $300 million to purchase M4s through fiscal 2009 when the service takes over the "technical data" rights from Colt.
From there, the Army will either compete the M4 design for the best deal or hold a "performance-based competition" for a new carbine if the Army has made significant changes to its performance requirements, Army officials said.
Berger, who worked for Colt from 1980 to 1995, said there is frustration in the arms community that the Army has not given fair consideration to the modern carbine technologies available on the market today.
"I think it really justifies a competition," Berger said, explaining that NDIA exists to encourage and promote new innovations in technology. "I personally think it is always a good thing to go back and take a look and see if something out there is better."
On the other hand, Berger defended the Army for its past efforts to develop cutting-edge advancements in weapons technology.
Leaping Ahead
Over the past 20 years, the Army has been searching for a next generation weapon to replace the M16 family - one that will arm soldiers with a revolutionary leap in performance.
There was the Advanced Combat Rifle program which began in the mid-1980s. The ACR program tested several weapons that fired exotic types of ammunition such as lightweight, caseless rounds and low-recoil, flechette rounds.
When that didn't work, the Army spent the 1990s developing the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, a gun designed to fire projectiles that explode in the air and rain shrapnel down on the enemy. But at 18 pounds, the prototype proved too heavy for combat troops.
So far, "they really haven't seen the results that are revolutionary or better than what they have in the current systems," Berger said.
This is one of the reasons why Magpul recently signed a deal with Bushmaster Firearms International to produce and market its Masada prototype, Fitzpatrick said.
The new weapon system will be known as the Adaptive Combat Rifle. It will initially be offered in 5.56mm NATO caliber for civilian and law enforcement, but military versions are scheduled to be ready by this fall.
"Everyone was waiting for the Army to come out with the next big leap" said Fitzpatrick, who served in a Marine reconnaissance unit from 1988 to 1994 before founding Magpul in six years later. "We have come to the conclusion that that isn't going to happen anytime soon."
Magpul, Bushmaster and other small-arms companies believe "there is going to be a bridge weapon between the M16 and the new, uber-weapon the Army wants," he said. "Our judgment is there is going to be a need for something, so let's get it ready now." ■
E-mail: mcox@militarytimes.com, kosborn@defensenws.com.
Help
