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April 1 (UPI) -- The Army announced this week that it has awarded a $49.9 million, five-year contract to Barrett Firearms to acquire about 2,800 MK22 Multi-role Adaptive Design, or MRAD, rifles. According to the Army, the MK22 is part of the Army's Precision Sniper Rifle program, which will allow the Army an extreme-range weapon system that is lighter than current sniper rifles and includes features that will mask the sniper.
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The new rifle is slated to replace the Army's current M107 sniper rifle and M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle systems, according to the branch.
The MK22 is a modular rifle system fielded with three different calibers: the .338 Norma Magnum, the .300 Norma Magnum and 7.62x51 NATO.
In March 2019, U.S. Special Operations Command made a $49.9 million deal with Barrett to procure an undisclosed number of .300 precision rifle cartridge MRAD weapons.
The Tennessee-based contractor had previously outfitted U.S. soldiers with .50- caliber rifles.
New Zealand also made a deal in 2017 to buy 40 M107A1 anti-materiel weapon and 42 MRAD sniper rifles from Barrett.
