USA — Army awards contract for upgraded sniper weapon system

PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — A recent­ly award­ed weapons con­tract means Army snipers can expect to see an improved rifle, with an extend­ed range, in the field by Christ­mas.

It’s expect­ed the Army will field the XM2010 weapon sys­tem, a sniper rifle, to deployed Army snipers by the end of Decem­ber. Pho­to cred­it PEO Sol­dier Click to enlarge

The Army’s Pro­gram Exec­u­tive Office Sol­dier recent­ly award­ed Rem­ing­ton Arms Com­pa­ny a con­tract for the M24 Recon­fig­ured Sniper Weapon System. 

The award will result in the near-term field­ing of 250 XM2010 weapon sys­tems, which will be cham­bered for .300 Win­ches­ter Mag­num car­tridges. The new cham­ber­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly extends the weapon’s max­i­mum effec­tive range. It’s expect­ed the Army will field the upgrad­ed weapons to deployed Army snipers by the end of December. 

“With­in the space of a year, we were able to part­ner with indus­try to deliv­er a new capa­bil­i­ty for our snipers in com­bat,” said Lt. Col. Chris Lehn­er, the prod­uct man­ag­er for indi­vid­ual weapons, part of PEO Sol­dier. “The upgrad­ed weapon sys­tem pro­vides extend­ed range for our snipers and incor­po­rates the lat­est in weapons technology.” 

The upgrad­ed weapon fea­tures a five-round box mag­a­zine to make the sys­tem eas­i­er to load and reload, with the addi­tion­al option to change out ammu­ni­tion quick­ly. The sys­tem is also equipped with a rail-endowed chas­sis and free float­ing bar­rel that allows for eas­i­er mount­ing of weapon acces­sories and greater accuracy. 

Locked on to that new rail, the XM2010 sports a Leupold Mark 4 6.5–20x50mm extend­ed range/tactical rifle­scope with advanced scal­able rang­ing and tar­get­ing ret­i­cle. The sys­tem is also field­ed with the AN/PVS-29 clip-on sniper night sight. And the system’s includ­ed quick-attach sup­pres­sor reduces audi­ble and vis­i­ble sig­na­ture with an avail­able ther­mal sleeve that reduces the mirage effect on heat­ed suppressors. 

After a full and open com­pe­ti­tion, the Army award­ed the firm fixed-price, indef­i­nite-deliv­ery/in­def­i­nite-quan­ti­ty con­tract for the upgrade of up to 3,600 M24 systems. 

“The XM2010 had pin­point pre­ci­sion,” said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Roof, the chief instruc­tor at the Unit­ed States Army Sniper School. “We were able to achieve shots well with­in the weapon’s capa­bil­i­ties both dur­ing lim­it­ed vis­i­bil­i­ty and dur­ing the day. The optics were clear and easy to use and the ergonom­ics of the weapon made it very com­fort­able to shoot.” 

The M24 upgrade ini­tia­tive is the result of an Army-direct­ed require­ment to pro­vide snipers oper­at­ing in Afghanistan with a greater capa­bil­i­ty to engage the ene­my. It is expect­ed that the XM2010s will pro­vide at least 10 years of ser­vice, offi­cials said, adding it should serve as a pre­cur­sor to future sniper systems. 

Source:
US Army 

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