USAF Fighter Pilots Are Now Flying With These Converted M4 Rifles In Their Survival Kits - Converted M4 Rifles.jpg ...

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The U.S. Air Force is now issuing new survival rifles, also known as the GAU-5/A
Aircrew Self Defense Weapon, to at least some units. So we're now beginning to
get a better look at the gun, a variant of the AR-15/M16 pattern design, which
has specialized features so it can break apart and fit compactly into the
standard survival kit in an aviator's ejection seat.

On May 9, 2019, the public affairs office for the 366th Fighter Wing, which
flies F-15E Strike Eagles from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, published
a news item showing that the GAU-5/As are in service with its aircraft. In April
2019, a Facebook post showed that F-22 Raptor pilots with the 3rd Wing at Joint
Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska had also begun to fly with the Aircrew Self
Defense Weapons (ASDW). In June 2018, the Air Force had revealed it was
converting standard 5.56x45mm M4 carbines in-house to the new configuration at a
rate of 100 per week, with a goal of producing 2,100 guns for distribution to
combat-coded squadrons flying both fighter jets and bombers.

"Thank you 673 SFS [Security Forces Squadron] for showing our F-22 leaders the
new GAU-5," U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert Davis, head of 3rd Wing, wrote in a
post on the unit's official Facebook page on Apr. 23, 2019. "That will increase
the firepower of our pilots if they ever have to eject over enemy territory!"

The main difference between the ASDW and its M4 cousin is the redesign of the
upper receiver to include a specialized locking system from Cry Havoc Tactical.
With this lock in place, a user can attach or detach the barrel assembly from
the rest of the gun without special tools. The North Carolina-headquartered firm
says that, with proper training, a shooter can put the weapon together and be
ready to fire within 60 seconds.

Pictures the Air Force has now released of the final ASDW configuration show
that it also has a pistol grip that folds to the rear to make the lower receiver
slimmer in order to fit better inside the survival kit. The gun also has folding
iron sights to reduce its overall height.

This all helps the gun fit snugly into the rest of the aircrew survival kit that
goes under an Air Force pilot's ejection seat. The complete kit weighs less than
40 pounds and also includes signal flares, a flashlight, a medical kit, survival
tools, and a life raft.

Otherwise, the Air Force designed the ASDW so that it would be functionally
identical to the M4 in its assembled form and use the same magazines. It has the
same 14.5-inch overall barrel length, the same retractable buttstock, and the
same general controls, such as the safety selector, magazine release, and
charging handle. It also uses the same “direct impingement” operating system as
the M4, which uses siphoned off propelling gas from firing the weapon to
directly cycle the action.

Sharing features and components with the existing M4 will certainly help with
ease training and logistical requirements. Converting them from existing
carbines could have offered a cost-saving alternative to buying entirely new
guns, too. These factors seem to have influenced the development of the gun from
start, which apparently began with a requirement from F-15E pilots out of
Mountain Home.

The final decision to use a modified M4 design still seems curious in many ways,
especially for such a relatively limited issue weapon. As noted, the Dutch
settled on a very compact 9mm machine pistol for this role.

If there were concerns about armor penetration, there are a number of
purpose-built compact personal defense weapons on the market, such as the FN P90
or Heckler and Koch MP7, which are already in service with the U.S. Secret
Service and the U.S. Navy SEALs, respectively. The guns also use smaller,
lighter ammunition than the 5.56x45mm cartridge, which would be a valuable
feature when working within space and weight restrictions. Another alternative
might have been to go with a compact version of the AR-15/M16 family, or a
derivative thereof, using a specialized cartridge, such as .300 Blackout, to
maximize performance with a shorter barrel.

But the final GAU-5/A configuration does offer certain benefits over those
weapons, including the already noted training and logistical commonality with
the M4. That it retains the same 14.5-inch barrel length means that it has
better range than a personal defense weapon and offers better armor penetration
at appreciable distances compared to a compact pistol-caliber submachine gun.

Whatever the exact reasoning behind the GAU-5/A's selection was, increasingly
more Air Force combat jet pilots are definitely now flying knowing that they're
sitting on additional firepower over their sidearms should they need it in a
worst-case scenario.


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