U.S. Air Force’s Global Strike Command (AFGSC) has ordered an indefinite “pause” in the use of M18 pistols following a recent fatal incident at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. This comes just two weeks after the disclosure of an FBI report that added to long-standing concerns about the ability of Sig Sauer P320-series pistols, a family that includes the M18, to fire without their triggers being pulled. Just days after that report became public, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a permanent ban on the use of P320s. TWZ just recently published an in-depth story on the FBI report and the fallout from it, including Sig’s refutation of the testing results, which you can find here.
“Air Force Global Strike Command has paused use of the M18 Modular Handgun System, effective July 21, 2025, until further notice,” AFGSC spokesperson Charles “Moose” Hoffman has now confirmed to TWZ. “This decision was made following a tragic incident at F.E. Warren AFB, WY, on July 20, 2025, which resulted in the death of a Security Forces Airman.”
The Modular Handgun System (MHS), which is a U.S. Army-managed program, includes the full-size M17 pistol and the compact M18. Both are variants of the Sig P320, and you can read more about their specific features and the underlying design here. The Army picked Sig as the winner of its MHS competition in 2017, and all branches of the U.S. military within the Department of Defense subsequently adopted M17/M18 pistols as their standard sidearms.
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