Individual Carbine: Difference between revisions

The Individual Carbine is a carbine that is the planned successor to the M4 carbine in the United States Army.

The United States Army intends to conduct an open competition for a successor to the M4. This competition is for the Army only—the United States Marine Corps and other branches are staying with current weapons in service. The proposal was passed before the Joint Requirements Oversight Council in August 2010, and the Army will solicit submissions from the small arms industry by the end of that year.^[1] The competition will be open to all manufacturers and is intended to provide an evaluation of the full range of weapons available. Presolicitation notice W15QKN-11-R-F003 was posted January 31, 2011.^[2]

Complete results of the competition and selection of a new carbine are not expected before FY 2013, and it is anticipated that it would then take another three to four years to fully field the new weapons.

The Individual Carbine will provide accurate and reliable firepower. It must be capable of semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Integrated rails will accept MIL-STD-1913 (colloquially "Picatinny") rail-mounted accessories. It must be fully ambidextrous.^[3] While the caliber for any new weapon is open for the competition, any contributions not of 5.56×45mm NATO and/or 7.62×51mm NATO will have the burden of test ammunition and extra costs placed on the competitor.

Weapons submitted included the XCR by Robinson Armament Co., an off-the-shelf or derivative of the M6A4 by LWRC, the ACR by Remington, the SR-16 by Knight's Armament Company, the FN SCAR by FN Herstal, the CM901 by Colt's Manufacturing Company, and the HK416 by Heckler & Koch. A draft request for proposal (RfP) was issued in late 2010 followed by an industry day. The finalized RfP was issued in second quarter FY 2011 to which industry had a month to respond. A 12–18 month testing phase will commence and over 1 million rounds will be fired. Testers will look at the consistency in accuracy of the carbines as they age. Costs will also be considered. The Office of the Secretary of Defense will monitor tests and the evaluation and there will be congressional oversight to ensure the competition is full and open. US$30 million will be spent on testing. The winner of the competition must be a "measurable improvement" over the M4 carbine to replace it; otherwise, the program will instead convert all M4 carbines to the enhanced version. The winner of the competition will sell their rights to their weapon to the military and choose two other competing suppliers to help manufacture it.^[4]

As for fielding a possible winner, the Army has over 1.1 million armed personnel, approximately half are front-line combat brigades. If a new carbine is selected, the Army would see 500,000 purchased for infantry brigade combat teams (IBCT), and the existing and improved M4s given to support troops to replace their M16s. If the improved M4 turns out to be the winner and the new carbine program is scrapped, then the IBCTs will likely be fitted with the improved M4s, and the existing M4s would again be given to support troops to replace their M16s.^[5] On November 17, 2011 the US Marine Corps announced they will not participate or adopt any new weapon which may or may not come out of the competition. The USMC said they will continue to use standard M4s and M16A4s. They did mention they are considering upgrading the M16A4.^[6]

The first round of tests were carried out from January to May 2011. Rifles chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO participated in a "familiarization shoot" at ranges of 25 and 300 yards firing the M855A1 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. Rifle contenders were also be allowed to participate in the "compatibility check" which consisted of the firing of the M320 grenade launcher and M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System underbarrel attachment systems.^[7][8]

Phase I of the competition commenced following the familiarization shoot. It included the weapon's ability to mount accessories, such as optics and suppressors, the company's ability to produce 2,000-4,200 carbines per month, and production costs. In November 2011, Colt pulled its Colt CM901 rifle from the competition. This was because the winner is required to turn over technical data rights to the Army, who would distribute the blueprints to two other companies that would each produce one-third of the weapons purchased, and Colt did not want to reveal its trade secrets. Other companies backed out for similar financial reasons, including Smith & Wesson with their M&P 4, Stag Arms, LWRC, and Knight's Armament Company. Stag Arms is bidding for the contract to produce one-third of the winning weapon order quantity, while Knight's Armament is submitting components for the upgraded M4A1.^[9]

In May 2012, the Army selected the companies and rifles that passed phase I of the competition and moved on to phase II. While phase I eliminated companies that would not have had the production capacity to manufacture sufficient numbers of their rifle, phase II will include actual test firings of the weapons to assess accuracy, reliability, and durability.^[10] The phase II contenders are the FN FNAC, the Heckler & Koch HK416, the Remington ACR, the Adcor Defense BEAR Elite, the Beretta ARX-160, and the Colt Enhanced M4.^[11]

Phase II test scoring, in order of priority, depends upon:

• Development Tests - A detailed evaluation of accuracy and dispersion at distances of 100, 300, and 600 meters using 90 rounds at each range. Another 21,600 rounds will be used to test reliability, durablity, and barrel life to determine performance over the weapon's entire life cycle.
• Secondary Development Tests - Weapons must score kills with as few shots as possible. Sustained rates of fire and cook-off will be tested, along with the weapon’s ability to operate in extreme temperatures and environments. "Weapons will be beat up, dropped, submerged in water and fired while lacking lubrication and covered by ice and mud."
• Cost - The Army will not purchase an overpriced carbine, but the RfP states, "when all evaluation factors other than price are combined, they are significantly more important than price."
• Government Purpose Rights - The Army will contract three manufacturers to produce a maximum of 178,890 carbines each to keep costs down and ensure delivery even if one cannot meet production goals.
• Limited User Evaluation - Tests will use co-ed teams of 16 soldiers to determine each weapon’s probability and quality of hit, time of first trigger pull, and mobility and portability in an operational environment. They will engage targets at short and long range, as well as in close-quarters. Targets will be stationary, mobile, and exposed for various times.

Phase II will last 12-18 months and norrow the field of contenders down to three.^[12]

• Special Purpose Individual Weapon—United States
• XM8 rifle—United States
• Advanced Combat Rifle—United States
• Objective Individual Combat Weapon program—United States
• Advanced Individual Combat Weapon Program—Australia
• Project Abakan—Russia
• Modular Handgun System—United States