If a rifle can fire without stoppage only when
it is clean,is it a good rifle?
US Army shall call for tender to have a fair and open
competition to see if there is a better rifle to replace
M4.
Pl prepare one hour to read!!
The USA's M4 Carbine Controversy
30-Jul-2007---http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/the-usas-m4-carbine-controversy-03289/
.....Gannett's Army Times magazine also obtained a copy of
Project Manager Soldier's Weapons Assessment Team's July 31, 2003,
report:
"The executive summary said that M16s and M4s "functioned reliably"
in the combat zone as long as "soldiers conducted daily operator
maintenance and applied a light coat of lubricant." "
Soldiers had their own comments, however, which were also included
in the report and relayed in the magazine article:
3rd ID soldier: "I know
it fires very well and accurate [when] clean. But sometimes it
needs to fire dirty well too."
25th Infantry Division soldier: "The M4 Weapon in the deserts of Iraq
and Afghanistan was quick to malfunction when a little sand got in
the weapon. Trying to keep it clean, sand free was impossible while
on patrols or firefights."
82nd Airborne Division soldier: "The M4 is overall an excellent
weapon, however the flaw of its sensitivity to dirt and powder
residue needs to be corrected. True to fact, cleaning will help.
Daily assigned tasks, and nonregular hours in tactical situations
do not always warrant the necessary time required for effective
cleaning."
75th Ranger Regiment member, SOCOM: "Even with the dust cover closed and
magazine in the well, sand gets all inside; on and around the bolt.
It still fires, but after a while the sand works its way all
through the gun and jams start."
The 507th Maintenance Company, ambushed outside Nasariyah in 2003
during the opening days of the ground invasion of Iraq, might
concur with all of the above. The post-incident report released by
the US Army had this to say:
"Dusty, desert conditions
do require vigilance in weapons maintenance
However, it is
imperative to remember that at the time of the attack, the 507th
had spent more than two days on the move, with little rest and time
to conduct vehicle repair and recovery
operations.....''
Even without those extenuating circumstances, however, there have
been problems. A December 2006 survey, conducted on behalf of the
Army by CNA Corp., conducted over 2,600 interviews with Soldiers
returning from combat duty. The M4 received a number of strong
requests from M-16 users, who liked its smaller profile. Among M4
users, however, 19% of said they experienced stoppages in combat
and almost 20% of those said they were "unable to engage the target
with that weapon during a significant portion of or the entire
firefight after performing immediate or remedial action to clear
the stoppage."
The report adds that "Those who attached accessories to their
weapon were more likely to experience stoppages, regardless of how
the accessories were attached [including via official means like
rail mounts]." Since "accessories" can include items like night
sights, flashlights, et. al., their use is not expected to go away
any time soon.
The last word will be left to SOCOM's Major Chaz
Bowser:
"We buy new laptop
computers every few years across the gamut, so couldn't we do the
same with our single most important piece of military equipment?
.... Waiting for a leap-ahead technology based on a kinetic energy
weapon platform is a waste of time and money, so we need to look at
what is out there now
. What the Army needs is a weapon that is now
ready for prime-time and not a developmental system
. The
requirement comes from the field, not from an office in some
garrison activity, not from some consultant and definitely not from
a vendor.
Let's do this quickly without all the bureaucracy typically
associated with change. Find someone in our ranks who can make a
decision who hasn't floated a retirement resume with a gun
company and make the decision now. Just look how fast we were all
issued the 'highly coveted' black beret or the digital uniform.
Find that recipe card, change out the word 'Velcro' with 'battle
rifle' and that may be a start to finding a solution [DID: which,
he acknowledges, could be Colt's M4 if that's what the competition
shows]. Our men and women deserve much better than we are giving
them, and shame on us."
