Lt. Col. Steven Power, product manager of soldier weapons within the U.S. Army, has said that the service branch will field new Sig Sauer-built modular handgun systems in November.
The service branch said Friday that the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky will field the first batch of 2,000 new XM17 handguns which feature interchangeable grips designed to offer comfort for the users along with external safety and self-illuminating sights for use in low-light conditions.
Soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland tested modular handgun systems including the XM17 and XM18Â in the spring then provided feedback that deemed the weapon as step up from current M9 pistols.
“The specific performance improvements from MHS over the M9 are in the area of accuracy, dispersion (and) ergonomics,” said Power.
XM17 and XM18, the Army’s versions of the Sig Sauer-developed P320 weapon, use different ammunition requirements from commercial 320 pistols.
The Army plans to distribute the MHS to all units of the service branch throughout a 10-year period.