Back into the 2012 budget deep dive and the Kit Up! crew noticed a few line items that might be of particular interest to our readers.
First off, and this is news to us, the Marine Corps has ditched the Mk-11 Mod1 semi-auto sniper rifle and has signed on to the Army program and its M110. The service was due to field its first batch of M110s late last year and we're not sure how many have hit the AO yet given the continuing resolution money the Pentagon is operating on now (M110 is pictured above with 3rd Recom in Japan).
Budget documents show the Corps is asking for 803 M110s in fiscal 2012 to the tune of $9.5 million. The total requirement is for somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,600 of the rifles throughout the Corps.
Another tidbit we picked up was a $3 million request for the Close Quarter Battle Pistol. According to the budget documents, an increase in the Force Recon dets and MarSoc needs have caused the Corps to seek out a new .45 cal pistol since the custom MEU (SOC) 1911 just isn't practical to field to a larger force of Marine operators.
Lastly, we saw a reference to the H&K-made M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle -- with the Corps requesting funds in FY 12 to purchase 886 of the full-auto rifles. If I'm reading the documents right, the Corps is buying them for $2,896 each, so that totals out at around $2.5 million for the request.
