US Army M4 Carbine-replacement competition.

[snakedocter]

Tough test for companies in carbine competition

By Lance M. Bacon - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Sep 26, 2010 9:02:41 EDT

The M4 will not compete in the forthcoming carbine competition, according to the colonel in charge. But, he adds, the winner will have to score “a knockout” if it expects to replace the Army’s primary weapon for the past 20 years.

The announcement comes amid skepticism by some industry leaders who have questioned whether the Army is serious about getting a new carbine at all.

“It is my belief if given the choice tomorrow, the Army would not compete a new rifle,” said Darren Mellors, executive vice president of LWRC International. “They would like to buy more M4 carbines sole-sourced from Colt with a few hand picked incremental improvements.”

Mellors said there are “valid reasons” for this, and acknowledged the M4 as a “highly successful platform” that has served America’s war fighters well. Mellors, like many other weapons manufacturers, believes he has a better weapon — but he isn’t sure if “better” will be good enough.

“The key word the Army is using is ‘measurable improvement,’ ” he said. “Measurable improvement will be the downfall of any contender in a competition if the Army uses the standard testing protocol the M4 was designed to pass.”

Many manufacturers with whom Army Times spoke echoed the sentiment.

Mellors’ solution is to allow industry to propose tests or objective requirements. “If they are going to ask industry for a solution, it has to be in a format where we can demonstrate value to the war fighter and the Army,” he said. “All we want is a level and wide-open playing field.”

Col. Douglas Tamilio, project manager for soldier weapons, was adamant that the competition will be exactly that.

“For someone to say that we’re not full and open or that we’re not serious about this is absolutely crazy,” he said. “We couldn’t survive.”

The Army will “spend over $30 million of taxpayer money just in testing to make sure we get this right,” he said. That means there will be congressional oversight. In addition, the Office of the Secretary of Defense will monitor test and evaluation, and the Army chief of staff is getting regular briefings.

“In short, the best weapon is going to win, and I don’t care who that is,” Tamilio said.

The competitors
The carbine competition is one half of a “dual path strategy” designed to give soldiers the best possible weapon. The strategy will make M4 improvements while simultaneously inviting industry to design a new carbine that can outperform the M4.

All of the major players are expected to compete. A few of the notable submissions include:

• The XCR by Robinson Armament Co.

• The M6A4 IAR, or similar variant, from LWRC.

• The Adaptive Combat Rifle by Remington.

• The SR-16 by Knight Armament Co.

• The SCAR by FNH.

• Colt will be looking to keep its corner on the market, and is likely to submit more than a dozen variants in the competition, including the CM901.

Tamilio could not speak to the specifics of the test, as the info is closely held to ensure no one has an unfair advantage. He did describe it as “robust” and said performance specifications will go to industry in the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

Because the tests will be done with enhanced — or “green” — ammo, industry also will get those specs to optimize their weapons for that round, he said. If the submission is other than a 5.56mm or 7.62mm caliber, the manufacturer will have to supply its own ammo.

Although the M4 will not compete, it is the basis on which all others will be judged.

“The only way the M4 would be the weapon of choice is if nothing is significantly better than the M4,” Tamilio said. “It’s like being a boxing champion. You don’t beat him, you don’t win — and this has to be by a knockout.”

Tamilio said he will release a draft request for proposal late this year to give industry a preliminary idea of what is expected. An industry day will follow in which officials will answer questions and provide clarity. The official RfP will go out in the second quarter of fiscal 2011, which begins in January. Manufacturers will have a set time, typically a few months, to respond with their proposed weapons.

The weapons will face off in tests Tamilio describes as “extreme and extensive.” The Army will fire more than 1 million rounds over 12 to 18 months to produce piles of data. The weapons will be tested to their destruction point. Soldiers will be involved in every facet of the testing, Tamilio said.

“Other organizations in the Army and DoD have looked at weapons, tried something, thought it was better, tested it, then came back and went somewhere else because they find things over long terms of testing or usage of weapons,” Tamilio said.

Not this time. The tests will determine whether the weapons maintain accuracy throughout their life cycle — something the military has not tested before. A weapon typically loses accuracy as it ages.

Once the tests are done and a victor is determined, Tamilio will deliver the results to the Army chief of staff. Then the decision makers will determine whether the service should go with the top carbine or an improved M4 as it recapitalizes the force. In an era of diminishing budgets, the winning carbine must hit financial goals as well as it hits targets.

The M4 runs about $1,300 per copy. Tamilio said he hopes the fair and open competition will improve quality while driving down that cost.

If the challenger fails to knock out the M4, soldiers will get the improved M4A1 that provides a heavier barrel and automatic fire. The next 12,000 M4s from Colt will be this variant. Another 25,000 and roughly 65,000 conversion kits would be purchased through open competition, Tamilio said. He expects new start approval in three to four months.

If the challenger scores a knockout, the winner will be required to sell its technical data rights soon after. Tamilio said the victor will get the bulk of the contract, but get two other manufacturers to join in production. Expanding the new contract to three suppliers expands the industrial base and enables a higher rate of production.

“We’re not getting into the same boat we did before,” Tamilio said.

[Vintageologist]

Aber im Endeffekt wurde das SCAR doch bereits abgelehnt, WEIL es nicht diesen "knockout" Vorteil gebracht hat... hmm naja

[snakedocter]

das SCAR doch bereits abgelehnt

von SOCOM!

die army kocht ihr eigenes süppchen

aber am ende wird es womöglich ein short stroke upper
dass senkt die kosten und zeit in der ausbildung

[cobaltbomb]

mah jetz wos die BL gibt tauschen die das gwaff aus

wie dem auch sei, das wird ein spannendes rennen

[Vintageologist]

mah jetz wos die BL gibt tauschen die das gwaff aus

wie dem auch sei, das wird ein spannendes rennen

Wenns nur einen SS-Upper nehmen, kannst eh mittauschen

[martin01]

wenn ein SCAR bei uns als ha zugelassen wird lach ich auch über m4 besitzer!
(ok ich kauf mir eh das m4...)

[Vintageologist]

Wieso? Kaufst du dann nicht einfach beide?

[Warnschuss]

Was ist mit XM8 und HK416? Sind die auch bei der Aussschreibung dabei?

[snakedocter]

das XM8 ist gestorben und HK ist mit dem 416 eh schon bei socom und den USMC drinnen

[martin01]

beide werden aber bissl teuer!

wobei - SOLLTE das SCAR zugelassen werden wird das wieder über 2k kosten...
beim OA werd ich auch nur zuschlagen weil das ding vergleichsweise "günstig" ist.

ein vernuntfskauf wird das so oder so nicht - ich habe ganz einfach keine schiessstände in der nähe wo ich es "artgerecht" benützen könnte...

[Vintageologist]

ein vernuntfskauf wird das so oder so nicht - ich habe ganz einfach keine schiessstände in der nähe wo ich es "artgerecht" benützen könnte...

Das M4 ist eh für CQB