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Army's rifle doesn't work in the desert, MoD admits By Tim Butcher, Defence Correspondent Defence Committee: First Special report [annual report '97 - '98, 10 Mar '99] - The Stationery Office SA80: Personal weaponry - The British Army Press releases - Ministry of Defence THE British Army rifle does not work properly in hot, dry conditions such as in the Middle East, the Ministry of Defence admitted yesterday. The fault is so bad that it has led to the SA80 being suspended from Nato's list of accepted weapons. Four years ago, tests were begun by MoD scientists which identified "underlying problems" with the SA80 rifle although they still have not worked out a solution. The weapon, bought in hundreds of thousands as standard issue, was used widely during the 1991 Gulf war. Although details of the fault have not been given, it is believed to involve the rounds jamming in certain circumstances. The situation was described as "scandalous" by Julian Brazier, a Tory member of the Commons defence select committee. The admission of a fault confirms years of grumbles from soldiers who have never been convinced of the virtues of the SA80 since it came into service in 1986. The SAS and SBS chose not to use it, preferring to use American weapons, and the complaints rose after the Gulf war, with much anecdotal evidence of jamming. More than 330,000 SA80s were bought as the standard individual weapon for the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines and RAF in a contract with Royal Ordnance, now owned by British Aerospace, worth £384 million. A BAe spokesman was unable to comment yesterday before gaining clearance from the MoD. Confirmation of problems with the weapon came in a letter from Lord Gilbert, the defence procurement minister, to the defence committee dated 2 June 1998. It was published yesterday as part of the committee's report for 1997-98. The letter said: "A review this February of the results of trials over the period from 1995 to 1997 has raised the possibility that there may be underlying problems with the reliability of the system, including its use with UK ammunition and particularly in the hottest and driest conditions." An MoD spokesman said last night that the tests had concluded there was a problem but only in some extreme weather conditions. He said: "The weapon is fully operational in most conditions." But Mr Brazier said: "It is very, very unsatisfactory that the British Armed Forces still appears to have as its personal weapon something that does not work in all conditions. This is scandalous." The MoD spokesman said no plan of action to modify the weapon had yet been agreed although a programme of improvements on a sample of 200 weapons was being worked on.