The new British infantry kit

Heres a video by BBC talking about the new gear

news.bbc.co.uk...

MOD website presenting the new gear
www.mod.uk...

Left to right from 2003 to present 2008 to possibly 2013.



Fritz like helmet on the far right when seen from a distance.


SA80 with those rails and vertical foregrip.

The SA80 was the biggest POS ever to come out of the UK. But then after HK tweaked them they turned out pretty good. They should have just saved themselves the headache and bought the G36. Would have been cheaper.

Considering that the SA80 was designed and introduced in the early to mid 1980s I don't think this woulld have been an option, do you?

If you're referring to the recent upgrade, that cost £98m-ish as opposed to the £500m-ish that introducing a new weapon would have cost. In the end we ended up with a weapon that is as accurate and reliable as any in in the world. Not bad at 1/5 the price.

Paddy, have you used the 'new' L85A2 with the Picatinny rails and bipod?

If so, what is your opinion of the pistolgrip/bipod.

From posters and pics I have seen, the bipod looks very similar to the one mounted on the General, but in plastic.

reply to post by PaddyInf


When the UK sent 200K rifles to Germany to be fixe it sure was. I got 1 SA80 in on trade from a dept going to P90s. It was not a HK fix gun, and I will admit that I had no problems with it. I also like the FAMAS but hate the AUG...Go Figure.


[edit on 23-9-2008 by TXMACHINEGUNDLR]

Originally posted by TXMACHINEGUNDLR
The SA80 was the biggest POS ever to come out of the UK. But then after HK tweaked them they turned out pretty good. They should have just saved themselves the headache and bought the G36.

Would have been cheaper.

L85a2 is more accurate, hits harder and is more reliable than a G36... L85a2 is also the 2nd most accurate assault rifle in the world and the hardest hitting 5.56 calibre weapon currently available.
The only down side of L85 compared to other AR's is it's weight, but the bullpup design makes up for it by being easy to handle...

Nooooooo!

Damn, I always liked the soldier 95 DPM. Thats why I never upgraded to soldier 2000, I certainly wont bother with this one.

Originally posted by fritz
Paddy, have you used the 'new' L85A2 with the Picatinny rails and bipod?

If so, what is your opinion of the pistolgrip/bipod.

From posters and pics I have seen, the bipod looks very similar to the one mounted on the General, but in plastic.

I've used it very recently - lots of the boys have them at the moment. The lads love them (mostly), but I'm not a fan. Bit too traditional maybe, but I can't get used to the down grip. I'll probably get used to it eventually, but not quite yet! If you take the front grip off the handguard can overheat (a la M4), so I stick with the normal handguard with a LLM attached.

On a plus side the bipod legs that stick out of the bottom of the front grip are a distinct aid to accuracy, so who knows? If the handguard could have better heat insulation then I would be a bit happier. I would probably even consider buying an after market bipod that attached to the picitinny rails for that little bit of extra reach.

Like I say, this most of the boys think it's the dogs danglies, so who am I to argue?

The ACOG is a nice bit of kit though...

Cheers for that Paddy.

Like you, I am also a traditionalist but I have to admit to using [of all things] a Black & Decker drill grip on my old FN SLR, back in the days when field modifications were not frowned on.

I hasten to add that I mounted it just forward of the carrying handle and it did work reasonably well, considering the size of the weapon.

I suppose a hand grip for rifles is a step forward and God knows, I've taught some really awkward recruits who were not able to hold the SLR correctly - what with the 1 1/2 - 2 inch eye releif!

For example, try telling a lass who stands five foot nothing with a reach of 12 inches that when the rear sight smacks you in the face that its her fault for not holding it correctly!

I guess that an L85A2 with an adjustable pistol grip will be tailored to fit the individual thus making the rifle so much easier to use.

For me, its just that the whole thing looks so bloody cheap!

... I liked the look of the L85 before they "sexed" it up... monolithic rails strike me as the new very large SUV in the world... If you think you need them you're compensating.