Soldier Armed M16A4 Rifle

By Scott R. Gourley of this system continues to sustained and will remain in Army in- meet or exceed the Army’s require- ventory for the foreseeable future. The s the fourth generation of the ments. The construction and operating M16A4 is still in production for other AM16, the M16A4 features system is well-known to the soldiers services and foreign military sales.” performance equal to the M16A2 but and is generally easy to care for and The most recent M16A4 production offers enhanced operational flexibility keep operational. Although the M4 (a activities have been carried out by two through the integration of a flat-top version of the M16) is being different contractors. The government MIL-STD-1913 accessory mounting fielded as the main battle weapon for originally announced its intent “to is- rail integral with the weapon’s upper brigade combat teams, the M16 family sue a 100 percent small business , four additional mounting of (M16A2 and M16A4) is set-aside solicitation resulting in a rails surrounding the barrel and a still the most used in the Army.” 5-year indefinite delivery, indefinite full-range backup iron . Weighing 7.5 pounds without maga- quantity (IDIQ) contract. The item to In terms of program significance to zine (plus 1 pound for loaded 30-round procure is the M16A4 rifle, NSN the modern warfighter, a spokesper- ), the M16A4 has a barrel 1005-01-383-2872, PN 12973001.” With son for the U.S. Army Project Manager length of 20 inches and overall length of minimum guaranteed quantity of 6,857 Soldier Weapons (PM SW) explained, 39.6 inches. Firing 5.56 x 45 mm NATO weapons and contract maximum of

Colt Defense LLC

The M16A4 rifle, fourth generation of the M16 that has been the main battle weapon of the Army for 40 years, increases the soldier’s lethality and operational flexi- bility with improvements that include a flat-top upper receiver, backup iron sight and rail adapter system.

“The M16 family of weapons has been standard , the M16A4 has a 58,500 weapons, the procurement strat- and still is the main battle weapon of of 3,100 feet per second egy soon evolved into “set-aside” and the U.S. Army. Every soldier in the last and effective range (against area target) “non-set-aside” portions. 40 years has trained and qualified on a of 600 meters. Fire-control selections in- Part of the production was awarded version of the M16.” clude safe, semi-automatic and three- to LLC in March 2007 Located under Program Executive round burst, with a cyclic burst rate of with a second portion awarded to FN Office Soldier (PEO Soldier), the project 700–950 rounds per minute. In addi- Manufacturing in December. Colt lit- manager’s office includes both Product tion to the ability to affix a wide range erature notes that the fourth genera- Manager Crew Served Weapons and of operational subsystems to the inte- tion of the M16 “still represents the Product Manager Individual Weapons. gral mounting rails, the M16A4 can be world standard by which all other The PM SW representative contin- easily enhanced through the addition weapons of this class are judged. Its ued: “The latest incarnation of the of the M203A3 , pro- combat-proven performance is veri- M16, the M16A4, is an improved viding the warfighter with both point fied by the fact that over eight million model with a flat-top upper receiver, and area engagement capabilities. M16 weapon systems have been pro- backup iron sight and rail adapter sys- Emphasizing that “the M16 family duced and placed in military service tem included in the standard Army of weapons is the main of throughout the world.” configuration. The M16A2 and M16A4 the U.S. Army,” a PM SW representa- “[The latest production] wound up weapon systems support the soldier tive characterized current M16A4 pro- being a split,” explained Joe Taylor, by being compatible with all of the lat- gram status: “The M16A4 Army pro- M16 business manager at FN Herstal. est weapon-mounted optics, acces- duction is complete with a density in (FNH is responsible for sales, market- sories and ammunition. The reliability excess of 65,000. The M16A4 is being ing and development for many of the

July 2008 I ARMY 75 Compatible with all the latest weapon-mounted optics, accessories and ammunition, the M16A4 weighs 8.5 pounds with a loaded 30- round magazine and field strips easily. Colt Defense LLC products manufactured by FN Manu- were pretty much convinced that they that technical data package only for facturing, with both entities under the needed a little longer barrel [than the that specific contract. In essence, we as corporate umbrella of FN Herstal.) 14.5-inch barrel on the ]. a manufacturer are taking their draw- “It’s interesting, because last year, in They are very concerned about short- ings and their design and making it ex- early 2007, we actually visited the PM ening the weapon somehow.” actly to the specifications that they Individual Weapons office up at Pi- In support of that desire to shorten called out in that technical data pack- catinny [Arsenal, N.J.],” Taylor contin- the M16A4, Taylor noted that FN was age. We get calls many, many times, ued. “We were trying to get some feel one of several manufacturers to come saying things like, ‘It would be great if for what was in the future. And they up with a new adjustable buttstock de- you could make this improvement or actually told us that the Army was no sign that includes both adjustable that improvement to the M16.’ For all longer buying the M16. So we figured length and hydraulic buffer. A half intents and purposes our hands are that, for a while anyway, we would be dozen of the new buttstock designs bound, unless we can convince the ‘cold.’ And in actuality, we did go cold have been provided to the PM In- government or the owner of the draw- on our line from roughly the end of fantry Weapons for the Marine Corps ing that the change would be benefi- the year [2006] until [spring] of 2007. as well as one or two delivered to the cial. It’s frustrating to us when users Then we suddenly got solicitations Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Ben- call and say, ‘I know how we can im- from the Army. Within the period of a ning, Ga. The company is currently prove this.’ And it’s very hard to ex- couple of weeks, we wound up with waiting for feedback from those sites. plain to them that our hands are tied in two contracts and then the one we are While the adjustable buttstock rep- that regard.” talking about right now, which is the resents one possible area of enhance- Prognosticating on a far-term Army IDIQ coming at us. So basically we ment, Taylor was careful to note that small-arms future that might capitalize went from ‘zero production’ in April enhancement opportunities are some- on design features found in programs of 2007 to a rate of kicking out 8,000 a what limited. like FN’s current special operations month in June of this year.” “When we get a contract for the combat , Taylor concluded, Acknowledging that the current M16, basically the government has a “As for the future of the M16A4, I’m production weapons are going to for- technical data package to which they sure we are going to be building those eign military sales and the U.S. Ma- have the licensed rights or government for quite a while. Everybody has been rine Corps, Taylor added, “I don’t use rights. When we get the contract, saying since the 1970s that the M16 is a mean to steal any of the thunder from we sign a document with a nondisclo- legacy weapon. But it’s currently the the Marine Corps, but I think they sure statement, which allows us to use best thing out there.” (

76 ARMY I July 2008