Air Force getting in on the M18 game
The USAF has used the M15, a K-frame S&W .38, since 1956 and continues to issue it for MWD (K9) training as the M9 can’t roll with blanks. It will finally be retired by the new M18, which can.
The U.S. Air Force is rolling out the new Sig Sauer M18 pistol to Security Forces units. The 9mm handgun — the smaller counterpart to the M17 adopted under the Army’s Modular Handgun System contract — replaces the Beretta M9, which has been in service since 1986.
A variant of the Sig Sauer P320 with a number of upgrades to include a coyote-tan PVD coated stainless steel slide and a removable top plate for optics, the more compact M18 can use a 17-round 9mm flush fit or 21-round extended magazine.
Importantly in USAF service, the gun will replace not only the M9 Beretta but also the M11– Sig P228s used by SOI– and old M15 S&W .38s used to fire blanks in military working dog training.
More in my column at Guns.com
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