Army Doubles Purchase Of New Sniper Rifle 

Flushed with cash, the Pentagon is doubling its purchase of a new anti-personnel precision rifle.

Task & Purpose reviewed the Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget Estimates document and found the Army is purchasing 536 Precision Sniper Rifles (PSR), nearly doubling its original order of about 357.

Alton Stewart, a spokesman for the Army’s Program Executive Offices (PEO), said the PSR would replace M107 and M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle.

The Tennessee-made PSR, which is produced by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, is a bolt-action Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) system and called the Mk 22, which will be chambered in 7.62×51 mm NATO round. The PSR is the next generation of sniper rifles, and it’s lightweight, more accurate, and more reliable than legacy systems. 

Task & Purpose said, “the PSR provides the increased probability of hit over the current M2010 [Enhanced Sniper Rifle] configuration at distances up to twelve-hundred (1200) meters and increases range out to fifteen-hundred (1500), which enhances the sniper role in supporting combat operations and improves sniper survivability.”

Army budget documents also said the PSR would include a silencer, thermals, and other advanced optics that will “allow snipers, when supplemented with a clip-on image intensifier or thermal sensor system, to effectively engage enemy snipers, as well as crew-served and indirect fire weapons virtually undetected in any light condition.” 

Between fiscal years 2022 and 2025, the Army expects to have 1,516 PSR systems in the field. By 2025, it expects to have an estimated 2,545 at an estimated total cost of $45.5 million. 

It’s not just sniper rifles the Army is considering for upgrade. We noted last Sept that the service selected AAI Corporation Textron Systems, General Dynamics Ordnance, and Sig Sauer as the three finalists to test their next-generation assault rifles for the next 27 months. 

The Army requested all three manufacturers to each supply 53 rifles, 43 automatic rifles, and 850,000 rounds of ammunition for the 27-month test that will conclude in 1H22 with a winning design. 

Here’s what AAI Corporation Textron Systems’ next-generation assault rifle looks like: 

President Trump is rebuilding the military ahead of the next major conflict.