Standard British Army Weaponary

7/29/2019 Standard British Army Weaponary

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81mm Mortar

The L16A2 81mm mortar is a Battle group level

indirect fire weapon which is capable of providing

accurate high explosive, smoke and illuminating

rounds out to a maximum range of 5650m.

The mortar platoon, in mechanised and armoured

infantry battalions, are mounted in and fire from

armoured personnel carriers, increasing mobility

and enabling rapid disengagement and movement

to new fire positions.
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Calibre 81mm

Weight 35.3kg (in action)

Barrel

length

1280mm

Muzzle

velocity

225m/s

Maximumrange

5,650m

Rate of

fire

15 rounds per

minute

Bomb

weight

4.2kg


3/22

Combat Shotgun

The combat shotgun is used by the 'point man' of

a section at close quarters within close country

and complex terrain.

It allows the soldier to apply a quick rapid rate of

fire over a large area using a variety of

ammunition natures.

The Combat Shotgun is a semi-automatic, tubular

magazine fed weapon cambered for the 12 gauge

shot/shell cartridge.


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The operating system employed is the improved

ARGO (Auto-Regulating Gas Operated) Twin (two

gas pistons/cylinders/ports) System with arotating bolt head with dual locking lugs.

It is fitted with an EOT tech sight, for use by day

or night, a fixed iron sight and has a telescopic 3-

position extendable buttstock .

The shotgun can be fitted with a single point

elasticated sling or the issued rifle sling and can

be fired from any of the conventional fire

positions with the exception of the squatting

position.

Range

Solid shot: 130m /

buckshot: 40m

Length

1010mm (extended

buttstock) / 886mm

(closed buttstock)

Weight 3.8kg


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L7A2 General Purpose

Machine Gun

The L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) is a

7.62 x 51mm belt-fed general purpose machine gun

which can be used as a light weapon and in a

sustained fire (SF) role.

In the SF role, mounted on a tripod and fitted with theC2 optical sight, it is fired by a two-man team who are

grouped in a specialist Machine Gun Platoon to

provide battalion-level fire support. In SF mode, the

GPMG, with a two-man crew, lays down 750 rounds-

per-minute at ranges up to 1800 metres.

Magazine 7 cartridge

Calibre 12 gauge (18.4mm)


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The GPMG can be carried by foot soldiers and

employed as a light machine gun (LMG), although it

has largely been replaced by the lighter 5.56 x 45mm

Minimi in this role, in most regiments. A fold-out

bipod is used to support the GPMG in the LMG role.

Versions of the GPMG are mounted on most Army

vehicles and some helicopters.

Calibre 7.62mm

Weight13.85kg (gun plus 50-round

belt)

Length 1230mm (light role)

Barrel

length

629mm

Muzzle

velocity

838m/s

Feed100-round disintegrating

link belt


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Effective

range

800m light role, 1800m

sustained fire roleCyclic

rate of

fire

750 rounds per minute

The Heckler & Koch 40mm Grenade

Machine Gun

The Heckler & Koch 40mm Grenade MachineGun (GMG) provides unrivalled infantry

suppression combining the best

characteristics of the heavy machine guns or

light mortars usually employed in this role.


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Conventional rifle ammunition provides no

fragmentation effect and is largely not

effective enough against advancingarmoured infantry fighting vehicles and

battle tanks. On the other hand, mortars

have the disadvantage of a relatively low rate

of fire.

The GMG combines the advantages of bothof these two types of weapons delivering

high flexibility and firepower combined with

the fragmentation effect of mortar

ammunition.

The GMG is usually mounted on WIMIK

(weapons mount installation kit) Land Rovers

but can also be used from ground-based

tripods.

Rate of fire 340 rounds per minute


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Range

1.5km for point

targets, 2km for areacover

Ammunition

40mm high velocity

and high explosive

grenades


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L1A1 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun

The powerful L1A1 12.7mm (.50) HeavyMachine Gun (HMG) is an updated

version of the Browning M2 Fifty-cal -

recognised as one of the finest heavy

machine guns ever developed.

The HMG provides integral close-range

support from a ground-mount tripod or

fitted to a Land Rover using the Weapon

Mount Installation Kit (WMIK) and a

variety of sighting systems. Theperformance of the HMG has recently

been enhanced with a new 'soft mount',

to limit recoil and improve accuracy, and

a quick-change barrel.


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The HMG provides the commander with

added capability at greater ranges (1500-

2000m) when support from armouredvehicles is not available.

Calibre 12.7mm

Weight 38.15kg (gun only)

Length 1656mm

Muzzle

velocity

915m/s

Feed 50-round disintegrating belt

Effective

range

2000m

Cyclic

rate of

fire

485 - 635 rounds per minute


12/22

Light Anti-Structures Missile (LASM)

The Light Anti-Structures Missile (LASM)

was developed as an Urgent OperationalRequirement, which has been fielded to

fill a capability gap until Anti-Structure

Munition (ASM) comes into service.

