§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence how long it has taken to develop the L-85 rifle.
§ Mr. Norman LamontFrom the endorsement of the feasibility study, the development of the SA 80 individual weapon took 11½ years until January 1984, when its design was accepted by the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the three services. The full development phase lasted some five years.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if left-handed infantrymen will be issued with protective visors when using the new L-85 rifle;
(2) whether left-handed infantrymen will be able to use the L-85 Endeavour rifle;
469W(3) if a modified version of the L-85 rifle will be introduced specially for left-handed soldiers;
(4) if he is satisfied with the operation of the L-85 rifle for left-handed riflemen.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe operational requirement for an infantryman's rifle in modern warfare is for a short, compact weapon. It is this requirement which dictates the design of the SA-80 which, in its standard form, requires to be fired from the right shoulder. Trials carried out during the development stage of the weapon to determine whether a left-handed soldier could fire the weapon effectively showed this to be the case. Further trials will be carried out to confirm this assessment as the rifle is introduced. There is no requirement for the use of protective visors.
A conversion kit has been designed to permit the rifle to be fired from the left shoulder, but it is not expected that it will be necessary to proceed with this modification.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Defence if, following the introduction of the L-85 rifle, left-handed recruits will no longer be recruited for the Army.
§ Mr. Norman LamontNo.