NOTA COMPLETA:
Until the cancellation of the XM8 program in 2005, Army Times strongly promoted the HK XM8 for its adoption as the service weapon for the US Army.
In the recent feature article, "Better Than the M4 But You Can't Have One" Staff Writer Matt Cox attributes cancellation of the XM8 program to "a sea of bureaucratic opposition." The story fails to mention a DoD Inspector General report on the acquisition of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon dated October 7, 2005, which addresses the XM8 Program and is found at
https://www.dodig.mil/audit/reports. This report clearly stated the rationale, which indicated the XM8 offered no potential efficiency over the present weapons systems, as well as including mismanagement by those persons responsible for the program, both of which clearly may have been a strong consideration in the cancellation of the program. Another related and informative DoD IG report is Competition of the 5.56 Millimeter Carbine (D-2007-026) dated November 22, 2006 and is found at the same Web site.
Cox's story about the HK 416 references unnamed experts and mis-represents comparisons between the HK 416 and M4. Additionally, he used findings in an unpublished draft 2001 SOCOM report on the M4 and a Marine Corps test of the M4 in 2002 without informing the reader that the Army did not agree with the report findings nor does it take into consideration the measures taken immediately by the Army and Colt to eliminate those few problems with weapon improvements. Instead, the story argues for adoption of the German manufactured HK 416 for the entire US Army now in use by a group of elite operators within Special Operations Command who rightfully develop their own kit of weapons and modify them to their needs.
Additionally, the story very wrongly alleges that Army leadership is not providing our men and women in uniform the best weapon available and, more disturbing, irresponsibly raises a concern to the Soldiers, Marines and Special Operations Forces in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families that their service weapon is not reliable.
The M4 speaks for itself as to its combat credibility. Before its introduction into the U.S. Army inventory in 1994, it was subjected to the full range of required Army tests and evaluations. The HK 416 has never been subjected to any of these official government tests.
From fall 2002 to today, government quality deficiency reports for the M4 have been nearly non-existent. Additionally, from fall 2002, U.S.Government inspectors at the Colt plant have overseen the firing of nearly 4 million endurance rounds with only three endurance gun failures.
The gas piston system in the H&K 416 is not a new system. Rifles were being designed with these systems in the 1920's. Colt proposed a piston operated weapon to the Army in the early 1960's. Today Colt Defense has the ability and expertise to manufacture in great numbers piston system carbines of exceptional quality should the U.S. military services initiate a combat requirement for this type of weapon.
Cox' anecdotal examples of fouled weapons are not taken lightly, yet the information is not helpful if the type of fouling is not clearly defined. In a desert environment, for example, sand and dust have the same effects on a weapon, whether it has a gas piston system or a gas impingement system. This issue is completely different from a debate over a gas piston system operating cleaner than a gas impingement system. Is a gas piston operated weapon less vulnerable to the effects of the desert than a gas impingement system? If so, where are the results of the controlled tests? Additionally, there are a number of reasons for weapons fouling, including the reliability of the ammunition and reliability of magazines.
The M16 and M4 have undergone major enhancements since introduction of the M16 into the US military inventory in the 1960s and they are clearly not the weapons of forty years ago. These enhancements have improved functioning, reliability, maintenance and versatility for the individual Soldier and Marine throughout the years.
Currently, there is a government funded operational evaluation being conducted for SOCOM by Colt and UCT Defense for greaseless operating parts on the M4 to improve maintenance, functioning and the wear of select parts of the weapon.
In closing, at the 2006 NDIA Conference and at the Infantry War Fighting Conference sponsored by the Chief of Infantry and Commanding General United States Army Infantry Center & School, Fort Benning, Georgia, the M4 Carbine was listed by the Commanding General and included in his brief as one of the high lighted success stories in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James R. Battaglini (ret.)
Chief Operating Officer
