Army Sending Long Range Rifles To Afghanistan

Double the killing power

The Army is sending rifles to Afghanistan that will double the killing range of troops.

The M14 Enchanced Battle Rifle is accurate out to 800 yards, Army Times reported.

“It’s a very precise weapon system,” said Spc. Andrew McMeley, a squad designated marksman serving in Afghanistan with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment. “All the improvements on it are fantastic.” Up to now only a squad’s designated marksmen got the long-range rifle.

Not all soldiers will get them. Only 5,000 have been ordered. That means there will be two members of each squad with one.

“Comments from returning noncommissioned officers and officers reveal that about 50 percent of engagements occur past 300 meters,” Maj. Thomas Ehrhart wrote in his Nov. 30 position paper “Increasing Small Arms Lethality in Afghanistan: Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer” at the School of Advanced Military Studies at the Army’s Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Units will get three days of training when they receive the new weapons.

Liabilities are that the weapon’s ammo is heavier, and it is more difficult to maintain. Soldiers who have tried them out say they are more difficult to take apart and clean.

The Army Times report did not mention how the weapon will perform in close quarters, such as inside buildings. Another question is whether they will have detachable optics.

Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_14_Mod_0_Enhanced_Battle_Rifle