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Heckler & Koch HK416 A8 – that’s what the new assault rifle of the Bundeswehr can do
Dutch combat swimmers with a weapon of the HK416 family (HK416 D10RS)
© Defensie.nl / PR
The Bundeswehr’s new assault rifle comes from the same manufacturer as its predecessor. The HK416 combines the best of the G36 and the AR-15 family. It’s a tried and tested weapon and the Bundeswehr should be safe from nasty surprises.
Even under Ursula von der Leyen, it was decided that the Bundeswehr would phase out the G36 assault rifle. The reason given was that the precision of the G36, which is popular with the troops, suffers with long continuous fire. The manufacturer was held responsible for this in harsh words, but the renowned gunsmith Heckler & Koch did not want to put up with this disgrace and fought back. Successful, embarrassing insights into the wrong paths of the procurement bureaucracy came to light. For example, that there was a version of the G36 that could have withstood the heat, but the Bundeswehr had saved the additional costs for the more expensive material.
This is what the Bundeswehr model looks like so far: HK416 A8
© Bundeswehr / PR
Stumbling blocks on the way to the new assault rifle
The road to a new standard rifle was more than bumpy. First, the MK 556 from Haenel prevailed. This is a traditional company that after all developed the legendary “Assault Rifle 44”. Haenel was still an outsider because the company had no recent experience in producing assault rifles. However, the company from Suhl is not independent. It belongs to the Merkel Group, which in turn is part of the Tawazun Holding from the United Arab Emirates. This group in turn owns the arms manufacturer Caracal. The Haenel MK556 weapon is based on the Caracal Automatic Rifle (CAR) 816 assault rifle, which in turn is more broadly part of the AR-15 family. It takes up moments of the design by the American designer Eugene Stoner from the 1950s.
Heckler & Koch campaigned against the decision in favor of the MK 556. The MK 556 was not only based on the AR15 architecture, but also on the Heckler & Koch models and patents. The HK416 A8 won a new tender in 2021. The competition pushed through an examination of the decision, so it happened that only now the order for 118,718 new assault rifles can be placed. The costs are said to be around 209 million euros. That’s less than 2,000 euros per rifle.
Veteran Weapon
The basic model HK416 is by no means new. It has been manufactured since 2004 and is in use worldwide. Like the Bundeswehr predecessor G36, the HK416 works with the NATO caliber 5.56 × 45. The “small” caliber makes it possible to hold the weapon and ammunition easily. The shooter can carry more cartridges than was possible with the old G3. The G3 used the larger caliber 7.62×51mm NATO. Assault Rifle actually means it is a medium caliber automatic weapon. The assault rifle 44 was also a fully automatic with a medium caliber between a pistol and a rifle. It is considered the origin of all assault rifles and gave the genus its name. Much better known, however, was the Soviet post-war development, the Kalashnikov AK-47 automatic machine. The rate of fire and caliber are therefore usually lower than with a machine gun, but stronger and more penetrating than with a submachine gun that uses pistol ammunition. Assault carbine would have been the correct term.
Today’s assault rifles are built in different variants depending on the application. Large customers such as the Bundeswehr usually have a tailor-made model built. Apparently, the variants differ in the length of the barrel. A long barrel leads to greater precision at long distances. A short barrel makes the weapon more maneuverable in tight spaces. The police and special forces therefore tend to use shorter barrel lengths.
The best of two role models
Like all assault rifles, the HK416 can fire single shots, a group of shots (burst), or continuous fire. The ammunition supply is fully automatic in the military models, the trigger only has to be pressed once. The HK416 is a so-called gas pressure charger. This means that some of the explosive gases from the cartridge flow through a bore in the barrel, and this gas blast is passed on to a piston. It pushes back and thus drives the shutter. In technical jargon: The HK416 uses a short-stroke gas pressure loader with rotating head lock. The HK416 has very few jams because the mechanics cannot be contaminated by gases and residues. The basic idea behind the HK416 was this: How do you combine the safe lifting system of the G36 with the architecture of the AR15, the world’s most successful family of assault rifles?
Details will change
The Bundeswehr model A8 is 890 mm long and weighs 3.67 kilograms. The A8 variant has a 16.5-inch barrel, a special grip and a different cheek rest than the A7. There are also mounting rails for a bayonet and a 40 mm grenade launcher. The details of the first samples, such as the short handguard, have already been criticized online, but they should not be overestimated. The weapon goes to the Bundeswehr for testing, and practical experience is incorporated into the series.
Choosing the HK416 is anything but a revolution. In terms of concept, the HK416 is a safe and proven model that has been used worldwide, including in Germany, for around 20 years. Hardly anything can go wrong there, one would think. But the actual quality of the Bundeswehr models does not only depend on the concept, but also on the selected design, the materials and their processing.