SCAR — винтовка за миллионы, которую выбросили через два месяца после принятия на вооружение

American special forces waited seven years for this rifle. Belgian FN Herstal beat out Heckler & Koch and Colt, won the SOCOM competition, and created a weapon that, in the dusty mountains of Afghanistan, was four times more reliable than the M4 carbine. In April 2010, the SCAR was officially accepted into service. In June of that year, the command announced the cancellation of the procurement of the light version, the Mk.16. Two thousand decisions, hundreds of millions of dollars—and eight weeks from triumph to failure. This issue tells the full story of the SCAR rifle: from the crisis in the Afghan mountains that sparked the competition to the internal discord within SOCOM headquarters that buried the Mk.16. Why did a soldier shed skin from his thumb the first time he picked up a SCAR? How did the heavy version, the Mk.17, survive and fight until the last day of the Afghan campaign in 2021? Why did the French Foreign Legion and Polish GROM special forces choose the SCAR when the Americans rejected it? And how did FN Herstal discontinue its civilian line in 2025, after which prices for already sold units immediately skyrocketed? Only the real facts, combat use, and history of a weapon that twice survived the decision to close. Musical accompaniment: Eyes of Glory by Aakash Gandhi, Duty Calls by Rod Kim. Photos obtained from archive.org and are publicly available. Arsenal of Times Channel. All rights to the text, script, and presentation are reserved. Copying, re-editing, and use of content without the author's written permission is prohibited. #weapons #specialforces #SCARrifle #weaponshistory #militaryhistory