The US Marine Corps said that the new gun to replace the previously used M9 and M9A1 Beretta and M45A1 will be a compact version of the SIG Sauer M17 pistol, called the M18.
This information is quite interesting as since March 2018 it was known that the USMC will be replacing its sidearm yet, until the very end, it was not known weather it would be the M17 (full-size) or M18 (compact) version. The USMC 2020 budget plan assumes the purchase of 20,648 pistols in 2019 and an additional 12,184 in 2020 at a price of 175.50 USD per unit. The total cost of the purchase is expected to be close to 5.76 million USD.
The weapon exchange process is to end in 2023.
Meanwhile, the US Air Force are continuing to rearm their staff with the M18, which is gradually replacing the M9, M11 and Glock 19 pistols.
The next unit that will receive the new SIG Sauer pistol is the 673rd SFS (Security Force Squadron) from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. The official 2020 budget of USAF assumes the purchase of 131,200 units of M18s for 25 million USD in 2018-2020.
An interesting fact is that USAF is looking for the successor of the S&W Model 15 revolvers in the number of 250 units.
This somewhat archaic weapon still remains in service and is used in the process of training military working dogs (shooting with blank ammunition to get the animals accustomed to the sound of a shot).
It is said that it will also be a variation of the SIG Sauer M18.
Source: thefirearmblog.com
