The Army, Navy and Marine Corps are not planning to pause use of the M18 pistol as a primary, daily service sidearm for their troops, the services told Task & Purpose, even as units in the Air Force pull the weapon from service after an airman was killed when his M18 discharged last week.
The M18 pistol is produced by Sig Sauer as a military version of the company’s P320, a model that has drawn lawsuits and attention in recent years after incidents where users alleged that the gun fired on its own. In military usage, a law enforcement training agency in Washington recently chronicled at least six possible unintentional discharges on or associated with military bases involving the M18 or M17, a slightly larger version of the handgun.
Concerns about the handgun were heightened last week wh