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Corps to pass on Army upgrades to M4

As the Army moves to field more than 10,000 conversion kits designed to make the 5.56mm M4 deadlier and more reliable, the Marine Corps says it has no plans to update its inventory.

Upgrades will integrate a heavier, more durable barrel, strengthened site rails, a piston-charged operating system and the ability to fire in full automatic mode — fixes designed to address complaints about the weapons’ lethality and reliability. The plan calls for distributing 12,000 conversion kits in the short term, effectively turning existing M4s into improved versions of the special operations M4A1, said Army Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, commander of Program Executive Office Soldier. An additional 25,000 M4A1s and 65,000 conversion kits would be purchased through additional contracts.

The Army also launched a contract competition in August for a next-generation carbine, which could be fielded in 2012.

Nearly all infantry soldiers use M4s, but in the Corps they are fielded primarily to vehicle operators and other Marines whose jobs render the primary service rifle, the M16A4, too cumbersome. The Corps has no plans to upgrade either rifle, Lt. Gen. George Flynn, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, told Marine Corps Times on Aug. 23.

“As far as the weapons for the infantry squad right now, the only thing we’re looking at is the infantry automatic rifle,” said Flynn, referring to the 5.56mm weapon the Corps is considering as a replacement for the M249 squad automatic weapon in some infantry formations. IAR tests are ongoing.

The Corps has considered alternatives to 5.56mm ammunition to increase rifle stopping power, Commandant Gen. James Conway said Aug. 22, but officials decided instead to “make sure we’re getting all we can” from existing ammo fired from the M16. Those alternatives included 7.62mm and 6.68mm weapons, Conway said, adding that cost is one factor precluding the Corps from adopting either of them.

“We have looked at a 7.62 system,” he said. “We looked at a 6.68 system that had interchangeable barrels and receiver. But before we go to something like that and go to a completely new rifle, which would be fairly expensive for us, we want to make sure we’re getting all we can out of the cartridges we fire” out of the M16.

With its shorter barrel, a carbine has limited range and takedown power on targets beyond 200 yards. It’s “more an extension of the pistol than it is an adjustment to the rifle,” the commandant said. Most of the Corps’ infantry uses the M16A4.

“We’ve been looking at our small arms for a long time, you know, assessing the effects on the battlefield, knock-down power, killing power, those types of things,” Conway said. “We are never going to be a carbine Marine Corps, OK. We’re never going to go completely to the M4. We’re a rifle Marine Corps. We believe in long-range shooting skills, and those skills are just not as resident in a carbine as they are in a service rifle.”

U.S. combat troops have complained about the stopping power of both the M16A4 and M4 in recent years, particularly in Afghanistan, where combat is frequently in open fields and valleys that require powerful, long-range shots. In response, the Corps began replacing its conventional Cold War-era 5.56mm M855 ammo this spring with an enhanced 5.56mm Special Operations Science & Technology round that uses an open-tip design common in sniper ammunition. The Corps also is considering a new, lead-free Army round fielded recently, the M855A1, and will evaluate both options in coming months.

The Corps has considered a variety of options to improve stopping power in recent years. In 2007, it weighed fielding a 6.8mm weapon after rank-and-file troops assigned to U.S. Special Operations Command designed it with their command’s approval to address deficiencies in standard 5.56mm ammo. Neither SOCOM nor the Corps adopted it, in part because of the logistics and cost required. Gen. James Mattis, now commander of U.S. Central Command, advocated behind the scenes that the Corps consider adopting 6.8mm ammo as recently as last year, but the service adopted SOST ammo instead.

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Staff writers Gina Cavallaro and Lance M. Bacon contributed to this report.

Related reading

• Army Times: Army wants soldiers to have improved carbine