SCAR Approved for ‘Full Rate Production’

[unhappycamper]

SCAR Approved for ‘Full Rate Production’
by christian on August 16, 2010

SCAR maker FNH-USA announced today that SOCOM had approved the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle program “family of weapons” for “full rate production.” That includes the Mk-17 SCAR-H which fires 7.62 rounds, the Mk-13 grenade launcher and the Mk-16 SCAR-L which fires 5.56 rounds.

The company says it has “ramped up production and assembly at its manufacturing facilities to meet the delivery orders placed by USSOCOM.” I shot a note to their spokesperson asking for clarification on this, but haven’t gotten a response yet. How much has it “ramped up” and what are SOCOM’s orders?

Again, as we wrote exhaustively about in June, SOCOM has decided not to purchase the Mk-16. So how much the company is “ramping up” for a relatively limited buy of Mk-17s and Mk-13s is unclear.

The heart of the FN SCAR system consists of two highly adaptable modular rifle platforms and a grenade launcher. Type-designated as the MK 16 and the MK 17, both rifles are available with three different barrel lengths optimized for conducting operations in close-quarters combat, standard infantry and longer-range precision fire roles. All SCAR barrels are tightly attached to a monolithic receiver and can be easily interchanged by the operator in minutes to instantly meet virtually any mission requirement.

The MK 17 (7.62mm) is also the base of the SCAR common receiver currently under final test and evaluation by USSOCOM. The SCAR common receiver can accommodate multi-caliber conversion kits.

unhappycamper comment: Ka Ching.