Squad Designated Marksman Rifle

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Squad Designated Marksman Rifle
SquadDesignatedMarksmen.jpg
Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division with SDM rifles.
Type Designated marksman rifle
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service2004–2020
Wars War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Iraq War
Production history
Designer United States Army Marksmanship Unit
Specifications
Mass10 pounds (4.5 kg) with optic & fully loaded 30-round magazine
Length39.5 inches (1,000 mm)
Barrel  length20 inches (510 mm)

Cartridge 5.56×45mm NATO
Action Gas-operated (direct impingement)
Muzzle velocity 3,050 ft/s (930 m/s)
Effective firing range600 metres (660 yd)
Feed system20- or 30-round detachable STANAG magazine

The Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDM-R [1] ) is an American designated marksman rifle used by the United States Army. It is essentially a heavily modified M16 rifle designed to provide U.S. Army designated marksmen greater accuracy and firepower at longer ranges, increasing an infantry squad's effective range to up to 600 meters. [2]

Contents

The SDM-R is similar in development and role to the SEAL Recon Rifle and Mk 12 Special Purpose Rifle (SPR), designed and produced for the United States Navy SEALs and the United States Special Operations Command respectively.

The SDM-R was replaced by the M110A1 SDMR, expected to enter service in the 2020s. In this role, the M110A1 retains the "Squad Designated Marksman Rifle" name. [3]

History

The addition of an embedded marksman at the platoon or squad level has historically been a continuing process in the U.S. military. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) experimented with this during Project Metropolis, before creating the "Squad Advanced Marksman" (SAM) role along with the Squad Advanced Marksman Rifle (SAM-R) specifically for this purpose. [4]

The 3rd Infantry Division followed suit in implementing a training program to have one marksman per squad, the Squad Designated Marksman (SDM), and developing a rifle, the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDM-R). The SDM is an integral part of the squad and serves as a rifleman first and designated marksman second. The SDM is not meant to be a squad sniper who engages the enemy with precision fire at long ranges, but instead is trained to directly support the squad with well-aimed shots at ranges slightly beyond the normal engagement distances for riflemen.

Much like the U.S. Marine Corps SAM-R, the 3rd Infantry division SDM-R was an accurized M16 rifle built in-house by the United States Army Marksmanship Unit with 240 rifles provided for deployment in Iraq. [5] The rifle was informally known as "the AMU rifle".

Replacement

The M110A1 SDMR during testing in 2019 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle testing at Fort Bliss 190125-A-JV676-567 (47052011492).jpg
The M110A1 SDMR during testing in 2019

The SAM-R has since been replaced in U.S. Army service, mostly due to the performance of match grade 5.56 NATO ammo in the DMR role. [1] Its slated replacement was the Heckler & Koch HK417-based M110A1 SDMR, [6] expected to enter service in the early 2020s. [7]

Training

The National Guard Marksmanship Training Center of the Arkansas Army National Guard conducts the fourteen-day-long Squad Designated Marksman Course at Camp Joseph T. Robinson. Soldiers fire over 1500-rounds from the M16A4 rifle under the close supervision of course cadre. [8] Another is done in Fort Benning, Georgia. [9]

Task Force Small Arms Readiness Group (TF SARG) conducts the week-long SDM course at the SARG academy at Camp Bullis, Texas. [10] Many of the instructors are President's 100 recipients.

Design

Variants

The 82nd Airborne Division examined an alternate version, based on the M4 carbine. The barrel was to have been an 18-inch (460 mm) long fluted Douglas barrel with 1:8 twist. A mid-length gas system was to be used, along with the Daniel Defense M4Rail 9.0 handguard. This effort never went beyond the staffing process.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Soldiers in Texas Are Putting the Army's Newest Marksman Rifle Through Its Paces". 27 December 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "SAM-R步枪和SDM-R步枪" (in Chinese).
  3. "Heckler & Koch begins shipments of US Army Squad Designated Marksman Rifle".
  4. Marines' Squad Advanced Marksman plan targets future battlefields by Mark Oliva, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, October 30, 2002.
  5. "CMP - First Shot Online!".
  6. "- United States Military Small Arms Requirements".
  7. "Army to Field Squad Designated Marksman Rifle in May 2020".
  8. "Squad Designated Marksman Course (SDMC) MTC-005". Marksmanship Training Center. Arkansas Army National Guard. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  9. "United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU)". www.usaac.army.mil. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  10. "Task Force SARG: how an effective and influential cadre of Army Reserve marksmanship instructors saved the day".
  11. "Archived copy" (PDF). www.usaac.army.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Pro Patria, Inc - Designated Marksman". Archived from the original on 2019-03-25.