#Sdmr

The US Army has begun fielding their new M110A1  Squad Designated Marksman Rifle or SDMR. The latest familiarisation initiative began at Fort Stewart, Georgia, earlier this month. Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (the Raiders) began familiarisation with the new rifles at Fort Stewart’s sniper range on 5th June, 2020.

North Carolina-based High Speed Gear have confirmed that they have been contracted to provide Heckler & Koch with more than 30,000 of their TACO magazine pouches as part of Heckler & Koch’s fulfilment of the Army squad designated marksman rifle contract. The pouches will likely also be issued along with the new Compact Semiautomatic Sniper System as both the CSASS and SDMR are based on HK’s M110A1 (HK417-based) rifle.

Legendary firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch will be supplying the U.S Army  Squad Designated Marksman Rifle known as the M110. The Army have recently been evaluating the rifle and various potential accessory setups. H&K is ramping up to supply 5,000 to 6,000 of the HK417 variants by early next year. Each rifle will receive upgrades and accessories from several U.S. manufacturers prior to final delivery. Additional details can be found in the press release below.

A key part of the capability brought to the table by the US Army’s new Squad Designated Marksman Rifle is its chambering for the 7.62mm round. Specifically, this chambering allows the SDMR to fire the (also brand new) XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing (ADVAP) round, designed to give the squad the capability to defeat advanced ceramic armors at combat ranges. There may be juuuuust one little problem, though: Cost. The US Army’s Ammunition Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2019 was released this month; in it was procurement information on the XM1158 ADVAP, and a bit of a shocking sticker price to boot:

The US Army wants to give its soldiers more punch and reach: In the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Estimate Justification Book for the United States Army, the service outlined its strategy for procuring M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) rifles from Heckler & Koch to outfit its squads with a 7.62mm precision semiautomatic rifle, called the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR). The primary justification for this move was confirmed in recent Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearings to be the ability to launch the Army’s new XM1158 Advanced Armor Piercing (ADVAP) round, which is based on the projectile design introduced with the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR), but with a core made of tungsten alloy, rather than steel.

Thanks to Azril B. for sharing this new rifle development in the Philippines.

As part of Kalashnikov Concern’s new product rollout for the Russian government’s ARMY 2016 military technology conference, the company has announced a new designated marksman’s rifle, named the SVK. Earlier this year, an article in PopMech.ru showed off a Kalashnikov Concern design called “SK-16”, but an anonymous source told TFB that development of that rifle has ceased, due to problems with the design, and the new SVK will be taking its place. The SVK uses similar receiver architecture to the Kalashnikov Concern MA, also announced this week, with a steel upper receiver spine supporting a Picatinny-type rail and providing a guide rod for the operating group, as well as rigidity for the whole firearm. The rest of the receiver is made of polymer (aluminum on the prototypes), and contains the fire control group and the magazine housing.