S&W Dropped from MHS Army Pistol Competition

Military.com, Fox News Business and other sources are reporting that the Smith & Wesson entry has been removed from the US Army's Modular Handgun System (MHS) program. Other handgun manufacturers presumably remaining in the program include Glock, Sig Sauer, FN Herstal, and Beretta. News of their removal from the program, which came last Friday, quickly impacted S&W's stock. It fell by an estimated 8% to a little over $25.00 this morning.

S&W Dropped from MHS Army Pistol Competition

The MHS program has been fraught with criticism, including much from the Army's own Chief of Staff; many wonder why it would take the organization over 2 years and nearly $20 million to decide on a pistol. The new MHS, if the program survives its current torturous path, will replace the 9mm M9 Beretta. The M9 has been in service since 1985.

Apparently, word the list of contenders had been pared down came in a report made by the Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The report said, in part,

“We and our partner in the pursuit of the U.S. Army’s Modular Handgun System, or MHS, solicitation to replace the M9 standard Army sidearm have been notified by the Department of the Army that our proposal was not selected to advance to the next phase of the competition.”

Describing the program, writer Matthew Cox explains,

The Army launched its long-awaited XM17 MHS competition in late August to replace its Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol. One of the major goals of the effort is to adopt a pistol chambered for a more potent round than the current 9mm. The U.S. military replaced the .45-caliber 1911 pistol with the M9 in 1985 and began using the 9mm NATO round at that time.

Gun-makers had until Feb. 12 to submit proposals to the Army.

The request for proposal calls on gun-makers to submit packages that include full-size and compact versions of their handgun as well as hundreds of thousands of rounds for testing.

Read more right here on Military.com's Kit Up! frequency. Read the FNB report online here.

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