Infantrymen Will Be Equipped With Gun Suppressors

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Traditionally, gun suppressors have been reserved for special operations forces or specialized troops. But over the last year, the US Marine Corps has experimented the use of this “elite” gear by rank-and-file infantry forces. A 300-Marine infantry element deployed to Norway as part of the new rotational force with suppressed rifles, as the service prepares for future conflict.
Marines from the unit told Military.com the suppressors helped units communicate better and heightened the element of surprise over the enemy.
The corps is particularly interested in baffleless flow-through technology, which uses deflectors and coils to reduce the weapon’s signature. More traditional designs, such as the Corps’ legacy SureFire suppressors, use a chamber to block gas, creating pressure that can affect the gun’s performance and blow back into the operator’s face.

Suppressor manufacturer OSS is one of the companies that has responded to a September solicitation published by the Marine Corps for suppressors that can work with the service’s M4, M4A1 and M27 rifles and withstand the rigors of combat without altering the performance of the weapons.

The company has a patent on its technology and has just come out with a new one-piece Helix-QD suppressor that could be more affordable, lighter, quieter and stronger. Refining the design from multiple pieces to one makes the suppressors cheaper to manufacture without sacrificing performance. The design also features a torque-lock system to hold the suppressor in place while the rifle is being fired.
If the Marine Corps does move to pursue OSS suppressors for infantrymen, it’s not clear whether the new Helix line or the Elite line, specially designed to meet government requirements, would best suit the service’s needs.