Colt M-4 under fire as military considers spending millions more on the weapon

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No weapon is more important to tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than the carbine rifle. And for well over a decade, the military has relied on one company, Colt Defense of Hartford, Conn., to make the M4s they trust with their lives.


Colt M-4 under fire as military considers spending millions more on the weapon
By Richard Lardner, The Associated Press
Stars and Stripes online edition, Tuesday, April 22, 2008

No weapon is more important to tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than the carbine rifle. And for well over a decade, the military has relied on one company, Colt Defense of Hartford, Conn., to make the M-4s they trust with their lives.

Now, as Congress considers spending millions more on the guns, this exclusive arrangement is being criticized as a bad deal for American forces as well as taxpayers, according to interviews and research conducted by The Associated Press.

“What we have is a fat contractor in Colt who’s gotten very rich off our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” says Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

The M-4, which can shoot hundreds of bullets a minute, is a shorter and lighter version of the company’s M-16 rifle first used 40 years ago during the Vietnam War. At about $1,500 apiece, the M-4 is overpriced, according to Coburn. It jams too often in sandy environments like Iraq, he adds, and requires far more maintenance than more durable carbines.

“And if you tend to have the problem at the wrong time, you’re putting your life on the line,” says Coburn, who began examining the M-4’s performance last year after receiving complaints from soldiers. “The fact is, the American GI today doesn’t have the best weapon. And they ought to.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54270