i read an article today that said now the LSW has been replaced the sa80 may be as well.
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MOD set to replace unpopular rifle
BRIAN BRADY WESTMINSTER EDITOR
bdbrady@scotlandonsunday.com
DEFENCE chiefs are to spend millions of pounds on a new machine-gun for British troops in a move military experts say has sounded the death knell for the controversial SA80 rifle.
Ministers have admitted they want to buy more than 2,000 Minimi light machine-guns. The weapons will be given to infantry units to boost the firepower of front-line forces called into action in trouble-spots around the world.
But last night military experts said the move marked the beginning of the end of the controversial SA80 rifle, which has been dogged by complaints since its introduction in 1985.
The £7.5m order of Minimis, manufactured by the Belgian firm FN Herstal, is expected to begin replacing the SA80 Light Support Weapon (LSW), the machine-gun version of the troubled rifle, within months.
The 7kg Minimi is acknowledged to produce a heavier burst of rapid fire than the LSW, which critics claim cannot offer enough covering firepower to prevent troops being pinned down in combat.
Now the Minimi, already used by Marines and selected forces in Afghanistan and rushed into service as an "Urgent Operational Requirement" in Iraq, will be issued as standard to infantry units. Each four-strong infantry fire team will in future carry three SA80s, rather than four, plus one belt-fed Minimi, which can fire at least 750 rounds a minute over a wider area.
Yesterday a Ministry of Defence spokesman admitted that experiences in war zones, particularly Kosovo, had proved that the firepower available to British infantry was insufficient. He insisted that the Minimi would "complement" the SA80, not replace it.
However, government insiders and weapons experts claim the decision will have far-reaching consequences for the entire SA80 ‘family’ of weapons. One MoD source said: "It is hardly a vote of confidence in the LSW, is it? The LSW is the most problematic of the SA80s. I don’t expect it to be around much longer. The rifles might stagger on, but I think we are heading towards a decision to phase the entire series out."
Charles Cutshaw, associate editor of Jane’s Infantry Weapons, said the decision would come as no surprise to the industry. "The SA80 generally has had a chequered history. It has been a disaster for the British military," he said.
Servicemen and women across the three forces have complained that the original SA80 was difficult to clean and continually jammed, particularly in "extreme conditions" such as in the heat and dust of desert warfare.
It emerged last year that the previous Director of Infantry, Brigadier Seymour Monro, had called for both the rifle and the LSW to be scrapped amid the continuing complaints. Although the MoD was committed to keeping the SA80 in service until 2015, he warned that the weapon would not work with sophisticated new systems due to be issued to all infantrymen in 2008.
In a leaked document, Monro told his superiors: "The LSW, even when modified, is unlikely to be the most effective way of meeting the suppressive fire requirements of the infantry engaged in close combat," adding that "options such as the phasing out of the SA80 and the procurement of an off-the-shelf, proven weapon system need to be considered".
The government subsequently stuck by the SA80 and paid the German arms manufacturer Heckler and Koch £92m to redesign it, producing the "improved" SA80 A2 rifle, issued to 22,000 troops 18 months ago. Although s concerns about the rifle remained, it was judged to have performed successfully in the heat and dust of the Iraq campaign. The LSW version, however, did not receive such encouraging reports.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Paul Keetch, who has waged a long-running campaign against the SA80, said he hoped the announcement would be a decisive move in the efforts to ensure British forces had the best kit available.
He said: "The £92m that the government spent on getting Heckler and Koch to upgrade it has improved the SA80 to the standard where it was just about OK. However, the light support version is beyond redemption.
"You don’t want machine-guns to be too accurate, but to give a spread of heavy fire. The LSW was far too accurate. The Minimi gives a heavier burst of fire over a wider area.
"We bought it for our elite forces in Afghanistan and it did the job there. It has proved to be incredibly popular and extremely effective. I’d be very surprised if you found British forces using the SA80 for a long time into the future."
Defence Procurement Minister Lord Bach insisted that the Minimi would be complementing the "battle-proven" SA80 A2 automatic rifle.
But he added: "The SA80 is an extremely accurate weapon against longer-range targets... But one of the lessons learned from the Kosovo campaign was the need for an additional lightweight weapon that can provide a high rate of suppressing firepower."
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