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Precision Sniper Rifle

The Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) program was initiated after After Action Reports from SOF in the Global War on Terror (GWOT; later referred to as Overseas Contingency Operations) indicated special operations forces snipers were frequently required to accurately engage personnel at ranges beyond the capability of present systems. Special operations forces operators faced enemies that exploited man-made construction to mask their offensive movement, and were often dug-in and barricaded among buildings, basements, tunnels, masonry, timber, and rubble reducing the effectiveness of existing ammunition. The projected performance parameters of the PSR were to provide additional stand-off distance to increase survivability during counter-sniper engagements.

The PSR requirement addressed the operational shortcomings of existing fielded sniper weapons, while enhancing operational effectiveness and sniper survivability. The PSR would provide the special operations forces sniper greater capabilities and stand-off distances ensuring over match against enemy counter-sniper capability. The PSR with sound suppressor and day/night optics would allow special operations forces snipers to effectively engage enemy snipers, as well as crew served and indirect fire weapons, virtually undetected in any light condition.

The PSR program subsequently involved developing and exploring additional ammunition in order to fulfill the suite of anti-personnel rounds required by special operations forces (Individual Protection, Armor Piercing, Subsonic, and Dim Tracer). The PSR program was also to explore technology to incrementally develop alternative ammunition and weapon systems to achieve the objective requirements subsequently outlined in the PSR Capabilities Development Document. Supporting documentation for the PSR Capabilities Development Document in response to the approval authority also established the Key Performance Parameters that could be modified due to organizational learning.

On 16 May 2008, the Capabilities Development Document was approved for the development of a Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) for US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). On 17 June 2008, the US Government issued a sources-sought announcement as part of a market research effort to support a requirement for a Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR). All interested sources were encouraged to submit company and product literature, references, and other pertinent information for the Government's consideration. The Government was interested in analyzing and testing sniper weapon systems to possibly replace the existing fielded bolt-action special operations forces sniper systems, to include the Mk 13, M40, and M24 sniper rifles.

The synopsis of the sources sought notice did not constitute an Invitation for Bids, a Request for Quote, or a Request for Proposal and it was made clear that it should not be construed as a commitment of any kind by the Government to issue a formal solicitation or ultimately award a contract. The US Government was in no way liable to pay for or reimburse any companies or entities that responded to the announcement. Any costs incurred by interested companies in response to this announcement would not be reimbursed.

The sources sought notice included 10 separate requirements. Firstly, the system was to be chambered to safely fire factory produced "non-wildcat" .338 caliber ammunition. This meant that the round would be either .338 Lapua Magnum, .338 Norma Magnum or another common, commercial .338 caliber. The weapon's action would be manually operated and available in left and right hand versions. With a primary day optic and ammunition, the system was required to provide 1.0 MOA from 300 to 1,500 meters (in 300 meter increments) when fired from an accuracy fixture in nominal conditions. This was further defined as 1 MOA Extreme Vertical Spread for all shots in a 5 round group at the stated distances. The required Mean Rounds Between Stoppages (MRBS) with a magazine was 1,000 rounds.

The system was required to have an overall length no greater than 52 inches in its full configuration (including any retracting or folding stock being extended), excluding any sound suppressor, with a single component no greater in length than 40 inches. The system would weigh no more than 18 pounds with a 12:00 MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail and a loaded 5 round magazine. The accessory rail at the 12:00 position was required, and it was also requried to be capable of maintaining bore sight alignment and weapon zero while conducting routine firing combined with combat movement and operational training drills. It was required that the system would be capable of operator breakdown in less than 2 minutes and be cable of reassembly from breakdown in less than 2 minutes by the operator. The system would be capable of being assembled from breakdown with no change in weapon zero.

A total of 6 companies responded to the market survey: Sig Sauer, Inc; McMillan Firearms Manufacturing, LLC; Pierce Engineering, Limited; Beretta USA; Gemini Technologies, Inc. (commonly known as GemTech); and Desert Tactical Arms. Sig Sauer submitted the Blaser Tactical 2. McMillan Firearms submitted the TAC-338. Beretta USA submitted the Sako TRG-42. Desert Tactical Arms submitted a .338 version of its Stealth Recon Scout rifle. Pierce Engineering would have submitted a custom design and it was unclear what design GemTech submitted.

