![]() ![]() The user however can replace the short barrel with a standard 16-inch barrel in less than five minutes if the mission requires engagement at longer distances. The FN SCAR-H CQC assault rifle is chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO calibre and is fitted with a short 13-inch barrel for close quarter combat. FN Herstal took part in the, for once, full and open competition, where nine manufacturers submitted twelve different designs for the new weapon systems, and released prototypes of a brand new family of weapons within the tight time constraints, taking full advantage of their longstanding firearms know-how from the first pre-selection tests, the FN SCAR system developed by FN Herstal has remained the first and only choice of USSOCOM. ![]() At the same time though, USSOCOM issued a solicitation for a family of Special Forces Combat Assault Rifles, shortened immediately to SCAR, designed around two different calibres but featuring high commonality of parts and identical ergonomics. Army was also being armed with the M14EBR-RI, so a whole new era of 7.62mm came about. Indeed, it was the United States Navy SEALs that were the first forces to be armed with the EBR in 2004, followed by the U.S. was asked by United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to participate in a SOPMOD conference to create what would be the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR, with features that included a collapsible stock, an aluminium body, and a rail system. After a request from the United States Navy SEALs for a more compact, larger calibre ‘battle rifle’ in 2001, Mike Rock Rifle Barrels, Inc. There were numerous stories of the SAS in the Gulf War returning to the venerable L1A1 SLR, to add to the weight of fire provided by their smaller calibre M16s in the desert, where engagement distances widened out considerably for the US troops, the model that came into play was an updated M14, but it was really in 2000 with the creation of the Mk 14 Mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR) that things got going. You only need look at the movie ‘Black Hawk Down’ to see what I mean. However, as we entered the 21st Century, it soon became apparent that many of the forces we were battling against were themselves, in the main, fielding older weapon platforms like ageing AK 47s or AKMs still using the old Soviet 7.62 x 39mm round, and although the rifles themselves were old and the quality of ammunition variable, quite often NATO or Task Force Troops found themselves being outgunned, certainly at middle distance engagements, which could be a life or death struggle, especially for Special Forces personnel with little back-up. The rise of conflicts seen in builtup and urban areas, with much diminished engagement distances, as well as the increased adoption of troop deployment from vehicles and helicopters, meant that it was seen as the way forward to ditch the big old ‘7.62s’ in favour of a smaller round, and in most cases a smaller rifle. As I’ve often noted in my reviews on rifles that came about in the latter part of the 20th Century, there was a real race to find smaller calibres from virtually every military user in the world for NATO that was the 5.56x45mm round, and for the might of the Soviet Bloc the 5.45 x 39mm. ![]()
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