Late last week, the Army notified six companies that they were selected to participate in the Sub Compact Weapon Prototype Opportunity.
Those companies are:
Angstadt Arms
B&T USA
Global Ordnance, LLC
Shield Arms
SIG SAUER
Trident Rifles, LLC
It is important to note that the companies have been notified they were selected and it is still up to them to accept the Army’s offer to participate. So far, we don’t have verification that all of the contractual agreements have been executed.
The Weapons
Interestingly, Trident Rifles will also offer a weapon from Swiss manufacturer Brugger & Thomet along with B&T USA.
We fully expect the B&T offerings to be APC9 models (SD and K) and the SIG weapon to be an MPX derivative.
Two of the companies build AR-style 9mm Sub Guns; Angstadt manufactures the UDP-9, and Shield Arms makes the SA9K.
Global Ordnance is the unknown, but word is that they may have an MP-5 variant.
The Requirement
While the requirement for a Sub Compact Weapon has been in the books for years, it finally got off to a somewhat rocky start earlier this year. Initially, the Army offered limited contracts to multiple companies (here and here) for evaluation samples. Then, the Army rescinded the offers and issued a Prototype Opportunity Notice.
According to the requirement, the Sub Compact Weapon is a highly concealable 9mm system capable of engaging threat personnel with a high volume of lethal force while accurately firing at close range with minimal collateral damage.
If you’re curious what the weapon will be used for, it’s because United States military operations take place worldwide and in all types of terrains as well as under every environmental condition. The Secretary of the Army and/or the Chief of Staff approves senior commanders and key personnel as High Risk Personnel (HRP). HRPs are authorized a Personal Security Detail (PSD), which are assigned to guard against outlined threats. To address this operational need, PSD military personnel require weapons with greater lethality than pistols that are more concealable than rifles.
The PON calls for delivery of 15 weapons within 30 days, with the purchase of 350 weapons at a time (if a solution is selected) up to 1,000 total weapons. Beyond the delivery of the initial prototypes there is no hard schedule.
