PDWs...and other small arms.

[LRRPF52]

IIRC, back around 2005 the Commandant's Notes in Infantry magazine called for use of SBR versions of the M4 carbine (like the Navy's 10-inch barrel Mk18) to be used as a PDW.

The M4 was originally intended to fulfill the role of a PDW for support troops, not direct combat arms units.

SF and other units within SOCOM had been purchasing Colt Commando variants like the 653, 723, 727, and 733 as COTS items through channels other than direct military sales through coordinated procurement like the Army, Marines, and USAF did normally.

As the XM4 became more of a reality off the foundation of the Colt 727 (often called the M16A2 carbine), most SOCOM units decided to replace the M16A2 with the M4A1. NSW had already been using 727s as their standard, while JSOC used 723s on the Army side, and 727s on the Navy side.

Once 75th Ranger Regiment and SF started using the M4A1 and ditched M16A2s, it trickled into all the units that were traditionally part of the Joint Rapid Deployment Forces or Light Infantry Combat Divisions, such as the 82nd Airborne, 101st, 25th, and 10th Mountain. This all happened in the 1990s, with SF and Rangers getting M4A1s in the early 1990s starting in 1994, while the conventional units got the M4 in 1997 forward, first in the Scout Platoons, then later in the line.

This was never the intent of the M4 program, but the natural evolution since it proved to be a superior option for dismounted and mounted combat arms soldiers across the board.

I still think the M4 is too large for a PDW for Combat Support and Combat Service Support troops, as LR1955 referred to. I also don't like a protruding magazine for their duty positions, which is why the box-shaped design with unconventional magazine arrangement makes a lot of sense.

The Knight's Armament PDW is a nice little package, but still a bit big for what I think will hit the spot.