The defense magazine European Security & Defence has published an article detailing for the first time Glock’s Modular Handgun System submission and its Federal-engineered ammunition. The article – part technical overview, part interview, details the recent history of Glock’s MHS submission, the technical characteristics of their Glock 19 MHS and 23 MHS pistols, and the current feeling among Glock executives about their second place finish in the competition. I highly recommend our readers head over the the ES&D website, where they can read the full article for free in text only or PDF form. But, since I don’t want to bury the lede any more than I have, here’s what Glock’s head of International Sales, Richard Flür, had to say on the Glock MHS’s future beyond the US Army:

ESD: Will there be a version of the Glock Modular Handgun System pistol for the commercial market? Flür: Yes. We think this is a great pistol and would like to give all interested parties the opportunity to try and purchase it. All costs associated with the development of the pistol were financed by Glock, so it is also possible to market the pistol independently. Of course, we will be able to make good use of the experience gained from completing this project.Some aspects will certainly be reflected in future Glock products.

The Federal Enhanced Barrier Round is also interesting – to say the least. Vista Outdoor/Federal appears to be building on its experience producing M855A1 ammunition via Lake City. The new 9mm EBR round uses a similar sort of construction, with a hard steel center and copper jacket with – notably, for a US military round – expansion or fragmentation cuts formed directly into the jacket material. Although this round likely has its lineage with recent US rifle ammo developments, it’s difficult to miss its resemblance to Russian high performance 9x19mm pistol ammo, which shares similar construction.