Colt Defense LLC, together with its subsidiaries, is an American designer, developer and manufacturer of small arms weapons systems for individual soldiers and law enforcement personnel. It is headquartered in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...

. The company traces its portfolio of products and services back to

Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC (CMC, formerly Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company) is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt and is now a subsidiary of Czech holding company Colt CZ Group. It is the succ ...

and prior to that to Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company. The company and its predecessors have supplied small arms weapons systems to the United States Government and other governments throughout the world since the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

of 1847. In its 2002 reorganization, Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc. split off Colt Defense to supply military, law enforcement and security markets. Sales to the U.S. Government (including U.S. Government sales to foreign governments) accounted for 57% of net sales in 2010 and 33% of net sales through the first three quarters of 2011, the change being a result of both reduced purchases of the M4 carbine by the U.S. military, and increasing direct sales to foreign government customers. On October 14, 2010, the company announced that the board of directors had appointed Gerald R. Dinkel as president and chief executive officer of the company, succeeding William M. Keys, who remains on the board of directors as chairman. In 2013 Colt Defense acquired New Colt Holding Corp., parent company of Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC, forming a single company to develop, manufacture and sell firearms under the Colt name for all markets. On 15 June 2015, Colt Defense filed for bankruptcy, citing both assets and debts in the $100 million to $500 million range. In January 2016, Colt Defense announced that the bankruptcy court had approved its restructuring plan. Colt Canada Corporation, its Canadian subsidiary, is the Canadian government's Center of Excellence for small arms and is the Canadian military’s sole supplier of the

C7 rifle The Colt Canada C7 is a Canadian family of military rifles, manufactured by Colt Canada (formerly Diemaco prior to 2005), having similar design and function to the Colt M16A3. The C7 and its variants have been adopted as the standard issue rif ...

and

C8 carbine The Colt Canada C7 is a Canadian family of military rifles, manufactured by Colt Canada (formerly Diemaco prior to 2005), having similar design and function to the Colt M16A3. The C7 and its variants have been adopted as the standard issue ri ...

. Colt Canada began as

Diemaco Diemaco was a Canadian defence company based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, that manufactured the C7 family of rifles under a licence from Colt. It was acquired by Colt Defense Colt Defense LLC, together with its subsidiaries, is an American de ...

in 1974 and was acquired by Colt in 2005 from

Héroux-Devtek Héroux-Devtek Inc. is an international company specializing in the design, development, manufacture, repair and overhaul of landing gear, actuation systems and components for the aerospace market. Founded in 1942, the company's head office is ...

. The company and its subsidiaries maintain manufacturing facilities in

and

Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...

Products

Colt was the original producer of the

M16 rifle The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

, rights to which it purchased from designer

ArmaLite ArmaLite, or Armalite, is an American small arms engineering company, formed in the early 1950s, in Hollywood, California. Many of its products, as conceived by chief designer Eugene Stoner, relied on unique foam-filled fiberglass butt/stock fur ...

, and today offers a complete "Family of Weapons" based around the derivative

M4 Carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

, which includes a heavy barreled rifle (HBAR), a carbine with sliding stock (M4 &

ACC-M The Colt's Manufacturing Company Advanced Colt Carbine-Monolithic is an improved version of the M4 carbine presented to the United States military at a conference as a possible replacement for the M16 rifle and M4 carbine within the military. Des ...

), a personal defense weapon with folding-collapsible buttstock (SCW), a piston carbine (APC), a Commando M4 with a 10.5 in. (26.7 cm) barrel, an infantry automatic rifle (IARTM), a submachine gun chambered for 9mm ammunition, and the 40mm

M203 grenade launcher The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil force ...

. In July 2012 the U.S. Marine Corps awarded Colt a five-year,

Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity In U.S. Federal government contracting, IDIQ is an abbreviation of the term indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time. The lega ...

contract for up to 12,000

M-45 MEUSOC The MEU(SOC) pistol, ("Marine expeditionary unit (special operations capable) (MEU(SOC))") officially designated the M45 MEUSOC, is a magazine-fed, recoil-operated, single-action, semiautomatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. A varian ...

Close Quarter Battle Pistols (CQBP) based on the current embodiment of the

M1911 pistol The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for th ...

design.

References

External links

Colt Defense

Colt Defense SEC Filings
{{Colt's Manufacturing Company Colt's Manufacturing Company Manufacturing companies established in 2002 Defense companies of the United States American companies established in 2002 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015