http://money.msn.com/now/blog--no-winners-in-army-rifle-replacement-shoot-out.................That has to be somewhat disheartening for the folks at Colt, which made the original M4 so well that it wasn't able to surpass that weapon and cash in. But it's great news for the Army. The original plan involved laying out $49.6 million in 2014 to buy 30,000 new carbine rifles.
Instead, the Army will spend $21.2 million next year to buy 12,000 fully automatic Colt M4A1 rifles -- a special forces version of the M4 -- to replace the original's three-shot bursts -- and will attempt to repurpose some of that $49.6 million.............
Some numbers 30,000 carbines @ $49.6M is $1,653.33 per rifle. 12,000 carbines @ $21.2M is $1,766.67 per rifle. Difference in cost per unit is $113.33 per unit. $113.33 per unit X 12,000 is $1.36M.
In other words the guys who get the contract will effectively get $1.36M more than with a new rifle and they won't need to invest anything else into new tooling, equipment, etc. Seems pretty shady to me.