Tag Archives: M855

Ukraine Drawdowns Top 200 Million Rounds of Small Arms Ammo

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The Pentagon on Wednesday announced the latest security assistance package for Ukraine provided by the Biden Administration, including a lot more small arms ammunition, which is everything short of 12.7mm (.50 cal).

The latest package, valued at up to $300 million, marks the 37th White House-authorized drawdown from the Department of Defense’s equipment stockpiled for Ukraine since August 2021. Besides additional 155mm tube artillery and shells, assorted anti-armor weapon systems, HIMARS rockets, TOW missiles and mortar rounds, the latest transfer also transfers more “small arms and small arms ammunition” to Ukraine. 

With a total of over $36.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, a fact sheet provided by the Pentagon this week puts the running tally of small arms ammunition at “over” 200 million rounds. This is up from the 150 million rounds listed in a similar tally made public just six weeks ago. 

DOD officials in late November listed the cumulative amount of small arms ammo drawdown for Ukraine as 104 million rounds, a figure that has seemingly doubled in the past six months. 

Besides lots of 7.62 NATO for M240s transferred with light armored vehicles, Ukrainian regulars have increasingly been spotted with 5.56-caliber M4A1 Carbines and M16A4 rifles, complete with Trijicon ACOG optics and M203 40mm under-barrel grenade launchers, so you can bet a lot of the recently transferred stockpiles will be 5.56.

Soldiers of the Ukrainian Army’s 47th OMBr (separate mechanized brigade) “Magura” train with M16A4 rifles. The newly created unit is armed with much U.S.-supplied equipment including repainted M2A2 Bradley vehicles. (Photo: Ukraine Ministry of Defense)

In related news, with over 10,000 Javelin systems transferred to Ukraine, a figure that represents something like 13 years of standard production, this contract just hit DOD’s list yesterday (emphasis mine):

Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $1,024,355,817 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for the Javelin Weapon System and associated support equipment. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 2, 2027. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-23-D-0014). (Awarded May 3, 2023)

The ceiling on the Javelin contract, running through 2027, is actually $7.2B, with a B, or almost the cost of five new Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

21st-Century Visual Aircraft Recognition

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Spotted on a Ukrainian coastal craft recently:

Besides the normal MiGs and Sukhois, note the assorted drone silhouettes.

Of note, the U.S. has donated 62 “coastal and riverine patrol boats” to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict with Russia. Presumably, these are all small enough to be carried in via Eastern Europe from Poland and Romania via rail (under 89 feet) and truck (under 53 feet).

Last year, it was disclosed that at least 20 of those were 36-38 foot aluminum hulled boats from Metal Shark in Alabama. 

Speaking of which, the Department of Defense this week quietly posted the latest, 34th, drawdown from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021 which is valued at up to $350 million. Big ticket items include HIMARS rockets, 155mm artillery rounds, 25mm cannon ammunition, 81mm and 60mm mortar rounds, grenade launchers, demo equipment, more riverine patrol boats, thermal sights, and other gear. Also included were additional small arms– classified as .50 caliber BMG and under– along with associated ammunition.

Overall, this brings the total of American military assistance to Ukraine to more than $33.2 billion since the beginning of the Biden Administration took office– roughly the cost of three new Ford-class supercarriers. By comparison, Ukraine spent just $5.9 billion on its entire military in 2021.

When it comes to the running tally of equipment transferred from U.S. stocks to Ukraine this year, more than 150 million rounds of small arms ammunition have been allocated along with 232 pieces of artillery and over 2 million shells. Add to this over 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems, 8,500 Javelin tank killer missiles, and 58,000 “other anti-armor systems.”

The full list, as of March 20, is below:

ATF Waves white flag on potential M855 Greentip ban– for now

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A few weeks ago, I brought you the ongoing news of the push by the BATFE to clarify its feelings towards M855 “Greentip” 5.56mm ammo– one of the most popular target loads for the AR-series rifles and pistols. Well it seems the feds have backed off of the pending rule change (at least for now) following an outpouring of more than 80,000 official comments (35,000 through one site alone) and over that many signatures on a We the People petition.

It would seem the people have spoken, and more to the point, their lawmakers listened with 52 U.S. Senators and 239 members of the House penning letters to the ATF basically asking “What the….”

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Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk

Want to gripe about M855?

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What can you do?

First off, there is a White House petition that has already gained nearly 45,000 signatures in two weeks. Theoretically, once it reaches 100,000, it will have to be addressed by the President.

Next and most importantly, the ATF has a comment period on this ammo decision where you can make your views known. Please be considerate, respectful, and educated. No rhetoric or “Obummer” stuff please.

A non-profit Save M855 site has been set up that will fax the ATF your objection to the proposed ban on sporting ammunition at no cost. So far, they have sent some 7700 objections.

To comment on your own:
ATF email: APAComments@atf.gov
Fax: (202) 648-9741.
Mail: Denise Brown, Mailstop 6N-602, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20226: ATTN: AP Ammo Comments.

Don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? More on the M855 ban in my column at Firearms Talk

Feds going after M855 Greentip 5.56mm ammo

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If you are a Mini-14, AR or SR-556 owner, odds are you are constantly on the lookout for good deals on ammo and one of the best in recent years has been various versions of the military standard ‘green tip’ 5.56mm. Well, it looks like the Obama administration is pulling at a few threads here to try to do away with this common load and now is your chance to do something about it.

When Eugene Stoner came out with his AR-15 rifle in the 1960s, it was a civilian sporting rifle that was later adopted, in a select-fire version, by the U.S. Air Force Security Forces in Vietnam, then by the Army and the entire U.S. military proper soon after. By the 1970s, other countries were jumping on board with rifles of the same caliber, as of course, if the Americans were using it, it had to be good stuff. This is where the Belgian FNC, the Austrian Steyr AUG, and French FAMAS came in at, following soon by the South Korean Daewoo rifles, and those from HK and Enfield.

However the round used by the U.S. military, the 55-grain M193, which was known for its fragmentation upon impact, was considered too inhumane to use in warfare by our more cosmopolitan Western European allies and a Belgian-designed cartridge with a 62-grain bullet that used a mild steel tip over a lead core to help hold it together was adopted as NATO standard in 1977. This more “humane” round, known in Europe as the NATO SS109, is  designated M855 in U.S. military use and is known by its green-painted tip.

Now, some 38 years after this standardized loading was adopted by the U.S. and her Allies, and has been in widespread manufacture worldwide, making it a common import and domestic sporting round, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wants to rule it “armor-piercing” although, technically, its not.

greentip

More in my column at Ruger Talk

 

The New Greener Greentip

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The Army set out to make a more environmentally friendly bullet, and wound up with something to really brag about.

There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the M855 “Green Tip” ammo that the United States has been using since 1982, except that it has a lot of lead in it. With the adoption of the Montreal Protocols, Executive Order (1993), EPA 17 List, and AEC Study into lead contamination, the Army began looking for an unleaded solution to their 5.56mm rounds. With the use of a lead free projectile the Army could eliminate 2,000 tons of lead from production, gain access to formerly closed training ranges, and removes the future lead hazard from the environment.

The new M855A1 EBR, actually has much better performace, and is lead free……

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk