In late November, the US ground forces began to supply the troops the new gun M17, equipping them soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
New weapons - this is only the third gun, that the army is widely used in the past 100 years. It will replace the M9 pistol [standard army pistol, based at the Beretta 92F - Ed.] and become more widespread, than its predecessor, which was mainly used by military personnel, perform special or auxiliary functions.
After 18 years of fighting, during which US troops were often in a melee, produced a new concept of the use of handguns, and is the first step of the United States Department of Defense to improve infantry training standards.
The decision to arm the paratroopers gun in addition to their main weapons flowed directly from the real combat experience of soldiers. Besides, we gave commanders authority to issue short arms at their discretion
– said an army official in an interview with the messenger Army Times.
for comparison, platoon in the 101st Airborne Division now has at its disposal 46 M17, and not nine M9.
However, the investigation, conducted by the office of the Directorate of operational testing and evaluation (DOT&E) at 2017 fiscal year showed, that the M17 and its analogue, more compact M18 (its purchasing Air Force) We had constant problems during testing.
report DOT&E was prepared in the period from April to September 2017 of the year, but problems, he documented, They were not identified prior to the publication of a document in January 2018 of.
During testing, the weapon accidentally discharge - a problem, which manifested itself in another production version of the pistol Sig Sauer. The manufacturer announced the elimination of the problem, Although the proposed method, perhaps, It contributed to the splitting of the two triggers during testing, DOT said in a statement&E.
Both versions of the gun had a problem with the so-called "double release" – when coupled with the sleeve during the shooting and took off following her unspent ammunition. Army established group of root cause analysis, to find the cause of the misfire, but, the report said, "At the time of this report, the analysis is still in progress".
how “problem” M17, and M18 showed greater number of delays in the firing of ammunition with all-metal shell in comparison with the special purpose munitions. Both failed the average number of cycles between failures using bullets-metal shell.
The representative said Sig Sauer, that most of the problems, contained in the report, They belong to the early period of the weapons tests, and that since then the army has received thousands of guns of this design.
Sig Sauer company won the contract price $580 million. the supply of M17s and M18s modular pistols (MHS) in January 2017 with his pistol P320. The initial volume of deliveries will be 270 thousands of full-length and 7 thousands of compact pistols for the Army, and 212 thousands of guns to other segments of the armed forces.
US Army press service said, that at the moment all weapons, purchased under the program, It meets all safety requirements and operating. incidents, caused damage triggers, there were only two of about 10 000 acquired pistols and were not associated with a design flaw or manufacturing problems.
Despite the challenges, raised in the report, M17 was highly appreciated by the troops.
US Air Force received a shortened version of the gun, M18. They should replace the last remaining in the armed forces of the United States iconic six-Smith&Wesson, which is still used after six decades of service (beginning with 1956 of the year).
