Agreed. Seems more like a view-from-10,000 feet look at the competition. HK sees that most of their major competitors (including, critically, their military contract competitors, primarily Glock, Sig, and Beretta) are all offering 17-round fullsize options and optics cuts. So they add 17 round options and an optics cut. I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to roll out these upgrades significantly predates the ETS solution.
State Government Attorney | Beretta, Glock, CZ & S&W Fan
The big takeaway is that now the VP9 is on a level playing field for ANY LE/GOV contract selection, between the button and this mag capacity and optics ready capability they have erased all handicaps that kept the VP9 on the sidelines here stateside, can’t wait to grab one.
I wonder if they made any internal changes to the VP9, and I find it interesting that they didn't make any changes to the rear plate being open.
Only reason I bring this up is because of the series of Youtube tests that showed the VP9 choking up. Regardless of whether you took them seriously or not, I remembering seeing a lot of people making a deal of it, and HK had to have noticed.
Wish the TS version was available....