.45 fans - don't hold your breath...

[Krag]

Subject
Small Arms Weapons Program Reviewed for Joint Service Potential



from the United States Department of Defense

No. 733-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 19, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

Small Arms Weapons Program Reviewed for Joint Service Potential


The Army announced today it temporarily suspended the Request for
Proposal (RFP) for the acquisition of a new family of small weapons - Objective
Individual Combat Weapon Increment 1 (OICW-1) - in order to incorporate joint
requirements. The Army's proposal has received interest from the other military
services, and is further supported by several internal reviews reinforcing the
increase in the potential for joint use.



Congressional notification has been made and today's suspension of the
program allows joint requirements to be viewed and incorporated through the Joint
Capability and Integration and Development System process, which will occur
immediately. Original solicitation started May 11, 2005, and is temporarily
suspended effective July 19, 2005, until the Joint Requirements Oversight Committee
(JROC) convenes, which is currently scheduled for early September.



Upon the JROC's completion, the committee will issue a memorandum,
which incorporates any new joint OICW-1 requirements. The RFP will be amended
accordingly, and issued with a revised effective date for receipt of proposals.



OICW-1 is comprised of a family of small arms weapons that consists of
a carbine, special compact, designated marksman, and light machine gun weapon
systems. These weapons are intended to replace the M4 carbine, the M16 rifle, the
M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and selected M9 pistols. The capabilities development
document calls for a family of weapons that possess a high degree of commonality,
enhanced capabilities, and much higher reliability than our current weapons.



The solicitation number for OICW-1 is W15QKN-05-R-0449 and can be
viewed at http://procnet.pica.army.mil.



For more information on the OICW-1 and other Army weapons systems and
technology, go to http://www.army.mil . Media may direct questions to Army Maj.
Desiree Wineland, Office of the Chief, Public Affairs, Media Relations, (703)
697-7592 or [email protected].



[Web Version: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050719-4101.html]

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[Obiwan]

This announcement doesn't appear to have anything to do with

1. .45 caliber anythings

2. Handguns

3. Autloaders...ok...welll autoloading rifles

 

[Krag]

Obiwan - I was referring to an older thread which said the army was looking for a .45 pistol to replace the 9mm. From my reading of this "militarese" it looks like nothing is going to change until they have yet another (!) drawn out, beauracratic ridden process. And then they'll adopt something that will make the politicans - not the grunts - happy.

 

[mattw]

that just makes it sound like they are going to stop messing with the OICW (the XM8 is a different project right?). i didn't click on any of the links and i might not be good at official document decoding but it doesn't look too much like they said anything about .45s

 

[Bart Noir]

OICW-1 is comprised of a family of small arms weapons that consists of a carbine, special compact, designated marksman, and light machine gun weapon systems. These weapons are intended to replace the M4 carbine, the M16 rifle, the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and selected M9 pistols.

I remember the PR photos from the '50s when the M14 was going to replace the M1 Carbine, M1 Rifle, BAR, and Thompson SMG. But they were working with primitive designs back then. Now the latest-and-greatest will also replace pistols

Of course, it will be carried in a BDH (big dang holster).

Bart Noir