Joint Service Small Arms Program

The Joint Service Small Arms Program, abbreviated JSSAP, was created to coordinate weapon standardization between the various United States armed service branches.

In 1962, the Air Force adopted the Smith & Wesson Model 15 revolver over the M1911A1. By 1977 their inventory was wearing out, and the USAF requested special ammunition for the M15 to improve its effectiveness due to malfunctions it suffered.

A Congressional investigation revealed that the USAF had 25 different handguns in inventory. Congressman Addabbo said "The current proliferation of handguns and handgun ammunition in Air Force inventory is intolerable." Congress encouraged DOD to select a standard handgun and phase out all others.

This task was assigned to the newly created Joint Service Small Arms Program (JSSAP).

The United States Military forces had been using a variety of different small arms which grew over the years to about ten different types of handguns. Model in use included the M1911A1 (Colt .45 Automatic), Smith & Wesson (Combat Masterpiece in .38 Special caliber), Smith and Wesson Model 1917 (.45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim) and various other small arms. By the 1970s it became obvious that the M1911A1 (Colt Government .45ACP) model was going to have to be replaced.

The M1911A1 had served very well for a long period of time but now there were increasing problems with it. One problem was that more than a large percentage of gun in inventory had cracked frames. But perhaps the worst problem was the quality of replacement parts being sold to armorers for repairs was substandard.

Additionally, the USA had been the only major military force that was not standardized with NATO for their handgun ammunition. The military supply of .45 ACP ammunition was uneven in many parts of the world. This was widely discussed at the time in military circles the data for which is not readily available on the internet.

The decision was made to start the process through the auspice of the JSSAP program to procure a new handgun for the use of all US services. These services include The US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Coast Guard as the major buyers. Additionally there are many federal agencies such as the FBI, CIA, NSA, Federal Protective Service, who would likely use the handgun which is chosen as well as Civilian forces such as the nations Police Forces.

The program to purchase the new standardized handgun was designated the XM9 program. There were 85 criterion for handgun characteristics that must be met to satisfy the procurement requirements.

There were 85 requirements for the new handgun. 72 of these were mandatory and 13 were optional.XM9/XM10 Trials Basic Requirements:

Safety System:

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