The Air Force has completed its sweeping review of the M18 service pistol and determined that the weapon is “safe, reliable, and functional.”
The finding follows an inspection involving more than 113,000 pistols and months of scrutiny after the fatal shooting of a young airman.
Airman Brayden Lovan, 21, was shot and killed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in July 2025.
Lovan served with the 90th Security Forces Group, which protects one of the nation’s critical nuclear missile installations.
The shooting was initially described as an accidental discharge involving an M18 pistol.
That early account immediately raised concerns about the weapon and prompted Air Force Global Strike Command to remove the pistols from service while investigators searched for answers.
Other Air Force commands followed with similar precautions. Because Air Force Global Strike Command oversees America’s intercontinental ballistic missile bases, commanders were not about to gamble with sidearm safety around nuclear security forces.
The command ordered an inspection of its entire M18 inventory, while the broader Air Force launched a service wide examination.
The M18 is based on the Sig Sauer P320 design and has served as a standard Air Force sidearm for several years.
The final report was released publicly more than a year after Lovan’s death, although the document itself was dated January.
According to the Air Force, “inspected weapons exhibited no signs of any condition that could have caused the weapons to experience an ‘uncommanded discharge.’”
That conclusion is backed by an enormous inspection sample, not a handful of pistols checked for appearances. The Department of the Air Force possesses 125,917 M18 pistols, including 117,864 weapons listed as being in use.
Inspectors examined 113,479 of those pistols and determined that 98.6 percent were in “satisfactory” condition.
That leaves only a small portion classified as “other than satisfactory,” and those findings covered ordinary maintenance matters rather than evidence of mysterious firing.
Reported problems included “lightly pitted” components, parts requiring adjustment, and weapons needing repairs.
None of those issues established that the M18 could fire by itself or supported claims that a mechanical defect caused Lovan’s death.
The pistols that remain uninspected are currently held in extended storage, according to the Air Force.
Therefore, they are not being carried by security personnel while awaiting examination, a straightforward precaution that keeps accountability intact.
Air Force Global Strike Command announced in August 2025 that it was returning the M18 to service. The command said a “review of weapon discharges in [Air Force Global Strike Command] showed that none were attributed to weapons malfunction.”
That announcement arrived as the criminal investigation into Lovan’s death took a major turn.
Another airman assigned to the 90th Security Forces Group was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting during the same month.
Two additional security forces airmen later admitted during October courts martial that they had made false statements about what happened.
Their testimony revealed that Lovan was shot after a pistol had been pointed at him, rather than after the weapon supposedly fired accidentally from inside a holster.
That distinction changed the central question surrounding the tragedy. The evidence increasingly pointed away from a defective pistol and toward human actions, followed by inaccurate accounts that clouded the investigation and placed the M18 under suspicion.
The completed review now reinforces what the command’s discharge analysis had already found.
After checking nearly the entire active inventory, inspectors discovered no mechanical condition capable of producing the alleged discharge scenario that originally drove the controversy.
Last month, the Air Force confirmed that it would continue using the M18 as its standard sidearm.
With a 98.6 percent satisfactory inspection rate and no verified malfunction behind the fatal shooting, the service has substantial evidence supporting that decision.
The review does not diminish the loss of Airman Lovan or the seriousness of the conduct described during the resulting legal proceedings.
It does, however, separate verified facts from an early narrative that did not survive deeper investigation.
For airmen carrying the M18 at missile fields, bases, and security posts, the final verdict is direct.
The pistol remains cleared for duty, while the investigation surrounding Lovan’s death has shifted firmly toward accountability for the people involved rather than blame aimed at the weapon.
