The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued an opportunity under “Project SHAMER” to procure a “single chassis, multi-calibre, bolt action sniper rifle” intended to replace the legacy L115 and L118 rifle systems.
According to the notice, the contract is estimated to be worth between £1 and £4 million, with a contract start date of 1 June 2026 and an end date of 2 June 2033.
Issued as a restricted procedure, the tender is classified as an open opportunity, meaning “the buying department is looking for potential suppliers to fulfil the contract.”
The procurement reference for this project is tender_483346/1452236. The MoD highlights that the contract is “suitable for SMEs,” but not for voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs).
Interested suppliers have until 24 March 2025 at 11:59pm to submit their proposals. The successful bidder will supply the rifle system to address the MoD’s requirement for a modern, adaptable sniper platform, replacing two existing models in the UK’s arsenal.
Further details, including technical specifications and application procedures, are available in the official notice.
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I can’t believe I’m having to say this but we mustn’t buy American. This also goes for Project Grayburn as well, helpfully we’ll pick a British solution but it definitely must not be American. And whatever we do pick, it must all be manufactured and maintained here in the UK.
The Knights Armament rifles we’ve committed to purchasing are very fine weapons (though expensive) but I hope we’ve contracted to have them maintain over here.
We have more than enough hostages to fortune already e.g. Trident, F35 and AUKUS. Bloody hell, given the rumours about Starlink, we need to source an alternative to Trident missiles asap.
Other European nations appear to be worried about the loss of the American nuclear umbrella and may be willing help us with make some sort switch if we guarantee to extend our nuclear umbrella in the short term and maybe help them obtain their own deterrent in the medium term.
Apologies, this article is about sniper rifles and I’ve managed to drift off onto the topic of the nuclear deterrence!
Agree, should be UK solution (even licensed production) or European rifle, perhaps as part of a barter arrangement.
I don’t believe trident uses GPS or starlink as far as I know it uses the stars basically to navigate as it’s not a precise weapon in the scale of things however the sniper rifle will probably be AI as they do make the best anyway as to the rifle for the army that will I assume be built in the UK as it’s going to be a pretty big contract and I’m going to assume that will be a factor that H&K will enthusiastically tell the government that they have a subsidiary company already in the uk and could open a production line but who knows with the government they do some strange things
This exactly where the procurement rules have gone completely mad.
You should be buying these out of petty cash not running a competition. Get companies to send in samples and let the soldiers effectively pick their own and then get adequate stocks of each. If that means we are getting half a dozen different pieces of kit then so what. The costs here are peanuts in the scheme of things.
100% right.
Regrettably I agree.
AUKUS is not so bad as it is more design than actual parts or system
f35 we need to procure on the same basis as the Israelis where we have full control of the software.
We must no longer support the UsA defence complex , we need to put Europe first. Until the US returns to normal stable politics
It would be nice if we developed our own VLS ass well.
how hilarious if we had to partner with the french for our nuclear requirements. im thinking the uk deterrent can ride out a presidential 4 year term of office and still have sufficient working missiles fingers crossed if the orange one cuts us off
Sorry but Europe is far more unreliable than the USA will ever be
the UK is in Europe genius
The UK is in the Anglospherical genius.
That’s a very silly and childish reply.
Presumably you know exactly what he means. And he’s absolutely right.
We are part of the Anglosphere: end of.
If Ukraine had the time and means to
How about a Snipex T-Rex, or the MCR Horizon’s Lord rifle, the current world record for longest shot, Ukraine🤣
These are two very popular rifles that get fundraised for the Ukrainians (fact)
But as above and what ive been raising my voice over … DONT BUY ANYTHING FROM THE USA
Like to see them buy the AI AXSR or SAKO TRG M10, even the MRAD would be a great choice.
ooooh yeh nice choices
If we get shirty with the Americans Trump might cut off spare parts for the F35.
I can remember when they cut off supplies for the Phantoms in Iran, they ran out of tyres and couldn’t take off.
Don’t want anything like that to happen to all the F35s that Europe has bought. That’s the problem when you invest too much with one supplier.
A lesson to be learned here.
If Trump ‘cuts off’ supplies of F35 spares to UK I think LM would have something to say about that. However, looking at progress with Typhoon now, especially now the ECRS 2 radar is coming on stream. It’s going to be (almost) easier to do without F35. Just buy more Typhoons!
I’d like to think that Accuracy International will be able to produce something that’ll fit the bill, especially as they’re providing the two current sniper rifles. I presume the calibres they’re asking about will be the same too, 7.62 NATO and .338 Lapua Magnum. I don’t think we technically have a .50 cal sniper rifle.
Accuracy make one.
Yes, I’ve seen it on YouTube somewhere before. I just meant that we don’t, as far as I know, use .50 cal as a sniper round, it’s used for anti-materiel purposes (technically at least, I imagine there have been cases of crossover).
.338 is supposed to be very good at range, while having plenty of power for stopping a person, so the extra size of a .50 seems a little overkill to me.
Main .50 used is the AW50F (L121A1), but the M82A1 (L135A1) is also in inventory. The AW50s are used more as anti material rifles, being used by EOD and Royal Marine snipers from helicopters (with Eotech sight) to shoot out boat engines.
Amongst all the anti US, anti Trump, comments flooding UKDJ over the past week, no one mentions that the UK Intelligence community is joined at the hip with that of the US, as is that of the other Anglo nations.
Thar extends to areas of military intelligence too. A total split with the US will hamstring us a whole lot more than it will them, and entire organisation’s would need rebuilding.
Not something I want to see.
Yes.
The fundamental problem with all of these commentators is that they refuse to recognize that the UK is no longer a global power and doesn’t have the resources nor will to become one again. Separation from the US leaves the UK defenseless. And if anyone thinks that the EU or some combination of European nations can replace the US then I know someone who sells bridges over the Thames real cheap.
Maybe I’m missing something but why? The Accuracy international products we use don’t have any obvious downsides that I can see. Being able to switch between 7.62mm and 8.6mm is nice, but is it important? Sure there are options out there that are a bit lighter, and the Desert Tech SRS standing out as a step up, but is this worth our very limited defence spending?
I thought the same. If current rifles are worn out, buy some more from Accuracy. If that’s not the case, why do they need a replacement?
Because the civil servants running the procurement need to earn their keep. What else are they to spend their time on? Important things?
Not sure I understand this.What is wrong with the Accuracy International rifles we have ?
The Americans are buying them because they are the best.