{"id":14794,"date":"2018-03-08T15:34:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T15:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/08\/congress-grills-marines-over-m27\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:06:02","slug":"congress-grills-marines-over-m27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/03\/08\/congress-grills-marines-over-m27\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress grills Marines over M27"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Marine commanders were grilled by members of Congress on Tuesday over their decision to seek a single-source contract from a foreign company to procure the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle<\/a>, or IAR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps is seeking to procure nearly 15,000 Heckler & Koch M27 rifles<\/a> to field to the infantry. But the nearly $3,000 automatic rifle is being sourced to a German company, an issue raised by members of Congress at a House Armed Services Committee meeting on readiness late Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you believe that it is the best option to not compete a contract that could be as many as 50,814 rifles?\u201d Congressman Joe Wilson<\/a>, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, asked Marine commanders at the hearing. \u201cDo you believe the U.S. defense industrial base could support such a request?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, the Corps has already fielded 6,500 rifles, a process that began in 2008 through open competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur plan is to outfit our infantry Marines with that M27,\u201d Lt. Gen. Brian D. Beaudreault, deputy commandant of Plans, Policies and Operations, told Wilson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But any new decision to source the weapon from a new U.S. supplier could result in costs as high as $24 million and a two-year delay in getting the weapons in the hands of grunts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d basically be starting over,\u201d Beaudreault warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not all lawmakers were satisfied with that answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a tremendous \u201cnumber of U.S. manufacturers that make just as good of a rifle as H&K [Heckler & Koch], which H&K is also a good company,\u201d said Congressman Austin Scott, R-Ga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott said that American defense manufacturers \u201ccould use the business\u201d and that those companies have been \u201churt by the sequester\u201d just like the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sequestration enacted automatic budget cuts and set spending caps for the Defense Department as part of the Budget Control Act of 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lance Cpl. John Ready, an M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle gunner for Company E., Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marines Expeditionary Unit, provides security as an MV-22 Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, takes off after inserting a platoon of Marines during an integrated, live-fire exercise for Exercise Koolendong 13 here, Sept. 3. The 31st MEU moved a battalion-sized force more than 300 miles inland to conduct the training. The exercise demonstrates the operational reach of the 31st MEU and reinforces why the 31st MEU is the force of choice for the Asia-Pacific region. Also participating in the exercise is the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin and soldiers of the 5th Royal Australian Army. The 31st MEU brings what it needs to sustain itself to accomplish the mission or to pave the way for follow-on forces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those caps have taken a heavy toll on military readiness, an issue military leaders have routinely complained about to Congress, especially as the force is now amid a shift towards conflict with rising near-pear adversaries like Russia and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, lawmakers were concerned that a foreign company might not have the capacity to meet the demand and that it could pose a readiness challenge for the Corps if spare parts couldn\u2019t be delivered on time from the German manufacturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its presolicitation, the Corps sought a production capacity of 50,184 M27s to ensure any sole source provider could meet the demands if the Corps needed more than 15,000 rifles. Heckler & Koch met those requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a report by the Government Accountability Office found the process undertaken by the Corps to be legal for the service to pursue a sole source contract, Beaudreault told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitting up grunts with new weapons and tech has been a priority for Marine Commandant Robert B. Neller. A new open competition to seek a U.S. manufacturer for an automatic rifle could prove to be a major setback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The M27 is a proven weapon that has afforded grunts increased lethality. The 30-round capacity rifle has increased range over its predecessor the M4. As such, the Corps made a marksman version of the M27 known as the M38.<\/p>\n\n\n\t