On 13 February 2009, the US Government issued a sources-sought announcement as a follow-on to the 17 June 2008 market research effort to support a requirement for a Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) for USSOCOM. The annoucement encouraged all interested sources who did not respond previously to submit company and product literature, references, and other pertinent information for consideration. The annoucement noted that the interest was still in analyzing and testing sniper weapon systems to possibly replace existing fielded bolt action special operations forces sniper systems, to include the Mk 13, M40, and M24 rifles.

The requirements for the system remained the same as they had been in the 2008 market research notice, with 2 major changes. Firstly, instead of specifying a specific caliber, the 2009 sources sought notice required only that the system be chambered to safely fire factory produced "non-wildcat" Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing Institute (SAAMI) or Commercial European standard (CIP) ammunition. Secondly, instead of being required to be manually operated (bolt-action), the new requirement specified that the system could be either manually or gas operated. The system still had to be available in left and right hand versions.

These changes had been outlined in a draft performance specification for the PSR issued on 26 January 2009. The PSR Program was described as an Evolutionary Acquisition Program that planned for Incremental Developments (previously called "Spiral Developments"). The PSR Program was at the time a USSOCOM-sponsored program, which supported Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps special operations forces units, and sought coordination and participation with potential PSR users of the other joint-services, US agencies, and Coalition Partners.

The system mission as of 26 January 2009 of the PSR Increment 1 was to enable USSOCOM snipers to use one or more shots to interdict enemy personnel, positions, and non-technical vehicles mounted with crew served weapons out to 1,500 meters (1,640 yards) or further, and to defeat Level 3 body armor out to 750 meters (820 yards) or further. The PSR system was also planned to replace the heavy sniper rifles in the special operations forces inventory for precision engagements against personnel and material targets. The existing Family of Sniper Weapon Systems included a "Medium" weapon capable of precision anti-personnel fire out to 1200 meters and a "Heavy" weapon capable of precision anti-material fire out to 1,500 meters. These systems provided special operations forces with the 80 percent solution to the heavy sniper rifle requirement. The PSR first increment extended the anti-personnel precision fire capability out to 1500 meters. The final increment of PSR was expected meet the anti-material capability either through enhanced munitions, an additional weapon, or a variant of the Increment 1 weapon.

The 26 January 2009 draft performance specifications outlined a total of 4 sub-types of weapon desired under the Increment 1 development (Types 1-4). In addition, additional types (defined as Type 5-n) were outlined as being modifications of the first 4 sub-types to incorporate the planned major configuration change increments. System planning at the time outlined, for informational purposes only, 3 additional increments. Increment 2 would explore enhanced ammunition for the weapon system, Increment 3 would look to improve weapon system performance by exploring enhanced caliber and/or weapon enhancements, and Increment 4 would explore technology enhancements to improve weapon system performance against anti-material targets and would improve anti-material target performance without a significant system weight increase. It was suggested that the requirements for Increment 4 might require the developemnt of a separate system.

The Type 1 PSR outlined was matched the weapon described in the sources sought annoucement in February 2009. The Type 1 PSR was non-caliber specific. This was based on the preliminary PSR market research, which showed that no common existing round of commercially-established ammunition met the special operations forces operator expectations for maximum effective range. As a result, new and emerging ammunition was sought as an objective requirement for the Type 1 PSR. All ammunition and weapons were required to be in accordance with the Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing Institute (SAAMI) or the Commission Internationale Permanente (CIP) standards as a threshold requirement outlined in the draft go/no-go criteria. A similar threshold requirement existed for the weapon to be able to be compatible with all existing day optic systems, sniper night vision devices, and lasers then in use. The Type 1 PSR would have to be compatible with the Integrated Night Observation Device (INOD III) and Miniature Day Night Sight-Sniper (MDNS-S) before entering production.

