The SA80: The British Army's controversial rifle?

The SA80, also known as the L85 in the United Kingdom, has been the British army's main combat rifle since 1987 when it replaced the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR); however, it has had a contentious past.

Members of The Staffordshire Regiment with L85A1 During Operation Desert Shield, 1990

Contents:

1. Introduction of the SA80

2. Controversies

3. Upgrades

4. Personal opinion and conclusions

Introduction of the SA80 into service:

The SA80 is a British family of weapons in service with the British Armed Forces as well as nations such as Jamaica, with many variations upon the original rifle, which will be discussed in other articles.

The SA80 was originally produced by the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield Lock, to meet a requirement by the British Armed Forces to create a series of weapons to replace the L1A1 SLR, L7A2 GPMG and the L2A3 Sterling SMG due to the government wanting to increase interchangeability within the Armed Forces. the original design was based around the bullpup design of EM-2, which deserves an article of its own, alongside the NATO requirement for a rifle in 5.56x45mm and not the 7.62x51mm NATO round used by the SLR and GPMG.

However, during the development process, several problems occurred. The first issue the design incurred was the continuing staff issues within RSAF Enfield which led to the plant closing down in 1988. These staff shortages led to multiple reruns of the testing cycle without sharing of information between cycles. During these tests, it became apparent that the change to 5.56x45mm from 4.85×49mm drastically changed the Rate of Fire of the rifle (RoF), as well as issues with bullet casings ejecting at wild angles as the barrel heated up through firing. Finally, the rifle had a critical problem within its design which meant it couldn't be used by left-handed people, as the cartridges would eject into their face.

Final testing was conducted in early 1985 with revisions including the change to the heavier Belgian SS109 version of the 5.56×45mm round to increase reliability, before being accepted and issued in October 1985.

Members of Gloucestershire Regiment Equipped with L85A1 in Northern Ireland, February 1988

Controversies:

The L85A1 was first sent into combat during Operation Granby, part of the 1st Gulf War and immediately it became apparent that the rifle was insufficient. It was proven to be unreliable in semi-automatic fire and only marginally better in automatic fire. The poor plastic furniture of the handguard fell apart and melted in the heat, causing the gun to be easily damaged. The magazine catch was easily knocked and dropped due to its size and position on the rifle, causing the magazine to fall out unexpectedly. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) commissioned an assessment on the efficiency of the L85A1 in Operation Granby, due to pressure from the public and the media after the unreliability of the weapon system was leaked. The report concluded that;

"[The] SA80 did not perform reliably in the sandy conditions of combat and training. Stoppages were frequent despite the considerable and diligent efforts to prevent them."

— LANDSET Report, 1991

Members of 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards during Operation Granby

The MOD opted to commission a modification programme in response to the LANDSET report and the dissatisfaction of the soldiers on the ground. It was thus named the L85A2 upgrade programme, due to the number of changes required to make the rifle serviceable. Upgrades: Heckler & Koch, which was owned by BAE Systems at the time, was contracted to modernise the SA80 family of guns. At a cost of £400 per unit, 200,000 SA80s were re-manufactured to A2 specifications. The changes were aimed primarily at enhancing reliability including a new cocking handle, a new bolt, extractor, and a reworked hammer assembly that results in a minor delay in hammer operation in continuous fire mode which improved reliability and stability during firing. Armed Forces trials revealed exceptionally strong reliability throughout a wide variety of climates for varied operational scenarios, with a drop in reliability in hot, especially hot and dry conditions. the minimum expected life of A2 Components is 10,000 rounds meaning they may never suffer stoppages during their lifetimes. The first L85A2 first saw combat in Afghanistan in December 2001 during Operation Enduring Freedom, and by February 2006, all 200000 rifles had been upgraded. Despite the upgrades made to the rifle, claims surfaced that the L85A2 was still jamming; in actuality, there were few jams and the problems were considerably less significant than they were made out to be, since they resulted from rare examples of soldiers failing to properly clean their weapons. As an Urgent Operational Requirement, a further upgrade including the provision of ACOGs, a Daniel Defense-designed RIS handguard for the L85 rifle (with optional Grip Pod), and a new vortex style flash eliminator was introduced; initially introduced for use by selected units in 2007, the upgrade package was subsequently rolled out on a wider basis, commencing in 2009.

Member of 42 Commando during Operation Sond Chara in Afghanistan

The SA80A3 was originally shown in prototype form in September 2016, with functioning examples on exhibit at the Defence and Security Equipment International event in September 2017, and formal adoption of the rifle taking place in 2018. The upgrades included modification of the top receiver, as well as a full-length rail system for optional add-ons such as a vertical foregrip, laser pointer, and flashlight. In addition, the A3 is also 100g lighter than the L85A2 and has a new Flat Dark Earth finish that provides increased durability and concealment in a variety of settings. The Mid Life Improvement (MLI) initiative got an initial £5.4 million investment to update 5,000 guns, with plans to improve more weapons in the future. The MLI project should see the weapon in service with the British military beyond 2025. As of January 2022, the British Armed Forces has 134,912 SA80 A2 rifles and 17,900 SA80 A3 rifles in its inventory.

Member of the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment posing with the L85A3

Personal opinion and conclusions:

To preface my views on the SA80, I should state that I have never served in the British army, so I have no combat experience with the SA80. My opinion is based on personal experience holding the rifle, what family and friends who have or are currently serving have told me about it, and what I have read and watched in multiple articles and videos. In addition, I am biased as I am British, so my opinion is likely swayed. Nonetheless, my personal opinion is that it is the best modern service rifle within NATO, with the A3 upgrade installed, but the rifle's merits are clouded by its reputation, due to its previous failures, which means that it struggles to overcome said reputation, However, SA80 has now proved its worth both on exercise and during the recent Operation Pitting and has shown that it can match comparable rifles in NATO, such as M4A1 and Famas.