Last August the German Ministry of Defence brought the Bundeswehr’s newest rifle to the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona for testing. The G95K was put through gruelling environmental testing which simulated real-world conditions similar to those found in Afghanistan.

The G95K, based on the HK 416 A7, was adopted for the KSK (German Special Forces) back in October 2017. Luis Arroyo, chief of Yuma Proving Ground ‘s Training and Exercise Management Office, said of the German testing contingent: “they are very interested in testing at the hottest time of the year – they really want to challenge their equipment.”

Close up of the G95 being fired from a sandbagged rest (US Army)

The rifle being tested can be seen running the optics loadout selected by the KSK  including the EOTECH EXPS3-0 and G33 Magnifier, as reported by Eric back in September. Although described as the G95K, the rifle seen in the photos does not appear to have a carbine length barrel. Dr. Karl-Heinz Rippert of the German Ministry of Defence said “the Yuma Proving Ground we have special conditions of sand and dust… the landscape profile is similar to Afghanistan. The result we achieve should have some relevance to our missions, and the main mission in recent years was in Afghanistan.” The regular German Army has yet to select their next service rifle to replace the HK G36, ongoing trials have been extended.

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