The US Army began fielding M17 and M18 modular handgun systems (MHS) to the Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood in December 2018 to replace its ageing Beretta M9, which has been in use since the mid-1980s.
Produced by Sig Sauer, the M17 and M18 are modernised 9mm pistols featuring a longer lifespan, an integrated rail system and self-illuminating sights.
The new MHS has modular grips, which come in small, medium and large that allow for the pistol to be modified to the individual shooter. Its consistent trigger in conjunction with the modular grips is said to improve overall accuracy.
The army’s current Beretta M9s break more often, which causes readiness issues for the soldiers. To eliminate such issues, every MHS is test fired before leaving the factory with 13 rounds -- three to break in the weapon and ten to test accuracy. Each MHS must hit ten out of ten at 25m in a smaller than three-inch group attesting to the gun's accuracy level.
To date, the school has only received a few hundred of these systems, but is expecting to receive approximately 1,400.
Speaking in the UK Parliament, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said possible changes in the country’s steelmaking industry will have little impact on defence projects; while much of the steel in British vehicles and ships is imported.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the arrival of more Patriot air defence systems in his country. The development follows the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha calling for 10 more systems last month and Zelenskyy reiterating the need for more.
The country’s air defence batteries will be equipped with new command posts, wheeled communication nodes and radios. The system itself is in service with more than 14 countries with 13 systems in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s quest to replace soldiers with robots is hitting technical snags. Shephard spoke with industry leaders about difficulties in the field and what solutions are in the pipeline.
The partnership between Croatia’s DOK-ING and Slovenia’s Valhalla Turrets reflects an effort to combine ground robots and with improved capabilities and new roles and follows Rheinmetall presenting its Ox with Dispatch charging docks from Valinor.
The UK’s effort to replace thousands of vehicles across a dozen base vehicle types has had a troubled history and statements from the UK’s Defence Minster Luke Pollard indicate change may be on the way.
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