Jane Edwards
The U.S. Army is in the process of making hollow-point bullets as the standard ammunition as it works to replace the Beretta M9 pistol with the new Modular Handgun System also called the XM-17, the Army Times reported Friday.
Richard Jackson, special assistant to the Army Judge Advocate General for Law of War, said the move toward the adoption of fragmenting and expanding bullets is regarded as “a significant re-interpretation of the legal standard” for rounds and is driven by the rise in asymmetric warfare.
“There’s a myth that [expanding/fragmenting bullets] are prohibited in international armed conflict, but that doesn’t make any sense now,” he told Army Times.
Kyle Jahner writes at least 20 gun makers are competing to produce the XM-17 handgun.
Lt. Col. Terry Russell, program manager for individual weapons at Program Executive Office Soldier, said the Army expects to issue by the end of this month its request for proposals for a contract to produce at least 280,000 handguns.
The military branch expects the contractors to perform initial deliveries of the new handguns by 2018, according to Russell.
