The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has selected Sig Sauer to provide its next personal defense weapon for U.S. special operations forces, Nicholas Slayton reports in Task & Purpose. On May 19, SOCOM released a notice of intent to award a five-year fixed firm price contract to the firearms manufacturer. The new personal defense weapon owill be Sig Sauer MCX “Rattler,” which can be chambered in both .300 Blackout and 5.56mm calibers.
“After years of continuous market research, USSOCOM HQ has concluded that Sig Sauer is the only vendor that can fulfill USSOCOM’s need for the Commercial PDW requirement. USSOCOM HQ has been researching and reviewing different systems since 2017,” the notice of intent said. “(…) Except for Sig Sauer, the vendors did not meet the technical requirements and/or the weapons do not meet the commercial definition. The PDW system will allow Operators to have maximum firepower in a concealable weapon,” SOCOM said in the notice. The order will include the guns themselves plus sound suppressors, magazines and cleaning gear, plus additional parts and training on the new platforms. The size and cost of the order were not disclosed.
Featuring a 5.5″ PDW barrel, the MCX platform has never been more compact. It has a thin, foldable stock for easy concealment and stowage. This gun was designed from the ground up to be as discrete as possible while retaining all the capabilities of the MCX. Free-floating M-LOK handguards (notice that M-LOK is a registered trademark of Magpul Industries Corp) matched with a PDW upper and a PDW ultra-thin folding aluminum stock, the MCX Rattler SBR is an ideal choice for fast-moving operators.