Kiwis ditch SIG, go Glock
The New Zealand Defense Force has decided to replace the Sig Sauer 9mm pistols they have issued for almost a quarter century with Glock 17s within the next calendar year.
What is the NZDF?
The combined military service for New Zealand, the 9,000 members of the Defense Force make up the New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Navy. With a history that dates back to 1845 with the formation of the Wellington Battalion of the Militia and before that to the Maori martial traditions, the Kiwis have fought far and above the comparative size of their country.
During World War I, over 100,000 soldiers from the Dominion fought the Turks, Austrians, and Germans, suffering a staggering 58 percent casualty rate in slaughterhouses such as Gallipoli, the Somme, and Passchendaele.
In the Second World War, the country mobilized even deeper, sending 150,000 men to Europe and the Middle East while another 150,000 remained at home to prepare for a possible Japanese invasion. As in the Great War that preceded it, the small country’s butcher’s bill was enormous, with over 11,000 killed in action– the highest loss rate per capita in the Commonwealth.
Since 1945, the Kiwis were on the ground in Korea, the Malayan Emergency, and countless UN peacekeeping operations as well as sending 4,000 men and women to help the U.S. in the Vietnam conflict. Earlier this month a 105-soldier contingent returned home from Iraq, proving that the NZDF has and continues to remain at the sharp end of the stick.
Moving to Glock
The current handgun of the NZDF, adopted in 1992, is the Sig Sauer P226 in 9mm, designated as the P226AL. The Sig is a great 15-shot DA/SA handgun with an aluminum frame and a steel slide. It was so good that back in the 1980s, the U.S. Army wanted them instead of the Beretta 92 for the new M9 pistol program, but the Italian stallion won out due to cost issues with the Swiss/German design. Still, the SEALs have long used them, as have the militaries of many other NATO and allied countries.
However the Sigs are getting long in the tooth and New Zealand is taking a page from the UK’s armed forces and has chosen the Gen 4 Glock 17 as a replacement.
