The Army Contracting Command – New Jersey, in support of Project Manager Soldier Lethality (PMSL), intends to issue a request for proposal (RFP) W15QKN-25-R-0016. This solicitation is to procure M4 Carbines (NSN: 1005-01-231-0973/Part Number 9390000) and M4A1 Carbines (NSN: 1005-01-382-0953/Part Number 12972700) built to print using the Technical Data Package (TDP). Due to Colt’s Manufacturing Company, LLC’s sole ownership of the M4/M4A1 TDP and the license agreement between Colt and the United States Government, this procurement action will be a sole source award to Colt’s Manufacturing Company, LLC.
This action should come as no surprise as pointed out on the notice that Colt owns the Technical Data Package for the M16 rifle / M4 carbine and the Army has previously awarded similar sustainment contracts in the past. Colt was purchased by CZ Group in 2021.
What many don’t understand, with almost a million M4(A1) carbines in service, the Army must continue to procure new rifles to replace weapons as they wear out. I expect this process to continue until the last M4 is pulled from service sometime in the 2040/ or beyond. This will continue to be the case as long as the weapon remains in service, somewhere in the Total Force, regardless of procurement of Next Generation Squad Weapon. This is a reality of almost every program of record.
The M4/M4A1 Carbines provide the Department of Defense with compact, lightweight weapons that fire NATO 5.56mm ammunition from a 30-round magazine, mount the latest generation of fire control accessories and enablers, and provide increased protection and firepower in close quarters. The period of performance (POP) of the contract(s) will be for five (5) one-year ordering periods to cover FY25-FY30 Army and Department of Defense (DoD) M4/M4A1 Carbine requirements. The anticipated contract minimum guarantee of 90 M4/M4A1 Carbines will be met with the first delivery. The Army expects to issue task orders with up to a maximum quantity of 30,000 units of any combination of M4 or M4A1 Carbines.
Dear SSD,
Does not FN produce M4/M4A1’s under contract for the US Military? Or am I confusing some basic point of fact here? Thank you in advance if you have/can take the time to answer my question.
Sole source just means that only a single entity (predetermined) may be the prime on a contract, no one else. This is in contrast to open source, where it is a competition of sorts.
Likely, Colt will continue to subcontract FN for M4A1 production.
Thank you very much Collin!
That’s only partly true. Colt owns the TDP but they must share with others for mil contracts, which is why FN, Remington and others won against Colt in past M4 contracts. It wasn’t subcontracting.
I thought the Army acquired the rights to the M4 some time ago.
Just get rid of the damn front side post, it’s 2025.
So does this mean no more FN Hersthal M4A1’s will be procured by the US Army?
So many better designs than the M4A1 out there that the US Army could simply buy off the shelf. Continuing to use the M4A1 is ridiculous. If we cant even do simple generational updates to Service rifles i don’t think we are gonna fair well in the next war. Procurement is broken.
I have yet to use a weapon better than the m16 platform. The USMC adopted the the M27 which has a 16 in h barrel, the same length civilians have pur hased for years. A piston drive operating system, which is easier to keep clean but reduces accurracy due to moving components on top of the barrel before the bullet exits. These rifles are produced by a German firm at a cost of $3000 last I heard. Simple gas piston conversions for existing m4’s are cheap and available to any civilian. The US military is currently procuring our standard infantry rifles and handguns from foreign owned firms at huge costs. We should source our weapons from domestically owned manufacturers. The m16/m4 platform is hard to beat and simple to maintain. They are used all over the world. Ukraine, israel and now even the taliban and hamas are using them. Israel hyped their new Tavor, yet all IDF troops I see use the m4. Ive used the Tavor and it sucks. If caliber of cartridge is a source of contention, the m4 is available in so many different calibers one can barely keep up. Sig manufactures in America, but its not an American company. Our weapons should be American through and through. The only execption is olympic smallbore. German Anshutz is the gold standard and we have yet to build anything that outclasses it. Colt has kept American services armed and should remain the sole supplier of m4’s. Today is the first ive heard of CZ acquiring Colt. What moron allowed this? Same with our ammunition plants. US Steel? Strategic industries should remain American and so should our infantry weapons. My range uses Kongsberg electronic target systems and I despise it. I maintain it every day. I dont trust it, its expensive and parts imported from Norway. It is not consistantly accurate and I refuse to even fire my uber expensive Anshutz competition rifles at it because even slight deviation degrades the absolute self confidence a top level competitor must possess.
The NGSW guns were designed and are manufactured in New Hampshire using US labor and materials.
The AR15/M16 family is great I agree. But when off the shelf rifles at the local bog box stores are better made and more capable than US Army issue rifles then we have a procurement problem. We are long past time for an update to the M4A1 that are in inventory. Even a simple upper and trigger swap would go a very long way to improve lethality without braking the bank.
It’s almost a million guns. This isn’t just upgrading your rifle at home. Beyond buying whatever enhancement you want, someone has to install it. Once you start talking lower receiver parts, it’s beyond the scope of the company armorer, so a plan has to be instituted to evac all of those guns to a depot to be upgraded. You’re now in the realm of years and millions of Dollars just for the labor.
It does not take all of that to swap basic components.
If we are buying new guns at least buy UGRI.
It’s the Army. They don’t have a requirement.
Never lol. The FSB is so robust and the bunny ears are a great visual reference for when red dots get washed out by bright light or random stuff on fire. There were a lot of times in Iraq where shooting from inside a building I couldn’t see my red dot but if turned it up and had to keep clearing buildings it was too bright to see well inside.
Are you talking about the Geissele URG-I (Upper Receiver Group-Improved) or is it something else and I am completely unaware? But if the URGI is what you’re talking about, I totally agree. Not even to replace all at once, but when repairs/service is needed at least consider upgrading to the URG-I in terms of cost on a case by case basis
How many years do you want to have mismatched guns? One more time, about 985,000 carbines.