#Germany

Welcome to our Photo Of The Day! Today we’re offering images of U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment as they train with their M17 handguns and M4 carbines. The location is the Grafenwoehr Training Area (2023), in Germany.

NEWINGTON, NH USA – On 27 February 2024, the German Special Forces awarded Wilcox Industries Corp. a contract to supply the Micro Range Finder – Enhanced (MRF Xe™). This contract is the result of a multi-year competitive selection process.  The MRF Xe™ system is Wilcox’s next generation fire control system is engineered with uncompromising performance in mind, the MRF Xe™ provides the end user with extremely accurate ballistic solutions, increased situational awareness in any environment, housed in a very small lightweight form factor.

The Haenel MK556, despite having been rejected by the Bundeswehr following a patent infringement, has recently been seen put to use training Ukrainian special forces operators. The 5.56x45mm short-stroke piston carbines were once poised to replace the German Army’s G36s, now they’re helping Ukraine’s operators prepare for operations on the frontline.

A new day, and another Photo Of The Day for your viewing pleasure. Today we take a look at German soldiers deployed to Kosovo, as part of the German National Support Element. Here they conduct a US Army weapons qualification on Falcon Range, in Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, 2023.

It’s time to relocate to Germany to take a look at the M249 Light Machine Gun in action. Yes, this is what TFB’s Photo Of The Day is all about! Above you see a U.S. Soldier, assigned to the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team-Airborne (173rd IBCT ABN), as he lets the M249 go. This firearm is also known as the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), and it fires the 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition. It operates using a gas piston system. The images are from Exercise Saber Junction 22 at Hohenfels Training Area, Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, 2022.

TFB has been running our Photo Of The Day for almost 10 years, and the archives keep growing every day. Thanks to the database, you can search thousands of modern and historic photos of soldiers and firearms. Today we’re looking at German Spezialeinsatzkommandos (SEK) moving under simulated fire during SEK training. The location is the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) near Hohenfels, Germany. SEK specialize in riot control, hostage negotiations, rescue missions, and fighting terrorism.

Straight pull bolt action hunting rifles are extremely popular in Europe for multiple reasons. They are manual repeaters which makes them legal in most countries, and they are pretty much as reliable as a regular turn-bolt bolt action yet are much faster. These rifles are a great blend of reliability and speed, perfect for a driven hunt which is a very popular type of hunting in the Old World. No wonder why the majority of straight pull rifle makers are from Europe (Blaser, Strasser, Merkel, Heym, Beretta, etc) although American companies have a presence in this market too (Savage, Browning, etc.). In this article, we’ll take a look at a new German straight pull bolt action rifle, the Jakele J1.

The goal of TFB’s Photo Of The Day is to give your eyes something worth watching and add information to your brain about new, interesting facts from the world of firearms. Over the years we have shown firearms and soldiers from north to south, east to west in almost any imaginable situation and climate. Today we have the Heckler & Koch HK437 in .300 Blackout (7.62x35mm) which H&K calls the “Sneaker”. The rifle is equipped with a VarioRay laser light module from Rheinmetall and an EOTech EXPS.

Last month I was in Germany for a week. While I was there, I stopped by to check out IEA MIL Optics. I know them as one of the premier night vision dealers in Europe. They are an L3, Unity Tactical, EOTech and Wilcox dealer. They have other products not just those and they are a firearms dealer. Their head of workshop, Leon Kurz, gave me a tour of their gun room. They have some very interesting firearms.

The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation ( OCCAR) has signed an amendment to an existing contract for binocular night vision goggles on behalf of Belgium and Germany. The contract is worth a mid-three-digit million amount, in Euros. The follow-up contract will be executed by the newly founded joint venture HENSOLDT Theon Night Vision, which TFB recently wrote about.

The word photograph is a combination of Greek words and means “drawing with light”. The word was invented by Sir John Herschel, over 180 years ago. When I think of this, I see things like the picture above, where an U.S. Army operator is working that barricade with various drills. The pictures are from an advanced marksmanship drill, during a training event at Panzer Kaserne, Germany. This photo was taken at a month-long Special Forces training event that evaluated team skills and readiness.

Photo Of The Day: We’re finding ourselves in the middle of the action as the Feldjägers of the German Bundeswehr arrest a “Tango” as he’s trying to get away in his vehicle. At least the Tango was wearing his seatbelt.

TFB’s Photo Of The Day has become an impressive gallery with an ever-growing number of images of firearms in all sorts of environments. Today we’re going to add one more. The Heckler & Koch HK433 is a modular platform where the best features of the G36 and the HK416 have been combined. The design is made for both right-handed and left-handed users and the non-reciprocating charging handle can be converted from left to right without the help of tools.

As usual, we have selected some pictures for you today. By this time you know it, it’s TFB’s Photo Of The Day to keep you in a good mood. Get a coffee, or some water, take a break and enjoy a few minutes off whatever you were doing and take a look at U.S. soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. They’re using their M110 semi-automatic sniper systems as part of the zeroing step before the Defender 2022 exercise at Oberlausitz Training Area, Germany. This happened in April 2022.

Are you a good skier? Are you a good skier and a good shooter? If not, you will find plenty of inspiration in today’s Photo Of The Day where we have pictures of German Bundeswehr soldiers skiing and shooting. I would advise you to start with a normal rifle or carbine before you start training with your machine gun.