With American small arms companies hurting so much why are the marines buying the M27 AR pattern rifle from the Germans (H&K)?

[chicagoresident]

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/03/08/congress-grills-marines-over-m27/

 

The Marines are buying 15k initially, possibly up to 50k of a standard gas piston AR15 patterned rifle at a cost to the taxpayers of $3000 a piece. Yes, I realize this is a drop in the bucket for military spending. But it's always been accepted that the American taxpayer puts up with the military industrial complex because it is a huge benefit to the US economy. Most of us see some kind of return on investment, directly or indirectly in our paychecks.

 

And as the article points out there are incompatibilities with certain configuration of the Colt M4 parts, which further makes no sense.

 

Add a heavy barrel to the inventory, and a retrofit gas piston kit for the M4's and call it a day.

 

Does anyone with more inside info know why Colt lost the RFP? When the M14 was adopted the FAL was a far better rifle, but we made the decision to go America first there. What changed?

 

Why are we giving this money to zee Germans for a product we already make when we should be giving it back to American workers?

 

Thank you for humoring today's gear grinding rant...

[TRJ]

HK has a factory in Georgia. I thought it was only for civilian firearms, but who knows, maybe they can build these domestically.

[tricolor]

I don't remember where I saw this, but I think HK built their US factory to enable them to compete for government business, not for civilian sales.

[chicagoresident]

They did open a factory in Georgia but my understanding was it's for domestic market civilian guns to get around the import ban.

 

You'd think in all the press releases they would hat tip to made in America, but it's lacking everywhere I've looked. All the ones I've seen other then the civilian US version say made in Germany.

 

Anyone hear anything different? Anyone know if the contract required production in the US? (usually they require multiple manufacturing locations and multiple manufacturers).

[mic6010]

Any manufacturer that makes small arms for the US military has to make them in the US I'm pretty sure. That's one of the stipulations. But all that money is still going back overseas, less the jobs it creates.

And yeah they chose a Swiss company to make the new pistols, a German company to make the new rifles, a Belgian company that makes Rifles and LMGs etc. etc.

 

You can clearly see whose getting payed off for what when it comes to military contracts. And I very much agree there should be some kind of law that makes it all but impossible for the US military to overlook US companies like they do. Especially in cases where the products are so generic and similar like in the case of a gas piston AR rifle and a striker fired pistol.

[chicagoresident]

Sig, other then their holding company being German is for the most part an American company. Their parent company has pretty much divested and shuttered overseas manufacturing.

 

You think the Germans or Swiss would put out a pistol that goes off when dropped?

[.40carry]

Sig, other then their holding company being German is for the most part an American company. Their parent company has pretty much divested and shuttered overseas manufacturing.

 

You think the Germans or Swiss would put out a pistol that goes off when dropped?

 

Of course not - that only happens with Brazilian manufacturers.

[357]

Maybe is because they're known to make better quality and more durable weapons of war? US manufacturers are largely staying in business and innovating because of demand for rifles and accessories made for civilians like the AR-15.

[cope]

six in one and half a dozen as they say

 

we want the absolute best equipment for our military... no matter who makes it... and sometimes thats a foreign company

 

otoh

 

its scary and maybe borderline treasonous to buy foreign, if you could imagine that a foreign company could deliberately ship inferior product to have an upper hand in military strength... regardless if they have a factory here or not... they still work for a potential enemy

 

you might have the best armed military on the planet OR you might have the worst armed on the planet

[papa]

six in one and half a dozen as they say

 

we want the absolute best equipment for our military... no matter who makes it... and sometimes thats a foreign company

 

otoh

 

its scary and maybe borderline treasonous to buy foreign, if you could imagine that a foreign company could deliberately ship inferior product to have an upper hand in military strength... regardless if they have a factory here or not... they still work for a potential enemy

 

you might have the best armed military on the planet OR you might have the worst armed on the planet

 

$ There is nothing to worry about. If these rifles were to be inferior , all they have to do is gather up a bunch of those AR15s and be back in action. What???? The left says they are weapons of war.

[cope]

you just solved the puzzle I think..... thats what they are so afraid of with all these scary black weapons of war on the streets...... they think our fully semi-automatic death machines are more efficient killers than the garbage they buy for the military and police

[Quiet Observer]

six in one and half a dozen as they say

 

we want the absolute best equipment for our military... no matter who makes it... and sometimes thats a foreign company

 

otoh

 

its scary and maybe borderline treasonous to buy foreign, if you could imagine that a foreign company could deliberately ship inferior product to have an upper hand in military strength... regardless if they have a factory here or not... they still work for a potential enemy

 

you might have the best armed military on the planet OR you might have the worst armed on the planet

 

One can imagine almost anything, even a group of extreme right or left wingers getting jobs in U.S. domestic weapons plants and causing inferior weapons to be produced.

 

In the real world Heckler & Koch is one of the premier producers of small arms. They provide weapons to numerous military and civilian markets throughout the world. They have reputation to maintain.

I am reasonably sure that the military will maintain regular inspections at the Georgia plant and that thousands, but not all, of the rifles will be used in training in the U.S. before they are used in deployment.

We have the specifications of the gun and its production methods. In the extremely likely possibility that Germany starts becoming belligerent toward the U.S., we would take control of the factory.

[chicagoresident]

I believe any contract actually has multiple companies doing production. For instance the Sig contract will have another US manufacturer producing the pistols as well. But with H&K the marines have been buying them steadily in limited purchases and they've all been coming out of Germany.