Editing SA80 (section)

=== Post-war intermediate weapon development ===

The idea dates back to the late 1940s, when an ambitious programme to develop a new cartridge and new class of rifle was launched in the United Kingdom based on combat experience drawn from World War II. Two [[.280 British|7mm (.280 in)]] prototypes were built in a [[bullpup]] configuration, designated the [[EM-2 Bullpup Rifle|EM-1 and EM-2]]. The latter was brought into service briefly as "Rifle, Automatic, Calibre .280, Number 9". When [[NATO]] standardised on the [[7.62×51mm NATO|7.62mm rifle cartridge]] as the standard calibre for its [[service rifle]]s, further development of these rifles was discontinued and the [[British Army]] adopted the 7.62&nbsp;mm [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle]] [[semi-automatic rifle]], a licence-built version of the Belgian [[FN FAL]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cashner |first=Bob |author-link= |date=2013 |title=The FN FAL Battle Rifle |url= |location= |publisher=Osprey Publishing |page=6-15 |isbn=978-1-78096-904-6}}</ref>