Upgraded SA80 Rifle Allows Operator to Stay Unseen

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The British Army is upgrading its standard issue SA80 rifle to help prolong its life beyond 2025, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense. The SA80 A2 rifle is being phased out for a new and improved SA80 A3. The 5.56 mm SA80 rifle has been in the British arsenal since the late 1980s and has undergone various upgrades along the way, reports militarytimes.com.

UK Defense Minister Guto Bebb said: “This multi-million-pound upgrade will give our Army a lighter, more hardwearing, better-camouflaged combat rifle so our soldiers can perform on the frontline of some of the most dangerous locations across the world.”

The A3 is 100 grams lighter than its predecessor. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the ‘Flat Dark Earth’ paint with Cerakote coating. The new SA80A3 sports a new durable coating with better camouflage to blend into a multitude of environments.

These features minimize both the visual and infra-red spectrums allowing the operator to stay unseen. They also give a specialist resistance to weathering and abrasion – important for an army required to complete their tasks in any number of conditions.

The paint job extends to the Picatinny Rail which is welded to the A3 body’s upper receiver. The handguard is also new and supports the Picatinny Rail that sits on the upper receiver. This Picatinny Rail allows the attachment of in-line night optics, hand grips and other attachments that can increase the potency of the weapon system, according to army.mod.uk.

In all, the changes allow soldiers to better carry out the varied and diverse tasks that are being asked of them in the modern army.