Country of origin |
United Kingdom |
Entered service |
2000 |
Caliber |
5.56 x 45 mm |
Weight (empty) |
~ 4.1 kg |
Weight (empty with grenade launcher) |
~ 5.6 kg |
Length |
780 mm |
Barrel length |
518
mm |
Muzzle velocity |
900
m/s |
Cyclic rate of fire |
650 rpm |
Practical rate of fire |
40 - 100 rpm |
Magazine capacity |
30 rounds |
Sighting range |
? |
Range of effective fire |
500 m |
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The L85A2 is
an upgraded variant of the original
L85A1
assault rifle, that was adopted by the British Army back in 1984 as
a standard infantry weapon. The original L85A1 assault rifle had
some reliability and performance issues. In general it was quite
unreliable and troublesome to maintain. So the British MoD launched
an upgrade program to address these shortcomings. The upgrade
program was completed by the German Heckler & Koch company. Between
2000 and 2002 about 200 000 rifles were upgraded to the L85A2
standard. Currently the L85A2 is the standard service rifle of the
British Forces.
The L85A2 is
a gas operated, selective fire rifle with bullpup layout. The main
advantage of the bullpup layout is the overall compactness of the
weapon. Internally this weapon is generally similar to the US
Armalite AR-18. This assault rifle is chambered for the standard
NATO 5.56x45 mm round. A total of 110 parts were
modified by the Heckler & Koch. The upgraded L85A2 is recognized as reliable and accurate
weapon.
A fire mode
selector is located well behind the magazine, on the left side of
the receiver. It has settings for "semi-auto" and "full-auto". A
separate safety button is located above the trigger. Though the
L85A2 is not ambidextrous. Extraction is only to the right side.
Charging handle of the original L85A1 had a tendency to reflect
ejected cases back into the action, thus causing stoppages. On the
L85A2 the charging handle, as well as the bolt and its extractor
claw were redesigned in order to improve ejection and avoid
stoppages.
The L85A2 is
fed from 30 round box-shaped magazines. These are the standard NATO
STANAG magazines, similar to the US
M16-type
magazines. The original magazines of the L85A1 were not very robust
and caused lots of troubles. Both the magazines and magazine well
were upgraded on the L85A2 to avoid feeding problems. Now there are
three types of magazines used with these weapons. One of them are
polymer magazines with a clear round counting window, developed by Magpul.
These were purchased as an urgent operational requirement for
operations in Afghanistan. Also there are two other magazine types,
both of steel construction.
This assault
rifle has a dovetailed rail for various scopes, red dot and night
vision sights. This weapon comes as standard with a scope, which is
mounted on a quick-detachable mount. It can use a SUSAT scope with
4x magnification, that came as standard with the original L85A1,
though other sights are often used. This assault rifle has got iron sights, but
these are used only in case of emergency. Effective range of the
L85A2 is around 500 meters, using the scope. There is an alternative
sighting system for these rifles, employed by the second-line
troops. These rifles are fitted with detachable carrying handle,
with a built-in iron sights.
Also there
are quad Picatinny-type accessory rails on the foregrip for various
add-ons. It is often fitted with vertical grips, tactical
flashlights, laser pointers, and other accessories.
This assault
rifle is compatible with German HK AG36 40 mm underbarrel grenade
launcher. It was adopted by the British Forces as the L123A2. It
comes with a special foregrip. When the grenade launcher is
installed it adds 1.5 kg to the weapon weight, but interestingly
though, it improves overall balance of the weapon. This assault
rifle is also capable of launching riffle grenades, but only it the
underbarrel grenade launcher is not installed. A slotted flash
suppressor also serves as a mounting base for the bayonet. Since
2007 some selected units received L85A2 assault rifles, fitted with
a standard Picatinny-type scope rail and vortex-type flash hider, which can be used to shoot-through
barbed wire.
Variants
L86A2 light
machine gun is and upgraded variant of the original L86A1. Upgrades
were also performed by the Heckler & Koch company and are similar to
that of the L85A2 assault rifle.
L98A2 is a
manually operated rifle with its gas system removed. It is an
upgraded variant of the L98A1 rifle. It is fired as a repeater
rifle. This weapon is used to train army cadets. It has got simple
iron sights, integrated into a detachable carrying handle.
L22A2
compact assault rifle. This weapon is smaller and has a shorter
barrel. It is an upgraded version of the L22A1 fitted with a
Picatinny-type rail on the foregrip. It was reportedly adopted in
2003-2004. It is issued to vehicle drivers, pilots, artillery and tank crews
outside of their vehicle for emergency action.
L85A3
assault rifle is a
further upgrade of the L85A2. Its prototype was first publicly revealed in
2016. It is a proposed upgrade for existing L85A2 rifles. The main
goal was to extend service life of this weapon until 2025 and
beyond. This weapon has got a redesigned upper receiver with a
full-length Picatinny type scope rail. Also it has got a new
foregrip with accessory rails.
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