The U.S. Army Wants These Advanced Guns to Replace Some of Its Current Weapons

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By Kyle Mizokami,The National Interest

The U.S. Army is testing submachine guns in advance of what could be its first official sub-gun in more than fifty years. The Army’s Sub Compact Weapon System program is scouting the field for a weapon that delivers assault-rifle level firepower in a platform smaller than the M4 carbine. The gun is destined for the service’s Personal Security Details but could be expanded to wider use throughout the Army.

The submachine gun was first invented in World War, a product of trench warfare. European armies on the Western Front saw the need for a compact, high-firepower weapon useful for clear trenches of enemy troops, a task the bolt action rifle was ill-suited for. The result was a wave of fully automatic, compact weapons with shoulder stocks, typically firing pistol caliber ammunition.

Submachine guns continued to be popular in World War II, where they were useful in jungles and fighting in built-up areas such as cities. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army went to war with the famous M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun. The Thompson, made famous by police and gangsters like during the 1920s and 1930s was well-liked, though complicated and slow to mass produce.

The Army, needed a simpler, easier to manufacture design to supplement the “Tommy Gun” and the result was the M3 “Grease Gun,” also in .45 ACP. Adopted in 1944, the M3 was used throughout the latter half of World War II and the Korean War. The gun mostly fell out of circulation except with some National Guard armored units, which carried them as late as 1991’s Operation Desert Storm. The U.S. Army’s Delta Force also used the M3 early in the unit’s career, reportedly due to the .45 ACP round’s lack of deep penetration, a useful feature on hijacked airliners.

The U.S. Army has eschewed submachine guns, even as its NATO allies continued to use designs such as the British Sterling, Italian Beretta M12S, and the Israeli Uzi. The Army streamlined its small arms to a long gun and a handgun, with the long gun taking the form of the M14 battle rifle, M16 assault rifle, and now M4 carbine. While this has simplified the Army’s global logistics, it’s also been less than ideal for infantry riding in troop carriers, vehicle crews, and rear area troops.