The Marine Corps is testing the new sniper rifle the Army is buying — but it could miss the mark in some key ways
Lance Cpl. Gloria Lepko
The Marine Corps is throwing down cash to test-drive the same compact sniper rifle the Army has pursued in recent months. But while its 7.62mm rounds pack the punch required by scout snipers facing increasingly protected enemies downrange, its effective range falls well short of the sniper systems used by both foreign militaries and militants — a limitation that makes it unclear just what the Corps could do with this new weapon.
The Army’s proposed fiscal 2019 budget includes $46.2 million to field 5,180 M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) rifles for infantry, scout, and engineer squads, with the goal of eventually buying as many as 8,711 of the lightweight 7.62mm arms. PEO Soldier told Task & Purpose in January 2018 that the Marine Corps also was “committed” to adopting the CSASS.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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- The Army once had a plan for a futuristic replacement for the M-16 rifle — here's how it fell apart
SEE ALSO: Take a look at the grimy and grueling training the Army uses to turn soldiers into snipers