UK to spend $95 million to upgrade their SA80 dog.

[lowprone]

UK to spend $95 million to upgrade their SA80 dog.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/11/08/sa80-rifle-upgrade/

Did they not spend millions already on this POS ?

[RetroRevolver77]

deleted

[SteyrAUG]

UK to spend $95 million to upgrade their SA80 dog.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/11/08/sa80-rifle-upgrade/

Did they not spend millions already on this POS ?

HK did the SA80 to SA80A2 upgrade and now it looks like they need fancy new rails and are going to fix a few bugs that the last upgrade didn't correct. I suspect the only reason they are doing this is so that the domestic production can be maintained. I can't for the life of me understand why they don't simply get a M4 license and roll their own.

The L85 / SA80 was an interesting post war design in it's original .280 platform but the demand from NATO to standardize around 7.62x51 killed it. The design was revisited in 4.85×49mm but again NATO standardized around the 5.56 round and the rifle didn't function as reliably in that chambering.

[BoringGuy45]

I don't understand why the Brits have held on so tightly to this rifle. Even after HK upgraded the rifle into the A2 version, the best I've ever heard the SA80 described is "not quite as bad as it once was."

[RetroRevolver77]

deleted

[BoringGuy45]

Cough, cough, M4, cough.

Yah, it's some kind of national pride thing- look we created it so it's ours!

Yeah, but ours is actually a good, reliable rifle. I know you think that the AK is the absolute one and only rifle that has the right to exist, but considering the M4's long and well tested history in combat, we have reason to keep it.

[MegademiC]

Yeah, but ours is actually a good, reliable rifle. I know you think that the AK is the absolute one and only rifle that has the right to exist, but considering the M4's long and well tested history in combat, we have reason to keep it.

Haha, yea. The AR is ergonomically, as close as perfect as you'll find with modern, common military rifles.
That said, I'd take an AK over a bullpup,

The AR vs AK is played out, at the end of the day, neither is going to be the reason you die. Both guns are ergonomic and reliable enough to the point software>hardware.

[SteyrAUG]

I don't understand why the Brits have held on so tightly to this rifle. Even after HK upgraded the rifle into the A2 version, the best I've ever heard the SA80 described is "not quite as bad as it once was."

Two things.

1. The Brits seem to pride themselves on providing "absolute crap" to their military forces. The entire Bravo Two Incident was the result of SAS having radios that didn't work. This is bare minimum support stuff that you would think would at least be provided to special forces. Even a damn sat phone was of sufficient technology in 1991 to have worked. That they keep providing problematic rifles to standard military forces should hardly be surprising.

2. The Brits engage in a quasi socialism they call a constitutional monarchy. This means they have to keep the local arms manufacturers in operation, which provides jobs domestically, even if they have to spend two to three times what it should cost to maintain the farce. So they just keep cranking out the crap and people keep reporting to work. I wish we would simply GIVE them a license to manufacture the M4 locally, when we have a war they are the only ones who reliably show up to help anyway. We could call it foreign aid.

[Slater]

Does the UK even have the capability to mass produce infantry rifles any more? They source munitions such as bombs and (IIRC) artillery ammo from overseas.