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Faults found in army's new rifle UK

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited July 2002 in General Discussion
Faults found in army's new rifle Jul 3 2002

Soldiers in Afghanistan have reported three faults with the army's new SA80-A2 rifles, the Ministry of Defence say.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has told troops he would investigate claims the weapon misfires badly, the same problem suffered by the gun it replaced.

Armed forces minister Adam Ingram told shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin that three formal equipment failure reports had been filed from Afghanistan.

He said: "The SA80-A2 is operating in a very difficult environment in Afghanistan with both dusty conditions and extremes of temperature.

"In an operational environment any concerns are treated very seriously and a specialist team on the ground is investigating these reports as a matter of urgency."

The original SA80 was suspended from the Nato Nominated Weapon List in 1997 after soldiers experienced problems such as jamming in extreme weather.

Following a ?92 million modification programme, the revised weapon was declared one of the best in the world by the MOD and was introduced earlier than planned for use by troops in Afghanistan.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0600uk/page.cfm?objectid=12004912&method=full&siteid=50082



"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Comments

  • airborneairborne Member Posts: 1,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I really think they could find an better environment to conduct field tests, than under combat conditions, where misfires could possibly mean the death of a British or possibly an American soldier.

    Sounds like VietNam all over, with the initial issuing of the M16.

    B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze

    Edited by - airborne on 07/05/2002 21:47:48
  • kimberkidkimberkid Member Posts: 8,858 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Josey1 - do you have a link to a pic of the SA80 or SA80-A2 ... it seems like I've seen them but can't place it for sure ...

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  • RugerNinerRugerNiner Member Posts: 12,636 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    kimberkid;

    Try this Link.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_2091000/2091522.stm

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