The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has released updated figures on the number of SA80 A2, SA80 A3, and L403A1 rifles currently held by the British military, in response to written questions from Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative – Huntingdon).

According to Maria Eagle, Minister of State for Defence, as of 25 February 2025, the MOD holds:

  • 125,276 SA80 A2 rifles (L85A2)
  • 40,144 SA80 A3 rifles (L85A3)

Additionally, she confirmed that an order of 1,620 L403A1 rifles had been made by Defence Equipment and Support, with all units received by 10 March 2025.

SA80 A2 Rifle (L85A2)

The L85A2 has been the British Armed Forces’ standard-issue service rifle since the early 2000s, following significant modifications to the original L85A1 design. The upgraded variant introduced improvements to reliability, durability, and operational effectiveness after reports of malfunctions in earlier versions.

The L85A2 is chambered in 5.56Γ—45mm NATO, features a gas-operated rotating bolt system, and has a 30-round magazine. Its effective range is up to 600 metres, and it is designed for both semi-automatic and automatic fire, with a rate of fire of 610–775 rounds per minute.

While the A2 model remains in widespread service, the MOD has been introducing the L85A3 variant to frontline units in recent years.

SA80 A3 Rifle (L85A3)

The L85A3, first introduced in 2018, is an upgraded version of the SA80 platform featuring a lighter design, improved ergonomics, and increased modularity. It incorporates:

  • A monolithic upper receiver for reduced weight and improved balance
  • An extended M-LOK handguard, allowing more attachment options
  • An upgraded bolt carrier group for enhanced reliability
  • A Flat Dark Earth (FDE) finish, designed to reduce heat absorption and improve camouflage

The L85A3 retains the same 5.56Γ—45mm NATO chambering as its predecessor and continues to use STANAG 30-round magazines. It weighs approximately 4.13 kg with optics and magazine, making it lighter than the A2 while maintaining similar dimensions.

The MOD has 40,144 A3 rifles currently in service, as part of an ongoing transition to replace older A2 models across the armed forces.

L403A1 Rifle (Knight’s Armament KS-1, Alternative Individual Weapon – AIW)

The L403A1, manufactured by Knight’s Armament, is the latest rifle procured by the British military under the Alternative Individual Weapon (AIW) programme.

According to the MOD, 1,620 units have been ordered and received by 10 March 2025.

The L403A1 is intended for specialist units, including UK special forces and high-readiness frontline units, and replaces the L119A2 (C8 CQB) in certain roles. Unlike the SA80 series, which has been standard-issue for regular forces, the L403A1 offers increased modularity, adaptability, and advanced ergonomics.

Key Features:

  • Fully ambidextrous controls
  • Free-floating M-LOK handguard for improved accessory compatibility
  • Knight’s Armament suppressor to reduce noise and flash signature
  • Adjustable stock for user customisation

The rifle weighs 3.6 kg (without optics) and is chambered in 5.56Γ—45mm NATO. It features a 14.5-inch barrel, with an effective range of up to 500 metres.

The MOD has not indicated any further plans for widespread adoption of the L403A1 beyond its current specialist role.

Summary of MOD Rifle Holdings (as of March 2025)

Rifle ModelTotal Held
L85A2 (SA80 A2)125,276
L85A3 (SA80 A3)40,144
L403A1 (AIW / KS-1)1,620 (fully delivered)

The figures indicate a continued transition from the SA80 A2 to the A3 variant, which has been underway since 2018. The L403A1’s adoption in specialist roles marks an expansion in the British Army’s small arms portfolio, though its broader introduction remains limited.

Lisa West
Lisa West
Lisa has a degree in Media & Communication from Glasgow Caledonian University and works with industry news, sifting through press releases in addition to moderating website comments.

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88 COMMENTS

  1. I still think NATO needs to slowly ditch the 5,56 & move to one of the 6mm, 6.25mm ,6.5mm or 6.8mm rounds. Not fussed which, as all are better than 5.56.

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    • I’ve seen some videos of 6mm ARC and that round is a laser beam I think any bigger pans your going to have to spend far more time training for recoil mitigation I really like shooting 6.5cm but under 200m with 223 I can stack them ontopof each other 223 makes me look like a good shot lol

  2. NATO is past faster then people think call me crazy well don’t care because I had many times said the truth before and look at the stage of the world I been right long time before year 2000

      • Steve, it is unfathomable to me that we don’t have enough Small Arms to equip every Reservist. Seemingly other kit does not exist for Reservists, such as vehicles, radios etc.

