The U.S. Special Operations Command is looking for a next-generation assault
rifle. The command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., expects to award
a contract for a Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle in November,
according to SOCOM spokesman Chet Justice.
SCAR, as it already has become known, “will improve mission performance
... by providing [SOF] with a reliable and accurate rifle,” said Army
Col. Tom Spellissy, program executive officer for special programs in SOCOM’s
Joint Service Small Arms Program.
“This will be a weapon of maximized lethality, superior to the M4A1 [carbine]
through versatility, fire control and target acquisition, both day and night,
during [close quarters battle] and to ranges of 500 [meters],” he told
NDIA’s 2003 Joint Services Small Arms Symposium and Exhibition in Kansas
City, Mo.
SCAR is intended to replace several rifles currently used by special operations
forces, including the 5.56 mm M4A1, MK11 and the pre-Vietnam-era M14, both of
which fire 7.62 mm rounds, Spellissy said.
Many units that have been using M4A1s in Afghanistan and Iraq “have asked
for heavier weapons, said Army Lt. Col. Mathew T. Clarke, program manager for
individual weapons at the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
“The M14 is the weapon du jour,” he said, because it fires a heavier,
more lethal round than either the M4A1 or the M16. The M14, however, is an old
weapon. The Army replaced it, as standard issue, with the M16 in the mid-1960s.
According to a pre-solicitation statement, issued in October, SCAR will be
developed initially in two configurations—a light, 5.56 mm version and
a heavy 7.62 mm one. Priority will be placed on the 5.56 variation. Both types
will be capable of exchanging barrels and will be produced in standard, close-quarters
combat and sniper variants.
The heavy version will be designed to accommodate changing calibers from the
standard 7.62x51 mm. The initial caliber change is projected to 7.62x39 mm.
The ergonomic and parts commonality of the two “is essential for training-time
reduction, enhancing mission effectiveness and improving the SOF operator’s
operational and emergency-procedure autonomic responses that are critical during
high-stress situations,” the statement said.
“The SCAR system will be rugged, highly reliable, controllable in full
automatic fire, corrosion proof ... capable of lubeless firing ... and capable
of being operated and maintained by a single man,” according to the document.
Initially, the operator must be able to exchange the weapon’s barrels
and caliber within 20 minutes, it said. The objective is for the operator to
be able to make the switch within five minutes.
SCAR’s light version, with the stock collapsed, is to be no longer than
29.9 inches, or 33.6 inches, extended with standard barrel, it said. It is to
weigh no more than 7.25 pounds unloaded.
The heavy version, folded, is to be no longer than currently available 7.62
mm battle rifles, or 30.3 inches. It is to weigh no more than 9 pounds.
SCAR is to be compatible with the Special Operations Peculiar Modification
Kit components, using the standard Picatinny 1913 rail mounting system. It is
envisioned to be available with a sling, bipod, forward handgrip, blank firing
capability and operator’s manual, according to the pre-solicitation statement.
Contractors will be required to provide three samples of light SCARs with standard
barrels, one close-quarters combat conversion and a technical approach for the
weapon’s heavy variant.
After SOCOM evaluates the entries, it can award multiple contracts for follow-on
test and evaluation. The contract will be an eight-year, firm-fixed price, indefinite
delivery/indefinite quantity type.
At a minimum, SOCOM expects to order 12 standard light units, one sniper variant
and one heavy variant for testing. The maximum order would include 84,000 standard
lights, 28,000 closer-quarter combat versions, 12,000 sniper types, 15,000 standard
heavies, 7,000 heavy close-quarters combat conversions and 12,000 heavy sniper
rifles.
Possible competitors for the SCAR contract are Heckler & Koch Defense Inc.,
of Sterling, Va.; Colt Defense LLC, of Hartford, Conn., and FN Manufacturing
Inc., of Columbia, S.C. Colt designed the original M16 rifle and M4 carbines,
and FN Manufacturing in 1988 won a contract to produce M16s for the Army.
SOCOM is interested in the modular design of the XM8 Lightweight Modular Weapon
System that HK is developing for the Army, Clarke said. (related story p. 42)
The XM8 could be configured to meet SOCOM’s specifications, he said.