Springfield Armory has announced the release of two new color variants for their feature-rich Echelon 9mm pistol. The Echelon is now available in Desert FDE and OD Green, offering shooters more choices while maintaining the pistol's reputation for exceptional ergonomics, adaptability, and ruggedness.

“The Echelon was engineered from the ground up to be today’s most advanced striker-fired pistol,” said Steve Kramer, Springfield Armory’s Vice President of Marketing. “With the addition of these two new color variants in Desert FDE or OD Green, shooters have even more options with this unparalleled pistol design.”

The Echelon's core is the innovative, patent-pending Central Operating Group (COG). This self-contained chassis system is the serialized heart of the firearm, built using cutting-edge manufacturing techniques. It's designed for easy customization - shooters can swap it between different grip modules in seconds. To ensure a perfect fit, the Echelon offers three separately available grip sizes: small, medium, and large.

The Echelon carries forward many of Springfield Armory's proven components, including the Tritium/Luminescent front sight and Tactical Rack U-Dot rear sight combination familiar to Hellcat users. The hammer-forged barrel, a staple in numerous Springfield handguns, is another testament to the Echelon's commitment to accuracy and durability.

Designed from the ground up to be optics-ready, the Echelon tackles the challenge of mounting reflex sights with an innovative Variable Interface System (VIS). This system eliminates the need for mounting plates, allowing shooters to directly attach a variety of popular red dot sights onto the slide itself.

The VIS further enhances the Echelon's adaptability. It utilizes patent-pending self-locking pins to create a versatile optics mounting system. As the mounting screws are tightened, the pins apply lateral pressure on the optic's internal mounting surface, eliminating side-to-side movement and ensuring a consistent point of aim and point of impact.

These pins can be configured to accommodate the footprints of over 30 popular optics, providing an unmatched level of direct-mount compatibility. Notably, both new color variants retain the optics-mounting capability with a set of U-Dot tritium/luminescent sights. Additionally, a hammer-forged 4.5-inch barrel ensures optimal accuracy performance.

The Desert FDE and OD Green Echelon pistols boast a Cerakote finish on the billet-machined slide, which is complemented by a matching color polymer grip module. Cerakote is a well-regarded finish known for its advanced formulation that virtually eliminates the need for external oiling for corrosion protection. This innovative coating not only enhances the durability and performance of the firearm but also offers significant benefits in terms of longevity and ease of maintenance.