SA80
| SA80 | |
|---|---|
|
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| general information | |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Royal Small Arms Factory and BAE Systems |
| Manufacturer country: | United Kingdom |
| Production time: | 1984 to 1994 |
| Model variants: | L85 IW, L86 LSW, L22 Carbine, L98A1 CGP |
| Weapon Category: | Automatic firearm |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 785 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 4.52 kg |
| Barrel length : | 518 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | 5.56 × 45 mm NATO |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 30 cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | Curve magazine |
| Cadence : | approx. 610-775 rounds / min |
| Number of trains : | 6th |
| Twist : | Right |
| Visor : | SUSAT (tritium illuminated sighting telescope with 4-fold magnification) |
| Charging principle: | Gas pressure charger |
| Lists on the subject | |
SA80 ( S mall A rms for the 80 s) is a series of rifles that have been introduced to the British Army as ordinance weapons since the early 1980s .
technology
The series consists of four different weapons, the L85 IW (Individual Weapon, Assault Rifle), L86 LSW (Light Support Weapon), L22A1 Carbine (short version) and the L98A1 CGP ( Cadet General Purpose , training weapon in .22 lr ).
The weapons of the SA80 series are gas-operated loaders with a rotating head lock that fire ammunition of caliber 5.56 × 45 mm NATO . The Bullpup design results in a very compact weapon, but it cannot be fired from the left shoulder as the ejection port is on the right side of the weapon at face level, causing injury.
The shooter aims via an optical sight equipped with tritium gas light sources with fourfold magnification ( Sight Unit, Small Arms, Trilux or SUSAT for short), or via a round rear sight, similar to the American carrying handle, which is mounted on the M16 and M4 , but no setting wheels owns. A Pilkington PE image intensifier that weighs around 900 g is available in limited numbers for night operations.
history
The weapons were developed and manufactured at the now closed Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield . That is why they are also called "Enfield Weapon System".
The SA80 assault rifle was introduced as a replacement for the L1 A1 rapid fire rifle and the Sterling type submachine gun . The L86 was intended to replace the Bren L4 A1 and L7 A1 machine guns . Each rifle group of eight men should be equipped with six L85 and two L86 . A total of 400,000 weapons was specified.
The SA80 system is a successor to the EM 1 and EM 2 caliber .280 prototypes with a roller lock developed by the Royal Small Arms Factory after the Second World War . These were Bullpup weapons with a bolt and magazine behind the trigger, a visor on the handle and a metal shoulder rest. However, after the introduction of the new NATO caliber 7.62 × 51 mm, the army command preferred the L1 A1 .
Military tactics changed in the 1970s. The ability to fight from vehicles and in house-to-house combat became more and more important. Therefore, small arms with lightweight ammunition have been required. In Enfield, people remembered the Bullpup prototypes and developed the concept further with modern materials. The locking system of the new weapon was derived from that of the SAR-87 . The weapons were originally designed for the caliber 4.85 × 49 mm (models XL 64 and XL 65 E4 ). After NATO decided on the 5.56 × 45 mm cartridge as the new standard ammunition, the SA80 had to be converted to this caliber.
After testing several prototype versions, troop trials with rapid-fire rifles XL 70 E3 and light machine guns XL 73 E2 followed .
On October 2, 1985, the Enfield L85 A1 IW rapid fire rifle and the Enfield L86 LSW light machine gun were officially introduced to the troops.
criticism
Right from the start, the SA80 suffered from serious technical deficiencies, which could only be partially remedied through complex programs and the introduction of new parts. In the Second Gulf War , according to the Landset Report of the British Ministry of Defense , the rifle was rarely used in combat due to significant malfunctions, instead the troops resorted to models that were actually decommissioned, such as the L1 A1 , L7 A1 or L4 A1. The problems did not become public until August 1992 after the Observer released a report on the Landset Report, which had been under lock and key for a year.
The early versions of this rifle were not armed against the desert sands of the Arab theaters of war, so that some jams occurred after the first shot and often after one or two magazines had been fired . The original magazine is easy to damage, so that the flow of cartridges is impeded, which is why soldiers company-wise and at their own expense obtained M16 magazines. Furthermore, due to the unfavorable position of the release button , the magazine could be ejected unintentionally during a firefight. The cartridges can also be problematic due to the special manufacturing process, as the weapon is prone to failure when using normal NATO ammunition. The quality of manufacture of the weapon was also a problem for soldiers in action. In the event of large temperature fluctuations, the stamped sheet metal parts warp and the load jams, and the weapon housing is undersized for the forces that occur in action. The GRP plastic parts of the handguard and shoulder rest became brittle in the cold and broke or fell off because they were not made to fit perfectly. The material of the bayonet was too soft and the fixed bayonet changed the position of the hit, and the fold-out saw was hardly usable due to material defects.
The technical problems with the weapons were resolved as part of a modernization contract with Heckler & Koch . Therefore, the weapons should be used by 2020. The UK Department of Defense is paying € 125 million to convert 200,000 of these weapons, which began in 2001.
literature
- James Meek: Off Target. In: The Guardian . October 10, 2002. History of the SA80.
- Anthony G Williams: SA80: Mistake or Maligned - and What Next? ( Memento from April 6, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
Web links
- Enfield L85 at waffenhq.de
- Army.mod.uk SA80 ( Memento from January 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ SA80 individual weapon. army.mod.uk, accessed March 10, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d e f D. Th. Schiller, D. Steadman: The scandal about the British weapon system SA 80 and the background. In: VISOR . Issue 1/97, pages 104 to 114.
- ↑ Thomas Frankenfeld: Germans build the “best weapon in the world” for the British in Iraq. In: Hamburger Abendblatt .