Special Dual-medium Assault Rifle is a bullpup rifle specially designed to allow shooting both on land and under water. It uses standard 5.56x45 mm rounds or special supercavitating ammunition which is efficient when used under water. But still, when under water, its range drops rapidly from 35 meters in 10 m depth to 13 meters in 40 m depth.
The SDAR is a selective-fire, bullpup assault rifle that is chambered to fire the 5.56×45 mm NATO round.
It can toggle between a three-round burst, semi-automatic and full auto fire modes, and has a muzzle velocity of 270 m/s when loaded with dual purpose ammunition. Unlike most assault rifles, it cannot mount any optical sights or be fitted with muzzle attachments.
AAF combat diver firing the SDAR. Note the visible trail left by the 5.56 mm DP bullet.
Carried by the combat divers of each main faction, it is the only dual purpose weapon in ArmA 3 which can be used on both land and underwater.
It accepts regular 5.56 mm NATO STANAG magazines which allows it to be employed against surface targets up to approximately ~ 250 metres. When submerged underwater, the user can instead feed the SDAR with its dedicated 20-round box magazines, which are loaded with supercavitating ammunition. These supercavitating rounds are the only source of damage that the user can inflict upon enemy divers without resorting to explosives.
However, the SDAR's utility outside of the water is sharply diminished by its lack of support for mounting attachments. Although its ironsights are not particularly unergonomic (nor are they overly obstructive), its inability to mount magnified optics can make engagements beyond 300 metres difficult. Furthermore, it cannot be suppressed and is therefore not very useful for missions that require a stealthy approach.
Lastly, when fired underwater the SDAR's supercavitating rounds still only possess an effective range of approximately 30 metres. Beyond that distance, they will lose most of their velocity and become effectively useless against any target.
Ammunition
Round name
Base damage value
Aerodynamic friction
Initial velocity (m/s)
Penetration depth (mm)
5.56×45 mm Dual-Purpose
9
-0.02
270
3.52
5.56×45 mm NATO
9
-0.0012
920
11.9
The SDAR supports being loaded with seven types of magazines. Of the seven, only 20-round DP box magazines enable the SDAR to fire underwater; every other magazine can only be used while the SDAR is above water:
5.56 mm 20Rnd Dual Purpose Mag
Dual-purpose magazine loaded with supercavitating 5.56 mm rounds. Does not contain any visible tracers.
Has a total "mass" of 6 units.
5.56 mm 30rnd Reload Tracer (Yellow) Mag
Basic 30-round 5.56 mm STANAG magazine. The last four rounds of the magazine always consist of yellow tracers.
Weighs in at a total of 8 "mass" units.
5.56 mm 30rnd Reload Tracer (Red) Mag
Identical to the baseline STANAG, but the last four rounds consist of red tracers instead.
5.56 mm 30rnd Reload Tracer (Green) Mag
Identical to the baseline STANAG, but the last four rounds consist of green tracers instead.
5.56 mm 30rnd Tracer (Yellow) Mag
Contains 30 rounds worth of visible yellow tracer ammunition. Identical in all other aspects to regular STANAG magazines.
Has a total weight of 8 "mass" units.
5.56 mm 30rnd Tracer (Red) Mag
Consists purely of visible red tracers. Identical to the other full tracer STANAG magazines.
5.56 mm 30rnd Tracer (Green) Mag
Consists purely of visible green tracers. Identical to the other full tracer STANAG magazines.
Trivia
The SDAR is based on the real-life "RFB" bullpup battle rifle designed by Florida-based firearms company Kel-Tec CNC Industries Inc.
In reality, the RFB is not designed to function as a dual purpose rifle, nor can it fire 5.56 mm as it chambered exclusively for the 7.62 mm NATO cartridge.
Its concept is also very similar to the Russian-made "ADS Amphibious Rifle", right down to the SDAR acronym being a direct English translation of the ADS acronym. Like the SDAR, the ADS is built to fire both supercavitating underwater rounds and the 5.45×39 mm round.
Excluding those featured in semi-official third party Creator DLCs, the SDAR remains as the only weapon in ArmA 3 that can be operated underwater; both for firing and reloading.
It is also the first weapon in the entire series that is specifically designed for underwater combat.
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
There is an unused top rail that is normally hidden during normal gameplay but can still be seen when the weapon is placed on the ground.
However, it is still not possible to attach optics onto the SDAR in-game without the weapon being configured to do so through a replacement addon.
NATO
CSAT
AAF
NATO - Armoury (ArmA 3)
CSAT - Armoury (ArmA 3)
AAF - Armoury (ArmA 3)
