The British Army is moving forward with plans to replace its current standard-issue rifle, the L85A3 – more commonly known as the SA80A3 – under the developing Project Grayburn, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
Responding to a series of Parliamentary Written Questions from Ben Obese-Jecty MP (Conservative – Huntingdon) on 28 April, Minister of State for Defence Maria Eagle outlined the progress being made toward a new service rifle.
“The British Army’s projected Out of Service Date for the L85A3 (SA80A3) variant of the L85 rifle family is currently 2030,” she said. “The replacement for the L85 rifle will be procured under Project GRAYBURN, which is currently in the concept phase with the aim of identifying and understanding the capability requirements.”
As part of the concept work, “various rifle calibres are being considered,” with a range of factors under review, including performance, interoperability with allies, and technological complexity. The Minister added that the Army is taking “measures to mitigate any risk of potential capability vulnerabilities” during the transition process.
Ms Eagle also confirmed that Project Grayburn had recently made progress through “discussions with manufacturers and industry experts to analyse the influence of the Land Industrial Strategy and UK manufacturing on the project.” This suggests a strong interest in supporting domestic industrial capacity as part of the future programme.
However, a full cost estimate for the programme has not yet been established. “Due to the current phase of the project, we are unable to provide a formal cost estimation yet,” Ms Eagle explained. “This will be established once the scope, timeline and complexity of the project is confirmed but may be subject to commercial sensitivities.”
The L85A3, the latest upgrade of the SA80 series, has served as the British military’s standard-issue rifle for over three decades. Introduced in the 1980s, the rifle has undergone several modifications to address initial reliability and performance issues, with the A3 version featuring significant improvements in weight, durability, and compatibility with modern optics.
Despite these upgrades, the need for a modern replacement capable of meeting the demands of 21st-century combat has become increasingly apparent.
Project GRAYBURN aims to deliver a rifle suited to the ‘changing dynamics of modern warfare’. Although specific details about the successor rifle remain unclear, modularity, adaptability to advanced optics and accessories, and enhanced reliability are likely to be key factors. The timeline for the project remains uncertain, but with the concept phase underway, further updates are anticipated as the MOD refines its requirements and begins exploring design and procurement options.
The army is so small now you would hope we can go high end like the Marines with the L403A1
There’s absolutely no point buying L403’s for the wider army. It’s a very expensive rifle and, for the average soldier, the juice is not worth the squeeze. It makes sense for, for example, Rangers where you need to have been in the army for several years, and then get regular range time with plenty of opportunity to shoot, and 1-on-1 tuition. But a Signaler, or an RLC storeman who gets to shoot once or twice a year maybe, and gets pushed through their shooting on a factory line? You can give them a rifle that’s 1/10th the price of a 403, and you’ll get exactly the same result.
You say the Army is small, but to acquire enough 403’s to replace all 160,000 SA80 variants in service would cost 1.5 billion£. (That’s enough for 300 Challenger 3 tanks).
Of course the inital problems of the current rifle will be brought up, but I would remind everyone of the problems the M16 also had when introduced in the 1960’s.
Resolved by asking HK to fix them as I recall. Maybe just go straight to HK this time around?
H&K didn’t do anything for the weight, not sure if the A3 fixed this either.
That said there’s no guarantee the next one won’t be the same anyway.
Yeah but the weight was never the deal breaker.
Please whatever rifle you pick make sure its ambidextrous.
Just buy CZ Bren 3s.
Is this a priority?
What are the “changing dynamics of modern warfare” regards one’s individual weapon?
It definitely isn’t, except that the physical L85’s in inventory are just getting long in the tooth and will need a replacement eventually just from age.
As for changing dynamics of warfare bit, I suppose that means things like modern optics. L85 couldn’t even mount picatinny optics until the adapter was made post A2 modifications, and inline sights like Thermal Scopes couldn’t be used until the A3 came along. I’m also sure there will be interest in making sure the next IW is compatible with things like SMASH CUAS sights. There’s also, given the Grayburn seems not to have settles on a caliber the bug bear of 5.56 vs 6.8.
Thanks D.
Points all taken.
I feel for the outlay like you described above for high end I’d rather see that spent on the RA, state of the art sigint or DF kit, and getting weapons onto Boxer bigger than an MG.
I’d argue that a Armoured Infantry Platoon would gain considerably more from having a few 30mm’s than every solder being equipped with a 403 that’s for sure. But yeah, the comparison I’d make is that the RM and Rangers spend about 9,000£ per L403, while the French Army spend 1,400€ per 416F. I’d argue that the expense makes sense for the Royals and Rangers for a variety of reasons, but for the wider army we should be looking at something more in the French price range.
Agreed. Gucci for quality high end soldiers makes sense.
Not for all the “Green Army.”
Please can we ditch 5.56mm & go to a 6mm or 6.25mm or 6.5mm or 6.8mm. Not fussed which, as long as NATO goes along.
How about just bringing back the7.62 FAL/FN?
Whoa point of order! The black rod of death was the L1A1 SLR not a FN/FAL😉😀