Tag Archives: Colt C8

Colt Bags $198 Million Canadian Modular Rifle Contract

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Colt is the winner of the Canadian Modular Rifle, or CMAR, program, to replace the current C7/C8 service rifle fleet, which has been in service for more than 35 years in the land of the Blue Jays and Silver Medal Olympic hockey teams. The contract is valued at CAD $273 million ($198 million USD).

As part of the contract, which requires at least 80 percent domestic production, Colt will deliver up to 30,000 General Service (GS) rifles between 2026 and 2029 from its Kitchener, Ontario, factory. The contract includes provisions for a possible increase in the volume of deliveries with a Phase 2 option including 19,207 GS rifles and 16,195 “Full Spectrum” rifles, the latter outfitted with optics and other accessories. The full award covers a maximum of 65,402 rifles.

The Canadian Armed Forces contains approximately 68,000 active and 32,000 reserve personnel, with about one third of those– 44,000– being in the Army.

Canadian Modular Rifle, or CMAR, with MFMD
The 5.56 NATO caliber Colt CMAR, type classified as the C25 in the above image, uses a monolithic upper receiver, chrome-lined free-floating barrel, ambidextrous controls, and a full-length STANAG 4694 top rail with M-LOK slots on the forearm. Accessories include a Magpul MOE grip and CTR adjustable stock. Photos: Department of National Defence/Ministère de la défense nationale 

An interesting factor on the CMAR is its use of an all-in-one combination flash hider/muzzle brake/flow-through suppressor, the Multi-Function Muzzle Device, or MFMD. Designed by Utah-based Strategic Sciences, the modular MFMD is billed as delivering in terms of sound (sub 140dB for all systems), flash (99 percent reduction), and recoil (60 percent faster follow-up shots) with a durability comparable to the barrel’s life cycle.

Canadian Modular Rifle, or CMAR, with MFMD
Initial production will be for 30,000 rifles between now and 2029, with as many as 35,000 additional rifles to follow. 
Colt C8A4 optics
What optics the new CMAR will carry is probably TBD at the moment, with the Canadian Army trialing several dots and LPVOs by Steiner and SIG on the interim C8A4 in the past year. The current standard day optic in Canadian service is the 3.4x fixed power Elcan C79 (M145 in U.S. service), which was adopted in 1989.  

As for what will happen to the country’s soon-to-be surplus C7 rifles and C8 carbines, which are based on the Colt M16A3 and M4, respectively, it is likely they will be retained in arsenal storage as the Canadian Armed Forces is seeking to expand its Primary reserve forces from the current 23,561 part-time members to 100,000 and beef up the current force of 4,384 inactive or retired Supplementary Reserve members to 300,000, figures not seen under the Maple Leaf flag since World War II!

Canada adopted the license-built C7 series in 1984, replacing semi-auto inch-pattern FN FAL pattern C1A1 rifles in 7.62 NATO, which entered service in the 1950s.

Soldiers of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada training at CFB Gagetown with C1A1s, circa 1974 (Library and Archives Canada MIKAN 4235794)

Danes Receive First of 26,000 Colt C8 Rifles, Order another 26,000

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The Danish military has literally doubled down on an order of new 5.56 NATO chambered Colt Modular Rail Rifles in an effort to rebuild its army.

The Danish Ministry of Defense Materiel and Procurement Board (Forsvarsministeriets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse, FMI) last week made a two-point announcement.

First, it had received the first shipments of new Colt Canada C8 MRR Carbines, type qualified as the Gevaer M/25 in Danish service. These guns, ordered last August, were to be in two variants separated by colorways, with half being all-black and the other half being a sort of coyote brown/dark FDE, with the full order delivered by the end of 2026. The Elcan Specter is the day/night optic of record.

Colt C8 MRRs arriving in Denmark
The first of 26,000 ordered Colt C8s arrived in Denmark this month. (Photos: Danish FMI)
Colt C8 MRRs arriving in Denmark
The Colt Canada C8 MRR uses a monolithic upper receiver with a lot of slots for M-LOK accessory rails, and it looks like the 15.7-inch model was delivered. These will use Elcan Specter 4x optics. (Photo: Danish FMI)
Colt C8 MRR
They use free-floating, cold-hammer-forged chrome-lined barrels in lengths of 11.6, 14.5, 15.7, or 18.6 inches. The C8 MRR is also offered in .300 BLK and 7.62 NATO, although the Danes are just using the 5.56 variants. (Photo: Colt Canada). 

Udleveringen af omkring 50.000 nye M/25 C8 MRR geværer til Forsvaret og Hjemmeværnet er gået i gang. Hærhjemmeværnets SSR-soldater er de første der får leveret GV M/25 fra Colt Canada med SpecterDR-sigter fra ELCAN.

Udleveringen af omkring 50.000 nye M/25 C8 MRR geværer til Forsvaret og Hjemmeværnet er gået i gang. Hærhjemmeværnets SSR-soldater er de første der får leveret GV M/25 fra Colt Canada med SpecterDR-sigter fra ELCAN.

Udleveringen af omkring 50.000 nye M/25 C8 MRR geværer til Forsvaret og Hjemmeværnet er gået i gang. Hærhjemmeværnets SSR-soldater er de første der får leveret GV M/25 fra Colt Canada med SpecterDR-sigter fra ELCAN.

Udleveringen af omkring 50.000 nye M/25 C8 MRR geværer til Forsvaret og Hjemmeværnet er gået i gang. Hærhjemmeværnets SSR-soldater er de første der får leveret GV M/25 fra Colt Canada med SpecterDR-sigter fra ELCAN.

The second part is that they want to double the order.

“As part of this contract, there was an option to purchase an additional number of rifles, and this option has now been used by the IMF,” said the agency in a statement. “This means that through 2026 and 2027 in total, over 50,000 new rifles will be delivered to the Armed Forces (Forsvaret) and Home Guards (Hjemmeaernet).”

The new guns will replace the old M/95 and M/96 series carbines, which are Canadian-made Diemaco C8 and C7s, which are effectively clones of the Colt M4 and M16A2, respectively, and were delivered in the late 1990s. The country also fields the M/10, which is more equivalent to the M4A1, and was also made by Colt Canada. All three series of rifles were used by Danish forces in Afghanistan, a country to which they deployed a total of 18,000 troops from 2002 to 2021.

Denmark, a NATO ally, is not only trying to beef up its military forces in Europe with the ongoing tensions with Russia, but is also expanding its defensive capabilities in Greenland. This year, the country stationed the first combat units on the somewhat disputed Arctic island – detachments of the Jutland Dragoons and the newly formed Jaeger Corps Arctic Specialists (Jaegerkorpset Arktiske-Specialister) – at Nuuk and Kangerlussuaq, as part of the ongoing Operation Arctic Endurance.

Previously, only a small surveillance unit armed with bolt-action M1917 .30-06 rifles and 10mm Glock pistols was stationed in Greenland full-time.

Perhaps the new guns will be ordered in a white and green colorway.

The new guns getting some use this week at Flyvestation Karup: