{"id":22632,"date":"2015-09-25T11:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T01:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=22632"},"modified":"2015-09-25T12:16:22","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T02:16:22","slug":"the-ef88-versus-the-m4ar-15-a-special-operators-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-ef88-versus-the-m4ar-15-a-special-operators-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"The EF88 versus the M4\/AR-15: a special operator\u2019s perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Grenade<\/a><\/p>\n

I am a senior warrant officer who has been fortunate to serve in an Australian Special Forces unit for over 25 years, including more than 13 years in combat roles, and, most recently, as head of my unit\u2019s combat and firearms training program. I\u2019m writing this because I respectfully disagree with John Coyne\u2019s recent assessment that the EF88 (the designation of the rifle in Australian Army service, not \u2018F90\u2019 which refers to Thales\u2019 export version) \u2018seems to make perfect sense<\/a>\u2019, when compared to the M4\/AR-15.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had the opportunity to fire the EF88 and while it\u2019s an improvement on the current Steyr, it\u2019s definitely not a good combat weapon. The Steyr has many aspects that are less than desirable\u2014some I will discuss below\u2014but I\u2019ll acknowledge that for the majority of the Australian Defence Force, it\u2019s adequate for self defence. However, for our combat soldiers (not just Special Forces) we could do a great deal better.<\/p>\n

Like John, I\u2019m also not advocating any particular weapon system, but to say that the AR platform is reaching its end of service is inaccurate. The industry surrounding the AR based platform is a multi-billion dollar giant and the level of innovation and refinement that continues to go into this platform is unprecedented. Just one example will have to do\u2014Sig Sauer recently launched their MCX<\/a> rifle, an exceptional weapon that\u2019s at the cutting edge of combat rifle design, yet is still based on Eugene Stoner\u2019s original AR-15 design.<\/p>\n

In contrast, other than our own efforts with the EF88, there\u2019s no significant investment in developing the Steyr platform, and the list of nations that are now ditching this weapon and instead choosing AR-based weapons grows longer every day, New Zealand and Malaysia to name two. I believe where we can, that we should produce or make military items within Australia\u2014but not at the expense of capability for the soldier. If we take the positive step of diversification, I\u2019m sure Australia could produce more than one assault rifle and possibly create more jobs. \u00a0That way we could supply our combat soldiers\u2014Infantry and Special Forces\u2014with a better combat weapon system.<\/p>\n

What was once thought to be the best way to do business\u2014ideas reflected in John\u2019s piece\u2014is, in many respects, not in line with current training in combat shooting. Our current training, built on the lessons of recent combat operations, exposes a number of significant shortcomings in the Steyr\u2019s design. I\u2019ll just mention three: fixed length stock\/butt, the bullpup design and poor capability to fire offhand effectively. (I don\u2019t have space to cover cocking handle, trigger, height of sight above bore, no free fall magazine and safety catch.)<\/p>\n

My current role allows me to conduct training with soldiers from around the Army and a major problem is the fixed length butt, which affects soldiers who are smaller or taller than the average height. It\u2019s difficult for them to achieve correct eye relief (even with the new extended Picatinny rail on the EF88), correct weapon position in the shoulder is also difficult, and fore grip position is suboptimal, all of which lead to ineffective application of fire.<\/p>\n

Another problem with the Steyr is that it\u2019s a bull-pup system. While this results in a shorter overall weapon length, this advantage creates a range of problems. For one thing, the placement of the magazine at the rear of the Steyr means that\u2014unlike the M4 we employ in Special Forces\u2014soldiers must look down when conducting stoppage drills. This is problematic as it involves a loss of situational awareness of the battle space\u2014a far more significant concern than John\u2019s worry about the need to hit the forward assist on the M4\/AR-15 when addressing a stoppage.<\/p>\n

Finally, for today\u2019s modern combat soldier, having the ability to keep oneself behind cover as much as possible, while still being capable of returning effective fire at the enemy is critical. It\u2019s really quite simple to train off-handed shooting if the weapon is capable of doing so effectively\u2014which the Steyr, including the new EF88, isn\u2019t. \u00a0After less than one day of training with the M4 we have our soldiers shoot LF6 both strong and off hand and all soldiers can achieve this within two or three attempts.<\/p>\n

In summary, there are more suitable combat weapon systems than the Steyr available for our combat soldiers, weapons that will provide greater lethality and survivability. Where lives are at stake, Defence must maintain integrity and focus on capability above all else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a senior warrant officer who has been fortunate to serve in an Australian Special Forces unit for over 25 years, including more than 13 years in combat roles, and, most recently, as head …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":22634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,33,108,1427,67],"class_list":["post-22632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-capability","tag-combat","tag-guns","tag-weapons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe EF88 versus the M4\/AR-15: a special operator\u2019s perspective | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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