British Royal Marines call for better rifles

There have been nothing but complaints abut this bullpup rifle since it's introduction, apparently the last attempt to upgrade these was done by Germans, not in the UK (which is saying something). For comparison, notice all UK (armed) Police lean towards German firearms. (I personally think the last all English made badass weapon was the Sterling 9mm sub-machinegun, which is rarely seen anymore with British forces, and is an overlooked gem that could still serve IMHO). The Royal Marine Commandos appear to want it both ways (at least the way this article is written) a CQB shorty, (and there is nothing wrong with the .556/223 for that work, depending upon the type of ammunition being used), and a long range Tali-whacker. In the US military, "Squad Designated Marksmen" carrying modified M-14's firing heavier 7.62 NATO rounds, get the long range work done in the Afgan. US Specops already use a small variety of non-M4 firearms (including some chambered with the larger 6.8 caliber for specific missions), but the short AR-15 pattern M-4 remains the workhorse.  Apparently the Brits are not doing this for whatever reasons, at least the Sea Soldiers are not...(S9)
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Royal Marines operating in Afghanistan have complained about the performance of standard SA80 assault rifles identifying several areas for improvement...Despite evolving greatly since its first introduction to British Armed Forces, the SA80 has been described as not particularly well suited to the needs of specialised forces likely to engage at close quarters...Some of the insiders have pointed to the rifle's 5.56 mm calibre ammunition as being too small to effectively defeat a target with a single round and occasionally leading to the soldier ending up exposed to the attack from wounded insurgents.
Apart from that, the riffle’s "rattle" has been said to make covert operations virtually impossible and its predisposition to get clogged with dust frequently requires the gun to be wrapped by duct tape. ..The news portal claims a source explained that today's commandos would probably prefer a 7.62 mm rifle familiar to Special Forces...
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 Full Report Here: http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2013/jul/marines-rifles-complaints.cfm