The single-shot weapon consists of a free-

flight unguided rocket that is housed

within a disposable telescopic launcher.

The mechanical 'pop-up' sight is integral

to the weapon and deploys when the

launcher is extended, in preparing it tofire.

The rocket consists of a warhead, fuse

and propulsion unit. Spring-loaded fins

deploy on firing to stabilise the rocket in


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flight. The rocket uses kinetic energy to

penetrate structures before the warhead

is allowed to detonate.

While the LASM is effective against light

armour and soft-skinned vehicles, its

primary use in Afghanistan is against

fixed positions, bunkers and otherbuildings.

Range: Approx. 500m

Weight: 4.3kg

Length: 0.775m

Firing

length:

0.98m

Preparation

time:

8 seconds


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Light Machine Gun (LMG)

Developed from the Minimi Light Machine

Gun following experience in Iraq and

Afghanistan, the LMG is a belt-fed

suppression weapon. It provides the

section commander with the capability to

impose sustained suppressive fire on to an

objective out to 300m and increases the

overall firepower available to the section

commander.

The LMG complements the Light Support

Weapon and enhances the effectiveness


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of all section weapons across the

spectrum of infantry operations.

Calibre: 5.56mm

Weight: 7.1kg (8.5kg with 100 rounds)

Length: 914mm

Feed: 100-round disintegrating belt

Effectiverange: 800m

Cyclic

rate of

fire:

700 to 1000 rounds per

minute

Muzzle

velocity:

875m/s


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SA80 Individual Weapon

SA80 is the designation for a revolutionary family

of assault weapons. On its introduction, it proved

so accurate that the Army marksmanship tests

had to be redesigned.

SA80 A2 comprises the Individual Weapon (IW)and the Light Support Weapon (LSW).

These are the British Army's standard combat

weapons. Made by Heckler and Koch, they fire

NATO standard 5.56 x 45mm ammunition. The

SA80 can be fitted with the SUSAT sight and a

Common Weapon Sight, which is a third

generation Image Intensification (II) night sight.

Both weapons have been modified in light of

operational experience. A major mid-life update
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in 2002 resulted in the SA80A2 series - the most

reliable weapons of their type in the world. This

reliability is combined with accuracy, versatilityand ergonomic design. It is considered a first-

class weapon system and world leader in small

arms.

Calibre: 5.56mm

Weight:4.98kg (with loaded magazine and

optical sight)

Length: 785mm

Barrel

length:

518mm

Muzzle

velocity:

940m/s

Feed: 30-round magazine

Effective

range:

400m

Cyclic rate

of fire:

610-775 rpm


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SA80 A2 Support Weapon (LSW)

SA80 A2 light support weapon (LSW)

has a heavier and longer barrel than

the AS80 individual weapon allowing

greater muzzle velocity and accuracy.

When fired from the integrated bipod

and using the standard SUSAT sight,

the LSW is accurate and consistent. It

can fire 610 to 775 rounds per minute

out to a range of 1000metres.


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Calibre: 5.56mm

Weight: 6.58kg (with loaded magazineand optical sight)

Length: 900mm

Barrel

length:

646mm

Muzzle

velocity:

970m/s

Feed: 30-round magazineEffective

range:

1000m

Cyclic

rate offire:

610 to 775 rounds per minute


20/22

L115A3 Long range sniper rifle

The L115A3 rifle, part of the Sniper System

Improvement Programme (SSIP), is a large-calibre

weapon which provides state-of-the-art telescopic

day and night, all-weather sights, increasing asniper's effective range considerably.

The first batches of SSIPs were deployed to

Afghanistan in May 2008.

Designed to achieve a first-round hit at 600

metres and harassing fire out to 1,100 metres,

Accuracy International's L96 sniper rifle has also

been upgraded with a new x3-x12 x 50 sight and

spotting scope.


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The L115A3 long range rifle fires an 8.59mm

bullet which is heavier than the 7.62mm round ofthe L96 and less likely to be deflected over

extremely long ranges.

Other elements of the Sniper System

Improvement Programme include night sights,

spotting scopes, laser range finders and tripods.

Calibre 8.59mm

Weight 6.8kg

Length 1300mm

Muzzle

velocity

936m/s

Feed 5-round box

Effective

range

1100m plus


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L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle

A sharpshooter rifle based on Law

Enforcement Internationals 7.62-mm

calibre LM7 was chosen by the MoD as

a replacement for the AI L96 used bydesignated marksmen/sharpshooters.

The L129A1 7.6251mm calibre, longer

range (800 m), semi-automatic rifle,

will replace the bolt action AccuracyInternational L96 in the Sharpshooter

role. A total of 440 Sharpshooter rifles

have been bought as a 1.5m urgent

operational requirement. It is the first

new infantry combat rifle to be issued

for more than 20 years. The standard

weapon sight is the with ACOG 400 of

them on order.

Documents

Standard British Army Weaponary