Soldiers in the US Army Are Getting a New Service Pistol

For the first time in more than 30 years, the US Army has a new service pistol, Forbes reports. After a five-year search, the Army has settled on the Sig Sauer P320 to replace the M9 Beretta, which has occupied the slot since 1985. The contract is reportedly worth more than $580 million over the next decade. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sig Sauer beat out eight rival companies to secure that contract. Those rivals included Beretta, Glock, and Smith & Wesson, the Army Times reports, noting that Sig Sauers are already used by other members of the military, most specifically in special ops. The Army's Sig Sauer P320s will be manufactured in New Hampshire.

The Army's chief of staff, Gen. Mark Milley, was critical of the long search process last year, saying they weren't "figuring out the next lunar landing." "You give me $17 million on a credit card, and I'll call Cabela's tonight...and I'll get a discount on a bulk buy," the Journal quotes Milley as saying. But now that a new pistol has been chosen, expect more police departments and gun-loving Americans—not to mention prop departments for Hollywood films—to take an increased interest in the P320, per Forbes. It frames the weapon as representing "a few leaps forward in pistol design," and reports its caliber "can even be changed." (More pistol stories.)