Today, many armies of the western bloc are replacing the main individual weapons in the troops. France abandons FAMAS in favor of NK416, the Bundeswehr abandons the G36, and even the US Marine Corps, known for its loyalty to traditions, is changing the "evil black rifle" (as the Vietnamese veterans called the M-16) for the M27 (the same NK416).
And this is not a fashion, and not only the desire of manufacturers of small arms and their lobbyists to earn as much as possible from rearmament of the army. The fact is that the last twenty years have been very intense armed conflicts. The participation of military contingents in numerous missions, often taking place in difficult environmental conditions, gave rise to many questions, primarily in terms of reliability, to weapons, which were considered impeccable on clean-swept shooting ranges in a temperate climate zone.
Rearmament is also underway in the United Kingdom army, which is not at all surprising considering that the L85 assault rifle, which has gone through many upgrades, nevertheless continues to cause many complaints from the British military.
Although the new weapon, which is going to replace the old rifle, has not yet been officially adopted, it has already been received by a regiment of guards grenadiers. And as the command reports, the new product is already being successfully mastered by the soldiers of the regiment. It must be said that this development is all the easier because to replace the annoying, unloved and capricious L85, the grenadiers received … L85, but with the A3 index.
Unlike previous versions (the SA80 (Small Arms for 1980) small arms complex, to which the L85 belongs, went through several upgrades), the L85A3 has a new receiver with additional stiffeners and an updated forend with Picatinny rails. The assault rifle received a freely suspended barrel, which should increase the accuracy of shooting.
In addition, changes were made to ergonomics: the weapon received a new fuse. The color of the assault rifle has also changed: to match the color of the new British camouflage.
Recall that the L85 has earned a reputation as one of the most unsuccessful assault rifles in the world. Made according to the "bullpup" ("bull") system, this weapon has a rearward-shifted center of gravity, which leads to a strong "bulging" of the barrel when conducting automatic fire. However, in addition to the shortcomings characteristic of such a layout, the weapon has many others that are not associated with it.
First of all, it is poor reliability that does not stand up to criticism, especially in dusty, high humidity and low temperatures. In a word, under any conditions that differ from those in the indoor shooting range. Low mechanical strength is noted, the receiver frankly "plays" (to reduce this drawback, additional stiffeners are squeezed out).
It is impossible to shoot from a weapon from the left shoulder (although such a need during a battle may arise not only among left-handers).
One of the main disadvantages of the SA 80 system is its layout without lowering the stock relative to the bore axis. When aiming, the soldier is forced to raise his head above the shelter, which not only increases the silhouette.
In addition, the supply of ammunition turned out to be unreliable - stuck cartridges are common, and magazines often spontaneously fall out.
Many parts of the rifle are corroded.
During the fighting in the Persian Gulf, another flaw was identified. During prone firing, gases escaping from the vehicle raised a whole cloud of dust, unmasking the shooter and preventing him from aiming.
In addition to all of the above, the fighters complained that the repellents they used were corroding plastic parts.
It is noteworthy that as a "dignity" of the rifle, the British War Department pointed to a large trigger effort, which excludes the likelihood of a spontaneous shot when the weapon falls on solid ground. Although there is at least one documented case when, during the tests of a rifle by the Royal Marines in Scandinavia in the winter of 1985, one L85 A1 fired with the safety device on when it fell to the ground from a height of about three meters.
Another "advantage" is the large mass of the weapon (4, 64 kg without magazine and sight), which ensures the stability of the rifle under automatic fire.
Honestly, given that light alloys and polymers are widely used in the design of the rifle, it is not entirely clear where this weight comes from. Moreover, the barrel there is not a match.
Rifles for infantry, paratroopers and marines are equipped with SUSAT optical sights with a constant magnification of 4x. In the opinion of a number of specialists, such a decision is not well justified, since optics, and even with such an increase, reduces the viewing angle and contributes to the "tunnel effect". This creates serious problems in short-range clashes, most typical for military operations in a city or in a forest.
In any case, the Gurkas initially flatly abandoned optical sights, preferring to use open sights.
After the rifle was put into service, a flurry of criticism fell upon it, which the War Department "parried", assuring that the whole problem was that the soldiers mishandled this wonderful rifle, and the "manual" for it was drawn up incorrectly.
However, even the correction of the instructions did not radically improve the situation, and the SA80 family was modernized by the German company Heckler & Koch (the new modification entered service with the British army under the name L85A2). Most of the weapon problems were not resolved.
All the time, while the L85 in all its modifications is in the troops, the fighters do not get tired of scolding her, claiming that they do not trust their weapons, expecting that they will fail in battle at the most inopportune moment.
The best "recommendation" of the SA 80 complex was that everyone who had the opportunity refused it. So, SAS (Special Airborne Service), Marine Special Forces (SBS) and some commando units chose to arm themselves with M-4 carbines. Which, although they are not a standard of reliability, are significantly superior in this parameter to the L85. It is also known that not so elite units were rearmed in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Canadian version of the M-4.
The current novelty, the A3 modification, was first introduced in 2016, paired with the new VIRTUS modular armor. However, judging by the improvements indicated, such as the Picatinny rails and the changed color, it can hardly be expected that this upgrade was able to pull the rifle up to a more or less acceptable level. According to a number of experts, the possibilities for improving this design have already been exhausted.
But due to strange British stubbornness, instead of abandoning this frankly unsuccessful design, the United Kingdom War Department continues to "dance with tambourines" around the device, endangering the lives of its soldiers, who will have to solve combat missions with this weapon in their hands.
