A German newspaper is reporting that the German military has officially decided to drop the G36 as its main infantry rifle. We’ve been covering the kerfuffle with the G36 for damn near a year now, and after last week’s proclamation by the German military that the reported accuracy issues are completely true and the entire firearm is to blame, it looks like they’re throwing in the towel and changing guns. There’s no word on exactly which firearm will be the new choice, but it seems that H&K might get another bite at the apple if they submit a “fixed” version… along with everyone else’s submissions.
From the story:
Germany’s military was likely to get a replacement for Heckler & Koch’s G36 rifles after Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen declared on Wednesday that the weapon had “no future in the German army in its current state of construction.”
The Defense Ministry would now work towards replacing the gun as soon as possible, von der Leyen said after she met with representatives of the parliamentary Defense Commission in Berlin.
Special Forces deployed in conflict areas were to receive replacement weapons immediately, the minister added. However, she did not exclude the possibility of the army adopting a new version of the G36, produced by weapons company Heckler & Koch.
Heckler & Koch have been in financial trouble for some time, flirting with bankruptcy not two years ago. The company has bet the farm on the military market, only selling very few firearms on the civilian market and focusing on contract work instead for their daily bread. The loss of a major contract like the G36 rifle might be enough to push them over the edge if they can’t recover quickly.