New service pistol for 2019 

According to Forsvarsministeriets Materiel (Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation – DALO) the Danish Army is replacing its M/49 pistol, which is a SIG Sauer P210, with the company’s P320 X-Carry in 2019. 

After evaluating five candidates, Canik (TP9 SF), Glock (Glock17 Gen 5), Smith & Wesson (out early), Beretta (APX) and SIG Sauer, the latter having won. 

DALO informed MONCh that the Sig Sauer P320 performed best in the many tests that were part of the procurement process. The guns will be provided via SIG Sauer’s Danish agent CT Solution Aps to the Armed Forces. and will be purchased in two versions. 

“A total of four guns were included in the test and the guns were tested under all conceivable conditions by users of the Special Operations, Military Police, Air Force and Army,” DALO states. “The P320 was the best candidate in the four-week trial period.” 

The P320 is expected to be delivered to all services by the end of 2019.  

Since its introduction in January 2014, the P320 has gained tremendous momentum in the firearm world. In 2017, the US Army selected a variant of the P320 as its next service pistol. With great modularity and a clean, crisp trigger pull, the P320 sets a standard for Striker-fired performance, according to the company. The serialised trigger group is interchangeable, allowing the shooter to transform the size and calibre of the pistol. Full size, Carry, Compact and Subcompact frames are available. Grip frames are further divided into small, medium and large to accommodate any hand size.

The US Army announced on 19 January 2017 that the Modular Handgun System (MHS) programme has been won by a full-size pistol based on the SIG Sauer P320. The contract to manufacture the next service pistol is valued at U$580 million: the Army is to buy 280,000 plus some 7,000 sub-compact variants. The other services participating in the programme are likely to procure an additional 212,000. The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) became the first unit to field the US Army’s new M17 and M18 Modular Handgun System. The MHS handgun is a variant of the SIG Sauer P320 pistol and is equipped with an external safety, an integrated MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail for the attachment of light and laser systems, self-illuminating night sights to maintain combat effectiveness in all lighting conditions, and is capable of accepting a sound suppressor. More on this, here. 

For more on the P320, please see here and here.