The Army continues to do everything they can to scuttle the new carbine competition. Remember it was politicians,  some who were concerned that the M4 was not performing as promised and others who eyed getting manufacturing contracts for their supporters, who called for a new carbine program, not the Army. Bloomberg reports …

The Army risks wasting as much as $1.8 billion developing a replacement for the M4 carbine that it may not need, according to the Pentagon’s inspector general.

The carbine replacement program is one the Army and Pentagon “may want to re-evaluate,” as the service is “seeking to acquire more rifles during a time when their total force structure will be reduced,” Lynne Halbrooks, principal deputy inspector general, said in a statement provided today to a House committee. The Pentagon plans to reduce Army ground forces to 490,000 by 2017 from about 560,000 in 2011.

The Army canceled the last carbine replacement program in 2005 which would have replaced the M16 and M4 with the H&K XM8 Carbine. The Joint Combat Pistol program, to choose a successor to the Beretta M9, was cancelled in 2006/7.

Thanks to Peter for the link.