UK Earmarks £2 Billion for SA80 Replacement
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has fired the starter pistol on Project Grayburn, the program to replace the in-service SA80 / L85A3. The Ministry of Defense posted a notice for an Industry Day for Project Grayburn to get input from industry on what systems, capabilities and manufacturing packages could be offered for the replacement of SA80. The industry day is due to take place at the end of November.
The first announcement that Project Grayburn was live came earlier this year, in January, when an initial ‘Concept Stage’ tender was published. According to that tender notice the UK aims for Project Grayburn to deliver no less than five variants of the selected weapon:
- Dismounted Close Combat (replacing SA80A3).
- Dismounted Close Combat (short) (replacing SA80A3).
- Personal Defence Weapon (replacing L22 Carbine).
- Generalist (replacing SA80A2).
- Cadet rifle (replacing L98 Cadet GP rifle).
The latest Industry Day notice states:
“The Ministry of Defence (National Armaments Director group) will be holding an Industry Day in relation to Project GRAYBURN, which is considering the future replacement of the SA80 family of weapons and the provision of associated small-arms capability for UK Defence.
The Authority is at an early stage of developing the requirement and is using this engagement to inform its understanding of the market and potential delivery approaches. The scope and approach to any future procurement remain subject to further development and approval.”
While the notice also explains that “The potential scope, value and contract term are currently being developed and will be informed by this market engagement activity,” the notice does state the value of the planned 15 year contract at £2 billion (inc. VAT), roughly $2.7 billion. This large sum may simply be the contract ceiling for the planned procurement, its still unknown how many rifles (and accessories and enablers) the program is aiming to acquire.
Originally scheduled to begin delivery of the SA80 replacement in 2028 the start date has been revised, with the notice listing it as now commencing in July 2029 and running through to March 2045..
The quantity of rifles to be procured, the level of UK-based manufacture desired by the UK government and what the specific requirements for the weapon system might be are still undisclosed. The announcement of the industry day is the signal that industry has been waiting for, we’ll hopefully know more about Grayburn’s requirements early next year.
Managing Editor: TheFirearmBlog.com & Overt Defense.com. Matt is a British historian specialising in small arms development and military history. He has written several books and for a variety of publications in both the US and UK. Matt is also runs The Armourer's Bench, a video series on historically significant small arms. Here on TFB he covers product and current military small arms news. Reach Matt at: matt@thefirearmblog.com
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Without getting into an extended debate over bullpup vs traditional rifle design, the problem with the SA80 was the failure to test it prior to fielding. I worked with 1 Para in 1988. They had just received them. Parts were being torn off of the rifles with normal use. It was an unforced error as there was no reason to rush the fielding.
Personally I'd hope for the SA80 A4. Modern ambidextrous controls, grip and lower. A uniquely British weapon.
But they'll just opt for whatever versions of the Heckler and Koch 416 works for them.