When the military picked New Hampshire gunmaker Sig Sauer to supply a new sidearm to replace the Army‘s Beretta M9 in 2017, the company beat out venerable names in gun lore, such as Glock and Smith & Wesson.

Sig Sauer’s next-generation-designed M17 and M18, military versions of its popular P320 pistol, touted as “the future of modular handguns,” won the $580 million contract hands down.