Connecticut-based Colt's Manufacturing this week was tapped to supply the military with new carbines as part of an eight-figure contract. 

The $12,934,700 firm-fixed-price award, issued by the U.S. Army Contracting Command, is for Colt M4A1 carbines, suppressors, and flash hiders. The full amount was obligated at the time of the award and is drawn from fiscal year 2025 Foreign Military Sales funds allocated for Israel. It follows a series of awards going back to 2018 for the handy 5.56 NATO carbine, typically for foreign military sales. 

Colt's history with the M4 platform goes back to the Army's XM4 (Colt Model 740) prototype in 1982, although it was not formally adopted until 1993 after experience in the field with its larger M16A2 big brother showed that a more compact carbine was needed, especially for troops crammed into vehicles and aircraft. 

Before that, Colt had developed several ultra-short variants of the M16A1 (Colt 605, 606, 607, and 608) in the 1960s, which evolved into the XM177/CAR-15 (609/610, 629, 639, and 640) series guns that remained in service through the end of the Cold War. 

The work on the new M4A1 contract will be performed in Colt's West Hartford, Connecticut facility, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2026.