The purchase of most presumably Diemaco C8 carbines has reached other British units than the SAS and SBS.

The exact unit of these soldiers is unknow(should stay that way), but it appears they are armed with C8FT or C8SFW carbines.

[img]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20011117/imdf17112001061807a.jpg[/img]

Looks like the sleepy-head in the foreground forgot to take off his PJ's and dress for work.

Did we cut off Afghanistan's coffee supply?  (That *would* be pretty diabolical.)

beats a brit bullpup, hands down!

I'll bet those British soldiers are not SAS.  The SAS are quite camera shy.  I think the SAS wear tan berets, and the SBS dark green.    

Like i said, these are Royal Marines..im not going to speculate on the exact unit until something is said in the public officially.

There have been several pictures of Royal Marines with Diemaco ARs lately.  When did they switch from the SA-80?

The ordering of the Diemacos was told on some sources in summer 2000 i recall. Initially the order was going to the SAS and SBS..but it would seem other´s are receiving them also, like the Para Pathfinders for example.

Time will tell.

The British Royal Marines have used the M16 for quite a long time.  I saw a Royal Marine Commando in North Ireland in 1980 with an M16/M203.  I've seen footage and stills since then of RM troops with M16's.  When they had the L1A1, they usually had a couple guys with the M16/M203 as well.  I beleive they simply replaced a few of the Sterling SMGs that they carried around with some of these, as the Sterlings ceased to be evident after the Malvinas/Falklands.  

With the SA-80, because of the problems they've had with that, it's not suprising to see the C7/C8.  The UK has an extensive inventory of the M16 series weapon.  They've been using them since 1965.  They also have a ready source from them here in North America, either from Daimeco or US stocks.

The SA-80 is undergoing a rebuilding program.  HK was awarded a contract to fix the thing, since it's reliability has been somewhat lacking.  Odds are that with the small number of troops they're sending in, you'll see many armed with the M16/C7 series.    

Ross

I would imagine Royal Marines. I saw Royal Marines in Kosovo in 2000. One group I walked by had several weapons including an M16A2 or M16A3 w/ M203 mounted on it. Another had either an M-4 variant or earlier CAR-15. SAS do wear tan berets and I doubt you'd see them in any news photos. Of interest, a US infantry unit here in Germany certain ditched all their M16A2's for M16A3's with the detachable carry handle and Knight's Armament rail system - not the M-4 everyone thought they'd receive as an infantry unit. - Jon