Despite this desire for new and emerging ammunition, the PSR program retained requirements to use existing ammunition types already in inventory. The 26 January 2009 draft performance specifications stated that modularity between calibers was preferred as an objective requirement, but that the threshold requirement was for separate weapons in different calibers. The Type 2, 3, and 4 PSRs were all to be sourced either as a parts kit to modify the Type 1 (meeting the objective requirement for modularity) or as a separate weapon (meeting the threshold requirement). The Type 2 PSR was to be a 7.62mm NATO weapon expected to generally perform as well as or better than existing similar government baselines, such as the US Army M24 and M110. The Type 2 PSR was to be a .300 Winchester Magnum weapon expected to generally perform as well as or better than existing similar government baselines, such as the Mk 13 series. The Type 4 PSR was to be a .338 caliber weapon, as broadly defined in the requirements for the market research announcement in 2008, using a common, commercial .338 caliber. The requirements stated that if no superior alternative to these .338 caliber rounds could be determined, then the Type 4 PSR would become the low-risk fallback to the Type 1 PSR.

On 14 July 2009, revised drafts of the go/no-go criteria and the performance specifications were released. The PSR was described as one subsystem of the entire special operations forces operator-in-the-loop sniper system. The PSR subsystem would be comprised of the basic rifle, a day optical scope, and various accessories. In its Type 1 form, it would fire new and emerging ammunition (still an objective requirement), but would also be adapted as a platform for earlier, established varieties of ammunition as a threshold requirement. The projected replacement for USSOCOM's heavy sniper rifles would be either a product of enhanced ammunition for the PSR, a sub-variant of the Increment 1 PSR, or an entirely separate weapon.

On 29 October 2009, it was announced that a formal solicitation for the PSR was anticipated to be released in December 2009. On 11 December 2009, this was ammended to January 2010. On 26 March 2010, the US Government issued a formal Request For Proposal for the PSR. Those who responded with regards to the rifle component of the system included Calico Light Weapon Systems, Desert Tactical Arms, McMillan Firearms, O.F. Mossberg and Sons, and Sig Sauer.

As of February 2010, the it was expected that during FY10, a Request for Proposals for the PSR would be submitted and responses would be recieved. It would then be possible to hold a Joint Source Selection Board and award a contract to successful PSR candidate/s for test articles. Further development and safety release for early user testing could then be achieved, while preparations were made to issue a second solicitation. Then in FY11, after a developmental test and user assessment, a Capability Production Document could be produced and a Milestone C production decision could be obtained.

On 4 May 2010, USSOCOM canceled the Request for Proposals for the PSR in its entirety, stating that no award would be made as a result. The evaluation criteria had been reassessed so as to render best value awards for the PSR. The existing PSR RFP evaluation criteria was said to fall short in accurately assessing the quality and capability of the proposed weapons and therefore it ws in the Government's best interest to cancel the RFP.

On 7 June 2011, USSOCM announced it was reissuing a solicitation for the procurement of the PSR system. The PSR Program would use full and open competition to fulfill the USSOCOM requirement, though the Government reserved the right to award multiple contracts. The PSR acquisition would have a 3 phase approach, with each phase having a separate set of go/no-go criteria. The contract minimum quantity was projected at that time to be 2 PSR systems and 4,000 rounds of ammunition as test units. The contract maximum production quantity was estimated at 5,150 PSR systems and 10,300,000 rounds of ammunition. Interested vendors for the revised solicitation dealing in the rifle component of the system included Armalite, Barrett Firearms, Beretta USA, Cheytac Associates, FNH USA, Reimgton Arms Company, and Steyr Arms.

On 7 March 2013, the US Special Operations Command awarded the Precision Sniper Rifle contract to Remington Arms Company, LLC. The Government's contact award was for a 10 year, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), Firm Fixed Priced contract for the purchase of the Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) system. The maximum quantities for this requirement were projected to be 5,150 PSR systems and 4,696,800 rounds of ammunition. The work would be performed at 2 Remington facilities Ilion, New York, and Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and the ammunition at Barnes Bullets facility Mona, Utah. Work was expected to be completed by March 2023. The selected weapon was based on Remington's Modular Sniper Rifle system. The Remington rifle beat out the Sako TRG M10 to win the award.