On Tuesday, the U.S. Army announced that it has chosen the Sig Sauer P320 handgun for the Modular Handgun System to replace the Beretta M9 pistol.
Sig Sauer was awarded a $580 million contract to make the next service pistol.
Sig Sauer was chosen over Glock Inc., FN America and Beretta USA in the competition for the Modular Handgun System, including firearms, accessories and ammunition.
“I am tremendously proud of the Modular Handgun System team,” Army acquisition executive Steffanie Easter said in the release. “By maximizing full and open competition across our industry partners, we have optimized private sector advancements in handguns, ammunition and magazines and the end result will ensure a decidedly superior weapon system for our warfighters.”
The contract covers 10 years of procurement to supply the Army with different versions of the gun.
The Army first announced the competition for the MHS back in 2011, but because of several delays, the most recent solicitation deadline was at February 2016. It launched its MHS competition in August 2015 to replace the M9 Beretta, which has been the service’s pistol of choice for 30 years.
Army and Sig Sauer officials did not provide any additional information on the specifics on the weapon or the caliber of the round.
“As MHS moves forward into operational testing, the due diligence taken by all of the stakeholders will ensure a program that remains on-budget and on-schedule,” Easter said.
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