mjmoss

As a proud Englishman I can say without bias that the SA80 is a fine piece of Anglo-German co-operation.    At least it holds its zero...

They're just as likely to continue support for the rifle with (the fairly large numbers of) overseas customers just to piss the Brundeswehr lol

So the story got worse.  Yesterday the Times (UK) newspaper ran an article saying that the British police forces equipped with the G36 may reconsider issuing the rifle if the German army drops the rifle.  Due to the Times' paywall here's a link to another article which also covers it: http://www.special-ops.org/british-anti-terror-police-are-using-assault-rifles-that-do-not-shoot-straight-in-hot-weather/

The whole thing is a bit laughable, the police rifles are semi-auto for a start, Britain does not have Afghanistan's high summer temperatures and when the hell are police or security forces ever going to be in a prolonged firefight?  Never, if they are they'll be calling for the SAS long before their rifle's start losing zero.  

So, what are the funniest possible replacements for the G-36?  I think it would be glorious if the Germans bought FX-05s.

 

It's rather surprising how quickly this all blew up.  Was it brewing for a long time?

I hear SMG guns are making a pretty good copy of the FG42 now.

Pretty damning, I wonder if they used the same kind of polymer for other contracts as well. I wonder how the Kurdish Peshmerga are finding the 8,000 Germany sent them.

We could trick them into buy F-35s.

Europe's got plenty of problems without taking on the US' too haha

Guys the G11 is gonna come back, I swear.

 

But seriously. This is a pretty big thing. I can't imagine a recall and upgrade being worth the effort, or even possible at all. That may result in Germany dropping the gun, and buying a new one. If H&K's burned enough bridges with the government as much as they've done with private consumers by now, they may not even hope for increased 416 sales. But then completely re-arming isn't exactly easy, either, and they can't exactly sell them off to legitimate or desirable people. So, it's going to be expensive, and they're going to either do it cheap, or do it right. Knowing that countries like Germany are under pressure from their population to keep spending down, I don't think a whole new weapons program or caliber switches being in the cards. Problem is that they have no real domestic options besides H&K. As a result, we may see FN, Steyr, or (huge longshot) Colt try to step in.

 

I wonder if this will spread, now. The EU now seems more focused on getting involved with Syria and other conflicts, and it's hard to flex your military for political capital when your stocks are going un-tested or under-maintained for this long.

I'd love to see some impetus towards the developing of new caseless ammunition. But this isn't it sadly, the Brundeswehr on paper seem like one of NATOs strongest members but like most European armies they're a hollow force with limited spending power. I think the most realistic option would be an upgrade - aluminium trunnion perhaps? Otherwise it will be an off the rack purchase from with HK (if as you say they haven't burnt all their bridges) or from FN.

Given today's news out of Colt it's unlikely we'll see them winning any major European contracts anytime soon. Colt Canada on the other hand...

Well, I guess they should just play it safe and opt for .300 Blackout, perhaps in an H&K 416 which will allow for greater modularity which should allow for more flexibility in attaining synergy with other weapons systems.

Blackout is definitely not the answer, it's ballistics would hold it back for any consideration for general issue.

Realistically speaking they don't have the funding for a major new small arms program or calibre overhaul that isn't supported by NATO as a whole. The most likely bet is they will have to address the issues with the now infamous polymer trunion. I'd imagine the purchasing of up to 100,000 HK 416s doesn't sound too appealing to them. Without knowing their current store levels their best bet in the short term may be to again increase the number of G3s per section (as they had in Afghanistan) to offer increased range and assured accuracy.

The most certain thing is that it's going to be a long haul, with HK calling for further investigation. They're up a certain creek without a paddle.