The Army has awarded contracts to ten companies to submit submachine guns for the service to evaluate. The service has not purchased a new submachine gun for more than seventy years, and is reportedly considering them for units tasked with protecting senior Army leaders.
The U.S. Army has awarded approximately $200,000 to ten companies for evaluation weapons under the Sub Compact Weapon (SCW) program. The service posted a Request for Information (RFI) in May 2018 for a SCW that will fire 9×19-millimeter (9mm Luger) ammunition, fire full automatic, and have a Picatinny rail for attaching lights and optics. The RFI also mentions the capability to mount a suppressor.