Strategically, the British were also hampered by a politically imposed limit on troop numbers, and by frequent requests from the Afghan Government that they supply small units to defend local ‘district centres’ threatened by the Taliban. It was then difficult to relinquish defence of these locations without it being presented as a Taliban victory, leaving the British troops tied down in static defensive positions which were often hard to reinforce or even resupply, and which were repeatedly attacked or bombarded by the Taliban. Much of Helmand was arid semi-desert, but the irrigated ‘green zone’ along the Helmand River was densely vegetated, especially in summer, and contacts could take place at very short range. While the British had routinely been able to deploy Warrior IFVs and even Challenger main battle tanks in Iraq, the rough terrain in Helmand was less suited to heavy armoured vehicles, and the fighting was dominated by patrolling on foot and in light vehicles, and by the defence of ‘platoon house’ outposts established in various district centres.
This placed a heavy emphasis on man-portable small arms such as the L85, and saw the GPMG come back into regular usage in infantry sections to enhance their firepower. Meanwhile, the L86 LSW largely fell from use, even in the limited ‘long range rifle’ role. As in Iraq, however, the main threat to British troops was IEDs, though the Taliban were significantly more willing to engage in direct combat than the Iraqi insurgents had been. No significant problems were reported with the SA80 system in the various accounts of the war, though it remained sensitive to grit and dust unless carefully looked after. A total of 453 British personnel were killed in Afghanistan before the last British forces left in October 2014.
From 2009, SA80A2 weapons issued to units deployed operationally to Afghanistan received a package of upgrades under an Urgent Operational Requirement that significantly changed the appearance of the weapon, along with the issue of lighter Magpul polymer magazines. The most obvious aspect of the upgrade was the replacement of the original green plastic foregrip with NATO-standard interface rails on all four sides of the barrel, similar to those fitted to the US M4 Carbine. The rails allow quick and easy mounting of accessories such as vertical foregrips, scopes, tactical lights and so forth, without needing to modify the weapon. When not in use, the interface rails were protected by slotted plastic covers, produced in both green and desert tan plastic.
Most IWs had a ‘grip pod’ mounted on the lower rail. This acted as a vertical front foregrip, allowing the user to pull the weapon into his shoulder more effectively when wearing bulky body armour. The shaft of the grip pod contained a small bipod which extended out at the flick of a switch. The original idea was to allow the weapon to stand upright on the bipod rather than being laid on its side on the ground when not in use, thus helping to keep dust out of the action. It could also be used to steady the weapon when firing from the prone position or over cover, improving accuracy. Other elements of the upgrade included the ACOG sight, to replace the older SUSAT optical sight, and a new Surefire flash hider.
The upgraded weapons are sometimes referred to as L85A3 – or even L85A4, when fitted with the ACOG sight and a laser module -- but these are not official designations. Heckler & Koch did produce a small number of replacement lower bodies which were marked as ‘HK A3’ but this is a manufacturing reference; the components are identical to the refurbished components marked ‘HK A2’.
USING THE SA80 WEAPONS
All weapons in the SA80 family are loaded and fired in the same way. The requirement for a left-handed version was dropped, despite 11 per cent of troops being left handed. The Army maintains, however, that most left-handed soldiers can be taught to shoot from their right shoulders equally as well.
Starting with an unloaded weapon with the safety catch applied, the user inserts a loaded magazine into the magazine well in the butt, and pushes it home until it locks into place. Pulling back the cocking handle on the right side of the body strips the first round off the top of the magazine and loads it into the chamber. This requires reaching across the top of the weapon – slightly awkward compared to the SLR, where the cocking handle is on the left, or the M16, where it is behind the carrying handle.
Infantry versions of the SA80 were fitted with a 4× SUSAT optical sight as standard. The SUSAT was later replaced by ACOG and ELCAN designs, while weapons issued to support troops had less expensive ‘iron sights’ built into a carrying handle instead.
Gravity and air resistance mean that bullets actually travel in a parabola, rather than a straight line, so the sights had to be adjusted for targets over 300m. Soldiers were taught how to estimate range, and entered the correct range (in 100m increments from 300m to 800m) by adjusting a range drum on the sight body to compensate for this curved path. With the sights adjusted, the firer aimed by placing the tip of the upright post of the optical sight on the target.
The safety catch was a push-through button ahead of the trigger guard; operated by the trigger finger, it was pushed to the left to fire and to the right to make the weapon safe again. Some users expressed a preference for an M16-style tumbler safety, operated by the thumb while the finger remained on the trigger.
British soldiers were taught to fire aimed semi-automatic shots rather than bursts, but the SA80 is also capable of full automatic fire. The selector switch is a separate two-position tumbler on the left side of the weapon body – a convenient location on an LSW being used from its bipod, but less convenient for a rifleman, perhaps reflecting the Army’s preference for semi-automatic fire. The two settings were marked ‘R’ (repetition) for single-shot and ‘A’ (automatic). The switch was pushed up for semi-automatic, and down for automatic fire. Again, some users felt that an M16-style tumbler combining both safety and selector might have been a better option.
Trigger pull is reasonably smooth. The 5.56mm cartridge produces relatively low recoil which is easily controlled by a good firing stance, especially when compared to the powerful recoil of the old 7.62mm SLR. The SA80’s in-line design also means that the recoil is mostly backwards, limiting muzzle climb. Firing from the hip is not recommended; aside from the poor accuracy of shooting without using the sights, the right forearm coming from above the weapon rather than below means there is a risk of it being struck by the reciprocating cocking handle.