Defense News and N-TV.de report that Germany has halted the purchase of additional Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles pending an investigation into accuracy problems.

BERLIN — Germany’s defense ministry has temporarily halted new orders of its military’s standard assault rifle while it probes complaints the weapon doesn’t shoot straight, a news report said Sunday.

German troops in Afghanistan in recent years voiced concerns over the G36 automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch, saying it became inaccurate when its barrel heated up in prolonged firefights.

The G36 has been in service for just over 20 years. It is hard to believe that it took twenty years for the Bundeswehr to notice that there was a fundamental design flaw preventing it from shooting straight when hot. My guess, if the allegations are true, that either the polymer used on recently purchased G36 rifles is performing poorly, or the original polymer is performing poorly after two decades of use and/or UV exposure. Either way, if the investigation concludes that there is a problem with the polymer, military sales of other polymer receiver rifles, such as the FN SCAR, may suffer.

Thanks to Manu and Rolf for the tip.