The United States Military snipers will soon receive a special gun that they have been waiting for. The U.S. Special Operations Command has ordered its first-ever Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) Mk 22 sniper rifles and the first batch is expected to arrive in January 2021.
Army sniper on the roof of a house at the Petare neighborhood during military exercises as part of the 'Escudo Bolivariano 2020' with participation of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela, Venezuelan National Guard (GNB), Army and National Bolivarian Militia on February 15, 2020 in Caracas, Venezuela.
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These elite snipers are very lucky to hear the news since this special weapon is what everyone in the military wants to get their hands on. According to Business Insider's latest report, the first batch of the new Mk 22 MRAD was ordered from its manufacturer, Barret Firearms Manufacturing.
Task and Purpose reported that SOCOM awarded a $49.9 million contract to the giant gun manufacturer. Barret Firearms Manufacturing said that the sniper rifle has already passed the Department of Defense's requirements and has completed operational testing and production qualification testing.
"We are pleased to have reached this milestone with the project and look forward to providing our warfighters with this highly capable platform," said Joel Miller, the director of global military sales of Barrett, as reported by Business Insider.
Mk 22 MRAD's features
In 2016, the U.S. Special Operations Command started to look for a new modular, multi-caliber sniper. SOCOM collaborated with Barrett in 2019 and made a contract for the upcoming release of the MRAD rifle.
Australian Army soldiers hold sniper rifles during Exercise Chong Ju at the Puckapunyal Military Area on May 09, 2019 in Seymour, Australia. Exercise Chong Ju is an annual live fire training exercise and firepower demonstration at the Australian Army's Combined Arms Training Centre showcasing Army as a versatile, decisive force.
This special gun is very different from other weapons. Mk 22 MRAD can chamber in .300 Norma Magnum, .338 Norma Magnum, and 7.62 x 51 mm NATO ammunition, each of which has a different function.
"It gives more flexibility to the sniper as to what configuration to put it in and what targets they are going after," said the U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chris Kennedy, the Maneuver Center of Excellence's chief of lethality in the soldier requirements division, via Insider.
Special rifle as Army and Marine Corps' primary weapon
Mk 22 MRAD was based on Barret 98B sniper rifle, which was first developed in 2013. This Barret was a contender for the U.S. Special Operations Command's Precision Sniper Rifle program.
Because of MRAD's great specs, both the Army and Marine Corps want to adopt it themselves as their primary rifle as part of their fiscal year 2021 budget requests. The U.S. Army wants to buy around 536 MRAD weapons for $10.13 million under its own Precision Sniper Rifle program.
The agency is planning to use Mk 22 MRAD as a replacement for M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle and M107 sniper rifle.
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Written by: Giuliano de Leon.
