Gun Firms Fear Army Carbine Fait Accompli
"LAS VEGAS -- And the winner of the U.S. Army competition to replace the M4 carbine is … the Army's new and improved M4 carbine.
At least that's the outcome gun makers attending Shot Show 2012 predict for the completion of the service's improved carbine competition.
The Army is nearing the end of the first phase of the competition, now referred to as the IC. The service will soon announce which companies can advance to the second phase, when Army testers will start shooting hundreds of thousands of rounds through the prototype weapons.
Phase one has had nothing to do with evaluating test prototypes, but instead has focused on weeding out companies that may not have the production capacity to make thousands of weapons per month. This has become a bitter point of contention that has driven away some companies with credible names in the gun business.
"I'm not going to dump half a million to a million dollars for them never to review my rifle," said Steve Mayer of Rock River Arms, standing amid his racks of M4-style carbines at Shot Show, the massive small-arms show here that draws gun makers from all over the world.
The Army invited vendors last June to submit proposals for off-the-shelf carbines that could replace the M4, made by Colt Defense LLC.
For more than three years, dozens of gun makers have been preparing for the chance to unseat the Army's M4, but it's unclear how many of those companies remain..."
For more:
http://www.military.com/news/article...tml?ESRC=eb.nl 
4Thanks
Linear Mode
