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EDITORIAL: GIs deserve better
Oct 18, 2009 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
An Army investigation of a furious firefight in Afghanistan last year that left nine U.S. soldiers dead has found that the principal firearm of the troops, the M4 carbine, failed repeatedly at key points. This is powerful new evidence that the M4 should be scrapped for something better.
This weapon is a shorter, lighter version of the M16 rifle, which suffered frequent jams in the early days of the Vietnam War. The Army's own tests have shown that some competitive carbines are far less likely to jam.
The Aberdeen Proving Ground tested the M4 in December 2007 against three other weapons -- the Heckler & Koch XM8, the Fabrique Nationale SCAR and the Heckler & Koch Model 416. Ten of each model fired 6,000 rounds each for a total of 60,000 rounds from each design.
The M4 suffered 882 failures, of which 863 were clearable within 10 seconds. In defense of the weapon, the Army noted that it worked better than 98 percent of the time.
But the important figure is the rate of failure -- 1.47 percent for the M4, more than seven times the rate for the XM8 and almost four times the rate for the other two competitors. This could mean the difference in a tough fight where losing 10 seconds may mean the difference between life and death.
Some desk-bound officers might be tempted to blame the troops for failing to keep their weapons clean. But soldiers in the battle insist their weapons were cleaned meticulously and regularly inspected by superiors. (It's not known whether the similar battle at nearby Kamdesh earlier this month that killed eight U.S. soldiers was affected by weapon failures.)
This nation demands much from the troops it has sent into battle. In return they deserve better and more dependable weapons.
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