Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR)
Special Operations Forces Combat Rifle (SCR)
SOPMOD Enhanced Carbine (EC)
Critical Design Reviews
On 1 June 2005 the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) announced that it conducted the third critical design review for the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) with FN Herstal since the contract award. USSOCOM's SCAR Program was providing the first, truly modular and reliable assault rifle designed and built from the ground up for the finest fighting forces in the world. The critical design review was spearheaded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) in Crane, Indiana, and supported by USSOCOM Operators.
The purpose of the 3-day meeting was as follows:
- To review the current configuration of the prototype weapon and refine changes implemented at the second Critical Design Review in February of 2005;
- To continue improvements to the operator-designed weapons;
- To test the weapons on the range and to assess the recent improvements of the SCAR platform;
- To make other improvements with the developers and operators in an iterative process; and
- To review progress of the Enhanced Grenade Launcher Module (EGLM).
FN Herstal displayed several improvements to the existing platform, including a SCAR version in the 'flat, dark, earth' color representation, an anodized aluminum upper receiver rail colored in 'flat, dark, earth,' a polymer lower receiver version and a concept model of the EGLM. As in the previous Critical Design Reviews, FN Herstal provided SCAR rifles in various configurations including a 20" barreled 7.62 SCAR-Heavy (SCAR-H).
With the third critical design review, USSOCOM continued to emphasize the importance of Operator involvement side-by-side with FN Herstal and Operator developers that was to continue throughout the lifetime of the program. FN Herstal continued to make changes to improve this weapon through an iterative process. FN Herstal looked forward to providing the Operators with a weapon designed for them in mind with the best solutions technology had to offer.
Throughout the meetings, the developer worked side-by-side with the Operators for an iterative design process. The team was able to make immediate changes and improvements to prototypes and designs. Operators tested the weapons on the range to gauge the initial capabilities of what they had previously outlined in the requirements.
Specifically, the Operator driven modifications to the weapons were:
Review of changes and configuration outlined in 2nd Critical Design Review
- New pistol grip that improved ergonomic fitting to operators
- Front sight post with folding and locking options
- Gas regulator settings
- Barrel mounting screws
- Stock adjustment controls
- Rear sight adjustments
- Butt plate modular feature
- SCAR-H testing data
- Suppressor integration
- EGLM ergonomic decisions
- EGLM Fire Control System (FCS) decisions
New business in 3rd Critical Design Review
- 'Flat, dark, earth' color representation
- Barrel change with no torque requirement
- Polymer Lower and Side Rails durability testing
- Reliability of SCAR-L and SCAR-H
- Blank Firing Adaptor
- Force on Force training accessories
- Vertical Foregrip/Bipod issues
- Enhanced Grenade Launcher Module (EGLM) Status
- EGLM Fire Control Status
- EGLM Trigger configurations
- Trigger pull weight and crispness
- Sniper variant issues
- SCAR operators manual
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