Australian Army soldiers have begun fielding the next-generation service pistol, marking a major milestone for the LAND 300 Lethality System Program. Brisbane’s Gallipoli Barracks-based 7th Brigade is the first operational unit to be equipped with the new Sidearm Weapon System (SWS) after a successful testing program conducted by NIOA and Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG).
The SWS consists of the Sig Sauer P320 pistol, Romeo 2 red dot sight, a white light torch, holster and retractable lanyard. It replaces the long-serving Browning Mk3 pistol and will be known in service as the F9 pistol. Additional equipment includes a simulation pistol for the WTSS (Weapon Training Simulation System), a paint marking round conversion kit and red coloured weighted replica for use as part of Army Combative Program (ACP) training.
Components of the system are supplied by various Australian companies with NIOA bringing together products from five major suppliers to integrate and deliver to Defence as a fully certified mission system ahead of schedule.
The successful fielding to Army’s School of Infantry in December 2024 paved the way for the rollout of the F9 pistol to the first operational units of 7th Brigade in February. Soldiers have commenced conversion training, consisting of introductory lessons, dry manual handling drills, simulated firing using Defence’s Weapon Training Simulation System (WTSS) and live range firing.
NIOA Australia-New Zealand CEO Ben James said NIOA’s project team was on hand throughout the rollout to provide armourer familiarisation training, expertise and advice as well as validating the training against the analysis of training requirements delivered earlier as part of the project, earning high praise from Defence. “With CASG coordinating the rollout, and NIOA personnel delivering directly from our facility to user units, the distribution of the F9 pistol to the first units has been a huge success,” he said.
Planning is already under way for the next phases of the rollout which will see the majority of units Australia wide receiving their new F9 pistols by December.
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P320 sig no wonder our army is going backwards there are a lot of better pistol’s than that or is that what nioa told them what was good government looking after the there mates again I will stick with what I use and know it won’t jam when needed
Diddnt USA military & law enforcement ditch em years ago? for the more superior Glock!
The Sig Sauer p320 was discontinued temporarily because when it was dropped at certain angles there was a likely chance it would discharge creating a hazard that can harm innocent bystanders. This is also known as a “drop safety” issue. It’s hard enough to recruit new soldiers, then they offer a gun like this. They must have been a freebie off Ukraine for our vehicles lol
Yeah, like you know all, everything
One would hope that it is a better improved version.The P320 got a lot of complaints, mostly from the U.S., but investigators found that in most cases the weapon was not at fault but still it was removed from service by some Police Forces. As far as I’m aware it’s still in service with the the U.S. Military. The model I’ve seen had the very odd arrangement that the weapon is fully cocked with striker is under pressure until released by the trigger ( it had an external safety). Sig Sauer said that it had fixed the problems. The P320 is still used by a lot of organisations both military and civilian ( including in the U.S.) perhaps it’s just another “ compatibility with the U.S.” decision ( or as we called it” the yanks want to dump more crap on us”) but it still seems an odd choice.