Smith & Wesson team with General Dynamics to make Military a new pistol

The competition to build the U.S. Army's next service pistol is heating up. Currently the Pentagon is not happy with its current standard-issue Beretta M9 semiautomatic pistol. Common complaints range from the lack of stopping power of 9mm bullets fired from the M9, to concerns about the reliability of the weapon itself -- and its cost. As one Army spokesman noted at the time: "It's costing us more to replace and repair M9s than it would cost to go get a new handgun."

Result: The Army intends to replace its entire armory of Beretta M9 semiautomatic pistols with a new "Modular Handgun System." And at an estimated $1,000 to $1,500 per weapon, times 400,000 weapons needing to be replaced, this works out to a contract worth anywhere from $400 million to $600 million.

That's a big opportunity — roughly equal to one-to-one-and-a-half times the annual revenues that Smith & Wesson or Sturm, Ruger take in from handgun sales through all channels in a year. It's a big enough opportunity to attract the interest of everyone who is anyone in the gun industry.

So far, official confirmations of who will be bidding are hard to come by. For example, in November, Smith & Wesson confirmed it will team up with defense contacting heavyweight General Dynamics to put forward a version of the S&W Military & Police pistol line.

Last month, Beretta, too, confirmed that it will make a bid to remain the U.S. Army's gunmaker of choice, announcing the release of the M9A3 handgun, a new version of the Beretta M9 featuring:

• 9mm Luger ammunition (9x19mm Parabellum)
• A magazine with 17 rounds' capacity (and the ability to take larger mags)
• A threaded barrel (for affixing silencers)
• A 3-slot military standard Picatinny rail (for affixing other accessories such as laser sights)
• An "earth tone" finish -- tan rather than standard black
• Assorted other improvements.

As you can see, there's nothing particularly revolutionary in this lineup that Beretta is proposing.  Beretta's decision to feature the Beretta M9A3 with specifications for 9mm ammunition also seems at odds with the military's dissatisfaction with the M882 9mm NATO round.

Original Article found at Motley Fool