It shares the direct gas impingement operation, as well as much of the action, controls, and basic aesthetics with previous Colt rifle designs.

A re-designed upper receiver firing standard 5.56mm ammunition will be produced in various barrel lengths, all having a monolithic design with a full-length top rail, and three auxiliary rails for mounting accessories, free-floating barrels, and front and rear flip-up sights standard, when not using upgraded optics.

Each upper receiver has its own rail system, which allows scopes, or other optics to be pre-sighted for each configuration, and swapped quickly to perform different tasks.

The system can be anodized in a standard matte black finish, but has standard color options including Desert Brown, Digital Camouflage, and Vista Camouflage, which are applied during the anodizing process to prevent wear during use.

The civilian model will be available with all the same features and finishes as the planned Law Enforcement and Military models, but will ship stock with a semi-automatic lower receiver, and an upper receiver with a 410 millimetres (16.1 in) barrel chambered for .308 Winchester ammunition.

[citation needed] In June 2014 Colt Canada announced the new CK901 (Colt-Kalashnikov) in an interview with IHS Jane's at Eurosatory.

The standard carbine has a 16-inch barrel, a monolithic picatinny rail along the upper receiver, a three-position accessory rail forend (sides and bottom), folding front sight, detachable rear sight, ambidextrous charging handle, and an ambidextrous 3-position selector (AUTO-SEMI-SAFE).