Germany’s rifle debacle continues with the German government looking set to award the Bundeswehr rifle contract to the only other contender – Heckler & Koch. With Haenel disqualified after infringements of Heckler and Koch’s patents (for the magazine [Read More…]
FN Herstal has recently been commissioned by The German Bundeswehr to supply heavy machine guns for their fleet of NH90 helicopters. The NH Industries NH90 is a medium, twin-engined helicopter for multi-role military missions, and has seen combat in Mali, for instance. [Read More…]
We have been following the development of the Bundeswehr’s ongoing efforts to procure a rifle for some time, now it has emerged that C.G. Haenel’s headquarters in Suhl have been visited by investigators on the orders of the Dusseldorf Regional Court. [Read More…]
Do you love photography? Without it, TFB, and TFBTV, would not be the same. We’ve been running our very special Photo Of The Day for years, bringing great photos from around the world and the world of firearms onto the doorstep of the screen you’re looking at [Read More…]
The German government has withdrawn their order for 120,000 Haenel MK556 rifles. Last month C.G. Haenel were awarded a major contract to replace the Bundeswehr’s G36 service rifle. The Haenel MK556 was selected over the Heckler & Koch HK416 and HK433. Heckler [Read More…]
On 14th September it emerged that C.G. Haenel’s MK556 had been selected by the German Bundeswehr, beating the entries from Heckler & Koch to replace the G36 as the Bundeswehr’s service rifle. A day later the German Ministry of Defence confirmed that [Read More…]
The German Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg) have revealed further details on the tender as well as the future timeline for the procurement of the Bundeswehr’s next service rifle system. Almost a year ago, in November 2019, the benchmark testing between the [Read More…]
Following on from the surprising news of yesterday, that C.G. Haenel MK556 rifle had won the German Army tender to replace the Heckler & Koch G36, confirmation has now been officially announced. Below you can find the official Press Release and communication from [Read More…]
After almost six decades with Heckler & Koch, the German Bundeswehr appears to have selected a new supplier for its assault rifle. TFB has followed the process closely and while the decision had been delayed we knew that a decision from the was due this autumn. We [Read More…]
Photo Of The Day – We take a look at the latest upgrades for the German standard issue rifle G36. The 3rd company of the Jägerbataillon 91, based in Rotenburg (Germany), is currently being equipped with the “IdZ eS” equipment. The abbreviation [Read More…]
It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that the decision on which supplier that will deliver the next standard assault rifle for the German Army has reportedly been delayed once again. According to several German news outlets the program has once again [Read More…]
A classic like the MG3 machine gun should be pronounced in its original language, don’t you think? Just listen to the words: Das Maschinengewehr: “The machine rifle”. This is the topic for Today’s Photo here at TFB, and since its introduction in [Read More…]
The German Bundeswehr (German Army) is going to equip more vehicles with the Heckler & Koch GMW (GranatMaschinenWaffe) in the common NATO caliber 40 x 53 mm. The weapon is perhaps more known, as on H&Ks own homepage, as the GMG which you can study more in detail [Read More…]
Since the late 1990s, the Heckler & Koch G36 is the standard rifle of the German Bundeswehr. Already in the 2nd quarter of 2017 it was made official that the Bundeswehr were going to procure roughly 120 000 assault rifles with accessories, to replace the G36. In [Read More…]
The German company IEA Mil-Optics GmbH have received another order from German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). The size of the order is in the region of “a medium 3-digit number” and the product is L3Harris’ Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggle, using the [Read More…]
We’ve had a look at German Fernspähers before, but it’s time again. Behind enemy lines – these Specialized Scouts train to be able to infiltrate land, air or water deep into hostile territory. Above, we see a soldier with a suppressed Heckler & [Read More…]
We’re looking at five German Soldiers stepping out of an Austrian C-130 Hercules of the European Tactical Airlift Program. Today’s Photos show three of the soldiers carrying the standard issue Heckler & Koch G36. The soldier to the far right carries the [Read More…]
When we think of the iconic Cold War G3, we automatically think Heckler & Koch – but that wasn’t always the case. When the fledgling West German Army adopted the, now famous, roller-delayed rifle it was produced by not just H&K but another famous [Read More…]
Today’s Photos brings us to the German forests and a short lesson in the German language. Fernspäher consists of two words.”Fern” means remote and “späher” (Spä·her) means scout. So we’re looking at Specialized Scouts, to carry [Read More…]
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 [Read More…]
The Bundeswehr’s programme to replace the Heckler & Koch G36 by 2020 has stalled. German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag reports that none of the weapons submitted have fulfilled the Bundeswehr’s “individual mandatory requirements.” Die Welt [Read More…]
Rheinmetall have won the contract to equip the German Army’s special forces, the KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte, with a new laser light package. These will be mounted on the KSK’s new G95 (HK416) rifles, adopted in 2017. According to a contract notice posted [Read More…]
The Bundeswehr have narrowed their choice of rifles to replace the Heckler & Koch G36 down to two. The Heckler & Koch HK433 and the Haenel MK 556 are the final rifles competing for adoption. Previously, it had emerged that the Rheinmetall RS556, Heckler & [Read More…]
The Bundeswehr is seeking a new rifle optic for its yet-to-be selected G36 replacement. The Federal Agency for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Federal Armed Forces (BAAINBw) posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) on the 17th March calling for the [Read More…]
The Federal Agency for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Federal Armed Forces (BAAINBw) has released a tender worth 125 million Euros (approximately $153 million) for 103,090 combat sights. The tender, issued on 16th January, is to equip the new System [Read More…]
“Here comes Santa from the sky… Raining .50 BMGs until he runs dry…” Aerial Door Gunner, taste the words. Isn’t that what we all want to become in our next life? These pictures are from the German Bundeswehr, with no real reference. To the [Read More…]
Recently on The Firearm Blog we talked about one of the great might-have-beens, the German caseless G11 rifle developed by Heckler & Koch during the 1970s and 1980s. Today we have a video from 1990 filmed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds of a demonstration of the G11K2 [Read More…]
Schmidt & Bender has won the Bundeswehr Tender for 368 units of Schmidt & Bender’s 1-8×24 PM II ShortDot Dual CC riflescope. My understanding (Source) is that these will be mounted on the HK G28. The advantage of the 1-8×24 with CC is that it [Read More…]
In the world of “might-have-been” small arms, a world of .276 Garands and NATO-standard EM-2s, none flew so high nor fell so far as the Heckler & Koch G11 caseless hyperburst assault rifle. Designed to out-match any contemporary small arm in a Cold War [Read More…]
DefenceWeb recently released a video overview of the new Steyr / Rheinmetall RS-556 assault rifle. The rifle, a sort of hybrid between an AR-15 and a Steyr AUG, was submitted to the Bundeswehr’s System Sturmgewehr Bundeswehr trials, competing against both Heckler [Read More…]