British rifles get jammed in Sierra Leone battle

British rifles get jammed in Sierra Leone battle
REUTERS

JULY 31: British soldiers were put in danger when their rifles jammed during a battle with rebels in Sierra Leone, a British government Minister said on Monday.

Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain said the SA-80 rifles jammed during a battle between members of the army's elite pathfinder troops and rebels in May.

"The safety catches jammed and some troops were put in danger at some point in May," he told BBC radio.

Hain said the Ministry of Defence has ordered a major modification programme for the rifle.

"The modification programme reflects the government's concern to ensure that this rifle is operating at the utmost level of efficiency," he said.

"The lessons learnt from that incident will be taken on board, because it must not happen again."

The Daily Telegraph said that during the battle soldiers armed with SA-80 were unable to return fire and had to rely on fellow soldiers equipped with the older 7.62mm General Purpose machine guns.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said they had experienced problems with the rifle whilst used under hot and dusty conditions and extremely cold conditions. However, he was unable to confirm whether the modifications would involve work on the catches.

British soldiers have complained about the SA80 since it was introduced in 1986. The rifle was designed arms manufacturer Royal Ordnance which was at the time owned by the Ministry of Defence. Royal Ordnance is now a unit of BAE Systems

Last June the Ministry of Defence ordered an 80 million pound ($120 million) modification programme designed to rectify the faults in 200,000 of the weapons.

During the 1991 Gulf War British troops reported problems with the weapon jamming, a failing that was confirmed by tests in 1995.

Leaked army reports in January also suggested that British troops entering Kosovo in 1999 had been hampered by poor equipment, including concern about the rifles.