New Marksman Rifles Supplied to US Army Units

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The United States Army combat units have begun to receive the first of thousands of the new Heckler & Koch Defense’s M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifles (SDMR). 

The first of up to 6,000 rifles have been delivered to the Army, and deliveries are expected to continue through the middle of 2021.

The SDMR is a variant of the 7.62mm H&K G28/HK417. Army officials are fielding it as part of an interim effort to make squads more lethal ahead of the service’s introduction of the Next-Generation Squad Weapon system, planned for 2023, according to military.com.

In 2017, Army leaders told Congress that the service’s M855A1 5.56mm enhanced performance round will not penetrate modern enemy body armor, which served as a springboard for the development of the Next-Generation Squad Weapon, designed to fire a potent new 6.8mm projectile.

As a short-term fix, the Army selected the new M110A1 to serve as the SDMR. It will be used with the service’s new 7.62mm enhanced performance round to give squads more penetrating power, Army officials say.

The M110A1 will replace the Enhanced Battle Rifle 14 – a modernized M14 used by infantry squads operating in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic creates a very challenging business environment, but as an essential partner in the defense infrastructure of this country, we are 100 percent committed to delivering this essential product to our troops, while keeping our employees safe and healthy,” H&K-USA President and COO Michael Holley said in a press release.