G36 - That's what the Bundeswehr says

"The G36 assault rifle is an automatic gas-operated with rotating bolt closure in caliber 5.56 x 45 mm with single shot and bursts can be fired," knows the German Army to report on its standard weapon. And further: "All essential components of the rifle, except for the barrel and the bolt, are made of high-quality black plastic." The current rest sounds less proud: the weapon is being examined to see if overheating leads to inaccuracies. The final report on this is not yet available, but various "classified reports" - HERE is the SPARTANAT report on it - have already whispered through the media. On March 30, the Inspector General Volker Wieker issued this directive on the G36, which we document here:

Dear Commanders and Heads of Agencies,

after the reliability of our G36 assault rifle was questioned in the recent past by various reports, we have reached a clear agreement with politics, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag, and the Federal Audit Office on a clear procedure for further examining the G36 in an intensive discussion last year.

Together with the independent Ernst Mach Institute in Freiburg (EMI), the WTD 91, the Military Institute for Materials and Chemical Research, and with the participation of all branches of the armed forces, a final perspective on the capabilities of the assault rifle should be developed.

The procedure is not yet formally concluded. The final meeting of the "G36 in use" working group takes place on March 30 and 31.

The evaluation contributions prepared in preparation for this meeting speak a clear language and contain the following findings regarding the G36:

1. Precision limitations of the G36 have occurred due to shot-induced heating and changes in climatic environmental conditions.
2. Precision limitations of the rifle have been identified with all examined types and lots of ammunition.
3. The investigations into the precision behavior of the G36 system have clearly shown a capability gap in a specific scenario.
4. The precision limitations are significantly greater with the G36 than with the compared weapons. The G36 is clearly part of the problem (i.e. not just the ammunition or other factors).
5. For a transitional period, as the main user of the rifle, the Army states that the G36 can continue to be used.

Against this background, it is appropriate to take preliminary measures, which I would like to inform you personally about.

After the leadership of the house gained knowledge of the status quo on Friday, the Military Leadership Council was convened on Sunday evening with the inspectors of the branches of the armed forces to obtain a joint military expert evaluation as quickly as possible, to understand what the information now available means for the soldiers in action and what immediate consequences need to be drawn for the protection and effectiveness of the troops.

For basic operations (training and exercises), I follow the recommendation of the Army to continue using the G36 for a transitional period.

For the operational theaters, I will immediately issue a directive that will contain tactical/operational guidelines for the equipment with and use of firearms in the missions, in order to address the foreseeable deficiencies of the G36. Priorities are of course the missions in Afghanistan and other missions in hot regions such as Mali or the Horn of Africa.

When the final report is available, the Ministry will draw the necessary further consequences in light of the overall assessment. This will also include answering the question of whether the Bundeswehr will need to be equipped with a new assault rifle in the medium term.

Sincerely,

Wieker

General

SPARTANAT Reports on the G36 topic:

- G36 - Defamation

- G36 - What Heckler & Koch says