#UsMarineCorps

TFB has long followed the progress of the US Marine Corps effort to field suppressors across the board. At the end of December 2020, the Corps finally announced that they had begun the process of fielding thousands of rifle caliber suppressors to Marines for use with the M27, M38, M4 and M4A1 rifles and carbines.

The look in the eyes of these U.S. Marines is pretty interesting, and I can’t blame them! We’re sitting behind a screen looking at this Photo Of The Day, while they are trying to overcome what has to be one of the wettest and muddiest obstacle course ever. We see a team of marines as they navigate through an obstacle at the Jungle Warfare Training Center endurance course in Okinawa, Japan (2020).

The US Marine Corps has recently undergone a top down doctrinal reevaluation of its future role. As part of these changes in the make up of the Corps have been planned and now a brand new initiative has also been launched – Marine Corps Systems Command’s Program Manager for Infantry Weapons has begun a large-scale modernisation program to increase the lethality of the Marine infantry squad.

An intent to  sole source solicitation notifying of the potential order of an estimated 2.4 million rounds of polymer-cased .50 calibre ammunition has been posted, advising that MAC, LLC of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi may in the future receive an order for ammunition. The notice follows the USMC’s earlier survey of manufactures to find a suitable provider for the new ammunition. The Marine Corps Systems Command notes that future orders may include both ball and API ammunition.

It’s been a while since the US Marine Corps announced that they would be deploying the M27 IAR in a Designated Marksman Role, adapting it by mounting the Leupold TS-30A2 Mark 4 MR/T 2.5-8x36mm rather than an ACOG.

British OpenWorks Engineering has published a news article reporting that their  SkyWall100 drone capture system has been demonstrated to the Commandant of the US Marine Corps at the Marine Corps Base Quantico for the Non-Lethal Technology Exercise NNTEX-18C. According to the company, many military officials and observers from multiple NATO countries were also present at this event.

Back in May, we reported that the US Marine Corps would, at last, be replacing its venerable M40A6 sniper rifles with the Mk 13 Precision Sniper Rifle. The Marine Corps has now confirmed that the Mk 13 Mod 7 will be fitted with the Nightforce ATACR Scope.

In April, the US Marine Corps announced an ambitious procurement programme to purchase 15,000 M27 Individual Automatic Rifles from Heckler & Koch. The contract, worth $30 million, was to begin to be fulfilled with funds from fiscal year 2019.

Marine Corps Systems Command have confirmed the signing of a five year, ‘firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract’ worth $30 million. In a USMC press release Corps officials confirmed that “the additional M27 IARs will partially replace the current M4 carbine semi-automatic rifle.”

In recent months the Corps has been increasingly open about its intentions to adopt the M27 as its standard issue rifle. Back in August 2017, the USMC released a sole source notice for the acquisition of as many as 50,000 M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles. It now seems the Corps will be acquiring the new rifles in smaller numbers initially.

After over 50 years of service, it looks like the Marine Corps is about to replace the venerable M40 Sniper Rifle. The USMC is set to purchase just over 350 new Mk 13 sniper rifles.

The US Marine Corps is interested in the Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS). Chambered in the longer ranged 7.62x51mm round, the CSASS has the edge over the Corps’ recently fielded M38 adaptation of the M27 IAR.

The US Marine Corps is set to replace its M9s with 35,000 Modular Handgun System pistols, budgeting over $6 million for the procurement. Since the US army’s  adoption of the XM17/18 in January 2017, there has been much speculation around if and when the other services would follow. It seems the Marine Corps will be the first.

The Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Estimates Justification Book for the United States Marine Corps procurement gives us some insight into the Corps small arms aims for the next couple of years. The Marine Corps looks set to begin its transition to the M320 40mm under-barrel grenade launcher next year.

Late last year we reported that the US Marine Corps had begun fielding the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle as the M38, a designated marksman rifle. The M38 is essentially a standard M27 mounting a variable power Leupold TS-30A2 Mark 4 MR/T scope instead of a standard ACOG.