Army buys a *lot* of force-on-force practice rounds

The British firm of UTM just got a mega contract award from the Army for marker rounds to be used in what it calls Close Combat Mission Capability Kits, which convert standard M4s and M249s, etc., to cycle them, a conversion that is easily reversible and doesn’t (overly) damage said small arms. These things… The company sells Man-Marker Rounds (MMR/RVR) in red, blue, yellow, or green; Non-Marking & Target Bullet Rounds (NMR/TBR) plastic-backer training rounds, and very loud Battlefield Blanks (LBBR)s without a projectile, all of which cost around 75 cents a pop on large Mil/LE contracts, and this one is a big contract, so that price is likely lower. The Contract, emphasis mine: UTM Ltd., Bury St. Edmunds, United Kingdom, was awarded a $257,402,691 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of 5.56mm M1042 loose and M1071 linked marking ammunition cartridges for use in the Close Combat Mission Capability Kit. Bids were solicited via the…