      • Regulars are about 130k and reserves about 30k. So these figures imply we would have enough. Plus there are thoussands of other small arms not listed.

        • This is true.

          GPMGs, L129A1/2s etc aren’t on there, nor the L22 carbine (not sure if that’s still used or not).

        • Hi Carrickter, When you add in the numbers of Ghurkas, service personnel in Phase 1 training and Regular Reservists – which are not counted in the usual figures for Regulars and Reservists, then I am not so sure. Granted that not every serviceman/woman needs an SA80.
          Anyway, it would be prudent to have a whole lot more in case of military expansion to meet a serious regional conflict (war with Russia).

  4. Surely the MOD needs a total number of rifles between 200k-300k incase of a need to increase personnel numbers????

    • So you would think Elliot…

      Sadly, there is no reserve of military equipment and nowhere to put extra personnel, all sold off.

      • The crazy part was that the sell offs continued after 2014 when it should have been clear things were going downhill.

        To be totally fair the 1980’s kit, the last time we had plenty, would be pretty useless by now as the slated pipelines would be impossible with discrete components NLA. That is the trouble with fast paced electronics.

        • To be fair a rifle is a rifle..and as long as you take it apart, oil and store it properly it’s pretty bomb proof.

        • SB, you focus on dated electronics….but it seems probable that there might not be any kit for Regular Reservists, even basic stuff like boots, uniform and webbing. There may not also be sufficient vehicles and radios for Army Reserve units. It might be worth a FOI request!

    • If there were suddenly an extra 100k members of the armed forces I think there would be bigger issues than finding rifles for them. Besides, it would be a big expenses for a ‘what-if’ scenario considering rifles are one of the cheapest and most proliferated things that the MOD would need to finance in that situation.

    • The one with the rifle shoots, The one without, follows him! When the one with the rifle gets killed, the one who is following picks up the rifle and shoots!

  5. The only thing that comes to mind is why there or not more available the rifle is the life blood of all British military its the 1st thing we learn but you will expect the lads and ladies to go to war for you with sub standard equipment yet again when the time comes and it will come

      • Didn’t know that. Thanks.
        However, with all the publicity of Ranger Reg and the RM, so 4 Ranger Battalions and 40, 45 RM, and maybe others, the low number surprised me, thought they’d already been widely issued.

        • Yes there’s the 10,000 option, but so far it doesn’t seem to have been taken up, especially if the RM are going for the Sig for some of their other units.
          I was wondering if 1,600 was only the army number as the RM love to show off their 403’s, but I guess it’s the MoD total, which makes me believe that UKCF still largely use L85, and keep 403 for promotional and high readyness units (since the Rangers have 403’s for all of their personnel there can not be more than a few hundred 403’s in Royal Marine service).

          But yes, they have been “widely issued” in the sense that everyone who asked for them has received them AFAIK. Maybe RM are just waiting for budget overhead.

          • In fairness I was convinced that the RM must’ve had their own seperate order. But the maths doesn’t lie:

            Lets assume that Ranger Btns are 250 men (we know that they are larger than that, but since the official headcount isn’t public we’ll stick with this as a floor). And there are 4 Ranger Battalions, each one is fully equipped with 403’s (yes there are GPMG’s and Sharpshooters but as those are discretionary there are going to be enough 403’s in inventory for everyone). So that’s, as a floor, 1,000 L403’s to the Rangers. Meaning at BEST, the Royal Marines have 600 L403’s.

            600 rifles isn’t enough to equip 2 full fat RM Commandos, and again, that’s the “floor” for Ranger Btns size. Honestly I don’t really “get it” and I think that’s why I was convinced there must be two orders of roughly the same size, but here we are being told the total order was for 1,600.

            But in general the RM have really good PR, it’s one of the things I admire about them. They excel at making themselves look amazing. And while I’d never be like “Uh the Royal are shit.” I think there is a delta between the Hype their PR creates, and the reality (Reality “Good high quality infantry force.” Hype “Best thing that’s ever happened in Warfare” kind of thing).

          • Yes, well explained, and thus my confusion, as I had the Ranger, admittedly an assumption, as near 600 bods per Battalion, as other LI Bns I think.
            I also took it as a given all would have the use of the weapon, even accounting for GPMG Sharpshooters as you say.
            That’s at least 2000! And doesn’t even start with the RM count.
            Hence my rather stunned reaction to the 1600 figure.
            Unless the Rangers too do not have Ks1 as standard.

