U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

Friday, May 09, 2008

CONTACT: Stephanie Valencia – 202-494- 8790
Cody Wertz – 303-350-0032

Sen. Salazar Encourages Army to Take Advantage of Industry Innovation to Ensure Soldiers Receive Best Equipment

WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to ensure that our United States military men and women have access to the best equipment, today, United States Senator Ken Salazar wrote a letter encouraging the Army to re-evaluate their current procurement procedures in order to take advantage of industry innovation to improve the reliability and reduce the cost of the M4 carbine.

The M4 carbine is one of the most commonly used weapons in the field. It is similar to the M16 rifle, but has a shorter length, making the M4 the preferred weapon to use in close quarters situations such as house-clearing operations. The Army has been transitioning from the M16 to the M4 throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senator Salazar’s letter comes at a time when the Army is considering how best to re-compete the M4 carbine procurement contract when the current contract expires in June 2009. While the M4 is a good weapon, potential improvements exist that could make it even more effective and reliable, ideally reducing the overall costs at the same time. Although the Army has improved upon the M4 more than 50 times in the past, current procurement procedures are not designed to take advantage of industry innovation to improve the weapon in a timely and cost effective fashion.

“We must ensure that our nation’s soldiers have the best weapons in the field to carry out their mission. The equipment we provide our nation’s soldiers should keep pace with the best technical improvements that industry can produce. The search for the lightest, most accurate, most reliable and most cost-effective weapon should be a continuous process.

“To meet those goals, the Army needs to take advantage of industry innovation, case in point being the opportunity to improve the M4 carbine. I believe our soldiers would be better served if the Army allowed industry to propose improvements to the M4 carbine as a part of any future procurement contract.”

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