Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of procuring a replacement for the SA80 rifle.
The current Out of Service Date for the SA80 rifle is 2030. The SA80 replacement Project (known as Project GRAYBURN) is working towards submission of the Strategic Outline Business Case, with the Project entering a formal Concept and Assessment Phase next Financial Year.
A new common basic weapon with up to four variants is expected to be delivered from Financial Year 2026-27. Cost estimates will continue to mature as the procurement strategy takes shape and it would therefore be inappropriate to provide an estimate of the procurement costs at this time.