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Posted: 5/31/2006 9:35:46 AM EDT
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Hello all, Thought I would post the lastest read the SASS. Thanks to "dewatters" for the heads-up. "JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - MAY 31, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- US sniper system enters operational testing SCOTT GOURLEY JDW Correspondent California -The US Army is preparing for the imminent fielding of a small number of the new sniper weapons -The SASS would be a man-portable, shoulder-fired system The US Army has begun operational testing of its new XM110 7.62 mm Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS). In addition to the testing, it is also believed that the army is preparing for the imminent fielding of a small number of the new weapon systems on an "urgent need basis". The XM110 will expand the inventory of army sniper weapons, which currently includes the M24 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) and the M107 Long Range Sniper Rifle (LRSR). The M24 is a 7.62 mm bolt-action, six-shot, repeating rifle while the M107 is a .50 calibre semi-automatic weapon. According to Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Stoddard, product manager for Crew Served Weapons, the XM110 SASS emerged in late 2004 in response to a changing battlefield requirement to engage both light-skinned materiel and personnel in an urban environment, offering multiple targets that needed to be engaged quickly and accurately. The solution called for a semi-automatic 7.62 mm weapon to supplement the sniper's role of supporting combat operations with greater firepower and greater possible stand-off ranges. According to the army solicitation, the SASS would be "a man-portable, shoulder-fired system utilising military standard 7.62 mm x 51 mm calibre ammunition but optimised for the open-tip M118LR long-range ammunition. Additionally, M993 armour-piercing (AP) ammunition will be fired based on specific mission requirements. Compatibility with the existing family of military 7.62 mm x 51 mm calibre ammunition is also required". The accompanying statement went on to define the full 7.62 mm x 51 mm ammunition family as the M118 Long Range cartridge, M993 AP cartridge, M82 Blank cartridge, M80 Ball cartridge and M60 High Pressure Test cartridge. The government solicitation reportedly drew responses from five interested vendors, with the contract awarded in late September 2005 to Knight's Armament Company. Col Stoddard noted that the company submitted its winning proposal based on the Mk 11 MOD 0 sniper rifle the company fielded to US Naval Special Warfare SEAL Teams as well as the 'Stoner Rifle' SR-25 that was fielded to the US Army 75th Ranger Regiment. Utilising the Mk 11 as the basic design, the company made a number of changes to satisfy specific SASS requirements. Col Stoddard pointed to modifications that included a new detachable weapon suppressor, a different configuration of the accessory mounting rails and changes to some of the trigger components. Other SASS design features include a folding detachable bipod, 10- and 15-round magazines and a variable power day optic scope. In addition to the weapon components, SASS elements also include a new XM151 spotting scope from Leupold that provides the spotter with the same reticle that the sniper sees in the Mark 4 Leupold sniper scope on the weapon. "It's a system now," Col Stoddard said. "So it's a crew; it's a team of crew-served weapons. We manage everything that has 'team' or 'crew' involved and that's a sniper team. So we're giving a product not only to the sniper but we're giving something to the spotter as well as part of this system. The system has performed well in developmental testing and we're happy with the testing so far. It shows very high reliability and very good accuracy." Follow-on operational testing (OT) for the XM110 is currently taking place at Fort Drum, New York. Fifteen systems entered OT in mid-May, leading to a planned low-rate initial production (LRIP) decision around the end of June. "When the OT is done I'll go to full materiel release," Col Stoddard said. "My plan for full materiel release 'standard' [and change from XM110 to M110] is in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2007 [FY07]. So I'll do an LRIP, I'll qualify the production line and then we will go to a full standard in [the first quarter] of FY07, around December of this year." Col Stoddard is expecting to receive supplemental funding in mid-2006 to support LRIP through to the end of FY06, with the programme then picking up its own funding in the Program Objective Memorandum beginning in FY07. A base contract is already in place with options that can be executed for weapon deliveries. Col Stoddard identifies a current Authorised Acquisition Objective level of 4,492 systems to meet all army requirements. "Right now that's the amount of guns I'm buying, but I could buy more if the army wants," he said. "We're always concerned about reliability," he added. "We want to make sure that things are durable and reliable and that they do what the KPP [key performance parameters] says. I need to know that if I point it at something that it hits what I'm pointing it at and it hits very accurately what I'm pointing it at. Having said that, because it has done so well in [early trials] and because it comes from the pedigree of the Mk 11 that has been out there since the late 1990s, we went ahead and the users have already seen the programme." The lethal element of the XM110 7.62 mm x 51 mm Semi-automatic Sniper System is now in operational testing(Source: US Army)  |
Your welcome! 
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Being somewhat familiar with govy contract awards (but not in the firearm areas)...There are usually de-briefs that are given to the other contractors that had not won. Usually this is not done publicly or at least on my end of contract awards I've been involved with. Some areas of contract awards if not that lucrative, the losing contractor usually has to formally ask for a de-brief in this regard. Hope this helps from what I had experience with. |
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