SA 80

The development of the SA80 (Small Arms for 1980s) system, which included two weapons -SA80 IW (Infantry Weapon) assault rifle and SA80 LSW (Light Support Weapon) light machine gun, began in the late 1960s when British army decided to develop a new rifle, to replace the venerable 7.62mm L1 7.62 SLR (British-made FN FAL rifle) in the 1980s.

Due to the Falklands war the new system was not actually adopted until 1984. The original SA80 weapons (both L85 and L86) were plagued with many problems, some being very serious. In general, L85 was quite unreliable and troublesome to handle and maintain. In 1997, after years of constant complaints from the troops, it was decided to upgrade most of the L85 rifles then in service.

About 200,000 rifles were upgraded into the L85A2 configuration, out of total 320,000 or so original L85A1 rifles produced. While official reports about the upgraded weapons were glowing, the initial field reports from the British troops, engaged in the Afghanistan campaign of 2002, were unsatisfactory. Most problems, however, were traced to improper care and maintenance of weapons, and for now the L82A2 performs fairy well both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Other than the basic L85A1 variant, the SA80 IW also appeared in the shortened Carbine version, and in the manually operated L98A1 rifle, which got its gas system removed and a larger cocking handle attached. The L98A1 is used to train the army cadets for basic rifle handling and shooting skills, and the rifle is fired as a manually operated, straight pull magazine repeater rifle. The latest weapon in the SA80 family is the recently adopted L22 carbine, which is issued to tank crews of Royal Armoured Corps. This weapon is available in two versions, L82A1 and L82A2,the latter being fitted with additional Picatinny rail on the right side of front grip base.

The current L85A2 rifles are recognized as reliable and very accurate, especially when using standard issue SUSAT telescope sights. The drawbacks of the L85A2 are somewhat poor balance (which can be improved with installation of HK-made 40mm under barrel grenade launcher), right-side only extraction and rearward placement of the fire mode selector.