MHS – THE WAY TO M17
T
he idea of the possible re-
placement of M9 pistols,
which ultimately became
the Modular Handgun System pro-
gram, appeared around 2008 when
the first, very basic requirements
were drawn for Commercial Off-
the-Shelf handgun which could
become a new pistol of the US mil-
itary. The initial plan was to choose
the replacement in FY 2011-2012,
conduct testing in FY2013 and
then start initial fielding in FY2014.
It quickly became obvious that
choice of the M9 replacement
wasn't easy. The requirements
were rewritten but without pointing
out the caliber, so the .40 S&W and
.357 SIG chambered firearms could
also be accepted for testing but
the bidders were informed that the
MHS program may or may not lead
to adoption of new round/calibers.
As a part of the program, the mili-
tary requested to provide two vari-
ants of pistol (Full Size and Com-
pact), ammunition (with minimum
10% increase in the performance
over the legacy pistol rounds) and
replacement parts.
F
inally, the MHS program got
momentum around 2013-
2014 and at the very same
time, SIG Sauer launched its new
pistol development program. For
long time, any considered Glock as
a dark horse of the program, since
FIREARMS
