The Air Force's shot at acquiring a new pistol for its airmen as part of the 2007 supplemental missed its mark after congressional negotiators told blue suiters last spring to nix the buy and take part in a study for a new joint combat pistol.

Finally, Air Force weapons experts in early January briefed the Force Protection Functional Capabilities Board, which is part of the joint study group, on requirements for a new pistol, though additional internal briefings will be scheduled, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein told Military.com this week.

Stein didn't have any details on the recent briefing, but said Air Force officials are working to get the appropriate coordination and approval from within the Joint Staff to get the pistols into the hands or Airmen as soon as possible.

The Air Force wants to replace its 100,000 aging and underpowered M9s, fielded in the 1980s, with new, higher-caliber weapons. Air Force officials believe its Airmen need something more powerful -- much of the talk has been of adopting a new .45 caliber pistol - to better protect themselves.

Many Airmen carry a handgun as their primary or only weapon, and officials previously said that many of the older weapons had misfired during training, raising concerns they could malfunction or break during operations.

The Air Force had asked for $90 million in the 2007 supplemental to buy new, more powerful pistols. Instead, congressional negotiators appropriated $5 million for a joint study on a new combat pistol, with the Army as the lead agent.

Even after that, Air Force officials had hoped the study could be completed in time to include funding for the new weapons in the fiscal 2008 budget.

LINK:www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,160146,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl

The Current Pistols that fall under the Joint Combat Pistol Specs are the following.

Smith & Wesson M&P .45
Smith & Wesosn SW990L
Smith & Wesosn Model 4566 TSW
Smith & Wesosn Model 4563 TSW
Springfield Armory XD-45
Ruger P-345
Ruger P90
GLOCK 21
GLOCK 21SF
FN Herstal FNP-45
Heckler & Koch USP 45
Heckler & Koch USP Compact 45
Heckler & Koch HK45
Sig Sauer P220

All the pistols list work and are worth a damn. Yeah, Taurus Firearms makes a pistol blah, blah, blah, blah..... In the end these damn pistols work.

According to DOA Procurement Programs, Army plans to procure in FY 2009-2011 15,000 FHS (5,000 each year) as a new Personal Defense Weapon (PDW). A new PDW is required to replace the outdated M9 Pistols. Intriguing news but nothing is said about definite weapon.

Wow... A soldier at my armory told me: "Yeh, they got new stuff out, but the old stuff still does the job so I ain't gonna get the new stuff any time soon." The M9 is a fine pistol and does the job, and why the heck would the air force (OF ALL OF THE SERVICES?) need a .45 cal anyways? Especially air crewmen, since they're in the air, not on the ground. Sure, if your downed you need something like a knife and a 9mm.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 9mm ammo is much easier to get than .45. So logistically since the 9mm does the job and is cheaper/easier to get, why would you need to replace it?

I think it would be cool if they issued machine pistols as standard sidearms. You know, because they spend so much time indoors these days.

I know with the marines the Beretta 92FS is still the standard issue, mostly because its simple, theres not many pieces and Im not sure how many of you have seen combat but if the enemy is so close the thandard grunt is pulling his pistol somthing has gone seriously wrong.

Standard marine special forces side arm of choice is .45 which is believe is universal now with spec ops in all branches.

All of the design mentioned are modern day pistols. They have less parts then both the 1911-A1 and the Beretta 92FS (M9).

As for the issue of logistics. That's not an issue if it becomes standard issue. .45 ACP does a far better job in the terms of self defense then the standard 9x19mm NATO loading. The reason is that 9mm does great work if it's a Hallow Point but the military is stuck to using Full Metal Jacket. FMJ does not expand when it hits soft targets. Hence what happens with 9mm is that it over penetrates (goes through) the target. .45 ACP does not over penetrate.

The Air Force relies on pistols more then the rest of the branches but the Air Force is now seeing more ground combat in Iraq. The idea of the USAF sitting behind the wire at some flight line is long gone. This is 4th Generation Warfare, everyone is in the fight.

And besides, the USAF was the first branch to adopt and push both the 9mm and the 5.56x45 M16 into general service. The US Army has always sat back and resisted change.