          • As I said 250 isn’t the establishment of a Ranger Btn, it’s the “floor”.
            So how ever many L403s the RM got, 600 is the maximum.

  7. I believe over 350,000 SA 80 were manufactured with @ 200,000 upgraded. I assume we have numbers in storage in addition to the in service totals disclosed.
    Storing rifles in reserve is much easier than more complex kit and costs very little.

    • I thought some SBS and RM units were getting the colt Canada C8 or was it a Sig??? Can’t remember something about 4000 new CQB carbines. Anyone remember the details. Order was placed a few months ago.

    • It’s been a very slow burn, I think there’s an element of industrial strategy and non-urgency about it. A3 is nicer to shoot than A2, but it’s not a mind blowing difference IMO, so as long as the A2’s aren’t physically falling apart there doesn’t seem to be a huge rush.

  10. In reality, we are never going to have a mass, infantry based force or reserve force..a nation like Finland needs a lot of rifles as they have a huge reservist force of light role infantry and in wartime would be putting 200,000 rifles in the hands of reservists.

  11. Beyond giving a flying fuck, the country isn’t worth fighting for, be like winning the special Olympics. πŸ€ͺ

    • There is a certain irony to fighting for England and then coming home and being the only Englishman now living on your street

      • Not lost on most people these days is the irony that , unbelievably this is a very real problem causing concern across the Kingdom.

  12. Dear God we haven’t even got enough rifles? I think we’re well passed the point of shock at how appallingly hollowed out our armed forces have become.
    We’re only now seeing the physical damage. My worries are the cultural damage. We have turned our military institutions into vapid civil servants who’s raison d’etre has changed from a realist based defence of the realm to utopian financial control who’s only remit is not to anger the gods of the treasury.

    I honestly think we need a public enquiry to nail blame on the politicians who did this. There needs to repercussions for those who have let this country down so badly. We’re going to need to burn some reputations down to the ground in order to act as a morality tale for future idiot politicians.

    • Not enough rifkes and no factory to build them. I suppose with cnc production one could suggest a dedicated factory was undcessary, but I think we would find that badly mistaken. Successive governmdnts, latterly Tory, have stripped the nstion bare.

    • Agreed. Why would the public have any respect for the Armed Forces when the politicians obviously don’t (notwithstanding their weasly words around 6th June and 11th November every year).

    • …I’m getting a Dad’s Army moment where at the last minute we will wind up rolling out the sandbags and grabbing as many old .303s that we can find and sticking Amazon thermals on them. πŸ™

  13. I thought some SBS and RM units were getting the colt Canada C8 or was it a Sig??? Can’t remember something about 4000 new CQB carbines. Anyone remember the details. Order was placed a few months ago.

    • They’re getting Sig MCX, which ironically was a failed bit on Project Hunter (the L403 buy). But only for 42 Commando as of right now (actually replacing C8).

  14. Something rather ironic about a defence website run by a cyber security expert where the comments section is regularly inundated by scammers and hackers… πŸ™

  16. Not enough IWs to equip the reserves. Imagine we had to mobilise a significant number of civvies on top of that.

  17. Thought the L403 was to go to the ranger unit and all the Royal marines? what happened to 4000?? 1600 just covers the rangers.

  23. There’s your adjustment bureau πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘ 🀲

  24. I’d like to see the MOD order far more off the shelf rifles than necessary just in case. Better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

  25. Absolutely extraordinary that we don’t have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of modern rifles in inventory. If we can’t even arm every single member of our armed forces+reserves what’s the point of conscription in time of war? We should have a cheap rifle such as an M4 for every military aged male in the country just in case.

    • The US with a very active gun culture created the Civilian Marksmanship Program as they didn’t think they had enough men who could shoot straight for a “major war”. Its still going mostly along with dozens of other organization who promote shooting sports and training. This is despite the much higher numbers of veterans/active duty/reserves, the large amount of private gun ownership, the sports shooting culture and the hunting culture.

      Who are we giving the millions of modern rifles to? By the time we’ve gone through under half of that anyone who knows how to use a modern rifle is dead or too busy trying not to be to train anyone else.

      I’m not actually disagreeing with the idea but it’s something that needs practiced before everything goes to hell. We can’t just store them and pray someone else figures it out. The Polish are mandating that kids know how to use weapons, in the UK that’s called political suicide.

  26. Bring back the 7.62 round weapon so the the forces have a weapon that has range and killing power rather than injury causing wounds.

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