New weapons will replace venerable Browning sidearms that MoD says are too slow to fire in case of close-quarter attack

British troops in Afghanistan – and on future operations anywhere else – will be better able to defend themselves with the help of the first new standard pistol issued to the armed forces in more than 40 years.

Faced with the threat of attacks at close quarters – not least from members of the Afghan security forces turned by the Taliban or bearing individual grievances – the new weapons will enable them to shoot faster and more effectively, troops say.

More than 25,000 Austrian-made Glock pistols will finally replace the clunky Browning sidearm that squaddies and commandos have had to cope with for decades, the Ministry of Defence announced on Wednesday.

An £8.5m contract has been awarded to Glock after a tendering contest and trials stretching over two years. No British company competed; even the new pistol's holster is made abroad, in Italy.

The MoD recently urgently ordered a consignment of Swiss Sig Sauer pistols to enable British troops to protect themselves better in Afghanistan.

The new pistol, a variant of the Glock 17, will make it easier for British soldiers "to shoot back", said Colonel Peter Warden, head of the MoD defence equipment organisation's light weapons team.

The 9mm Glock is lighter and tougher than the Browning but above all much easier to fire – advantages that have already attracted US law enforcement agencies, including police forces, to the weapon. It can be removed from its holster and fired within a second. With the Browning it would take four seconds or more.

"If I'm getting it out in under a second, I'm going to win it," said Marine Sergeant Steve Long, who has been deployed twice to Afghanistan as well as to Iraq and Sierra Leone. He tested the Glock in the heat of Brunei.

Speaking at Woolwich Arsenal in south-east London, where journalists and officials were invited to test the pistol, he described the decision to equip British troops with the weapon as a "massive step forward". He explained that with the Browning, a soldier had to undo the holster flap, flick the safety catch and draw a bullet from the magazine before firing a shot.

The Glock has built-in safety catches, and the pistol can be kept fully loaded with a round in the chamber even when it is in the holster. Its magazine can hold 17 rounds, compared with 13 in the Browning. "Pistols are vital in close combat and are a key part of a soldier's armoury," said Warrant Officer Mark Anderson of the Royal Marines. Personal sidearms were described by soldiers on Wednesday as "lifesavers".

Warden said a Glock pistol would be available to every British soldier in Afghanistan later this year. Whether they will be issued with the new model will be up to their commanding officer.

The announcement was a significant moment in the long history of the ubiquitous Browning pistol – a personal weapon whichthat Saddam Hussein frequently had at his side. Libya's Colonel Gaddafi also had one – gold-plated, and with his image on its handle. Libyan rebels waved it in the air when he was captured during the 2011 revolution.