News Release

29th July 2002

REPLACE FAULTY WEAPONS NOW

Michael Fabricant today called on the Government to issue the Royal Marines with the US-made M16 assault rifle to replace the "faulty" SA80-A2 weapon.

Michael Fabricant, Conservative member for Lichfield and joint-chairman of the all-party Royal Marines Group at Westminster insisted that this should be done before any further trials of the SA80 were completed. Earlier this week the Defence Logistics Organisation provoked fury among the Royal Marines for alleging that the rifles jammed and misfired in Afghanistan because troops had not cleaned them properly.

Mr Fabricant said: "These armchair pundits at the Ministry of Defence are not only being grossly insulting to the professionalism of the Royal Marines, but also appear to have forgotten - if indeed they had any experience of it - the reality of warfare.

"The SA80 might be suitable for use in the Home Counties but has long been known to be unreliable in more extreme conditions."

Mr Fabricant said he had fired the SA80 in the Arctic. "After just four shots the weapon jammed, and it had been cleaned thoroughly beforehand by weapons experts".

He claimed the rifle was vulnerable to cold and to the ingress of dirt. "Experts say it is unreliable and should not be taken into combat. All Royal Marines I have spoken to want the M16 without delay. This is a reliable and trustworthy workhorse, and the Ministry of Defence should let them have it straight away, rather than waiting until after the trials on the SA80 are over. This is particularly urgent as the Royal Marines are likely to be called on for dangerous operational duties in our war against terrorism."