(Sept. 24) - The US Army announced that Beretta USA has been awarded a contract for up to 100,000 M9, 9mm caliber, pistols. An initial order for over 4,600 pistols has already been released to the company. All of the pistols will be manufactured at the Beretta USA facility in Maryland, where an American work force of nearly 300 employees has been making M9 pistols since 1987. To date, over 600,000 Beretta 9mm pistols have been delivered to the U.S. military. "This order reconfirms the US Armed Forces' interest and support of the M9 pistol. The Beretta M9 remains the standard sidearm of the US Army", commented Cav. Ugo Gussalli Beretta, President of Beretta Holding, "These pistols will support American troops in the field for years to come." "We are very proud to continue supplying the M9 pistols to the U.S. Army" said Gabriele de Plano, Beretta U.S.A.'s Vice President of Military Marketing & Sales, "and we look forward to the opportunity of working with the Army to improve the current M9 design with many of the existing solutions available to us in the new Model 92A1 and 96A1 pistol families."  Together with Benelli, Sako and Steiner, Beretta is part of Beretta Defense Technologies (BDT), an alliance of four leading companies unified to provide advanced products, services, in-house R&D and manufacturing in support of military personnel around the world. (red)

ABOUT BERETTA
Beretta, established in 1526, is the oldest industrial dynasty in the world tracing its roots through 15 generations of continuous family ownership. Firearms bearing the Beretta name have been sold for almost 500 years. Beretta USA Corp., a Beretta Holding company, was founded in 1977 and supplies the standard sidearm to the U.S. Armed Forces. Today Beretta manufactures, distributes and markets a complete line of firearms, accessories and apparel. Beretta also owns and operates six retail Beretta Gallery stores worldwide.