German court likely to clear G36.....

[Zain Malik]

A German regional court has stated it is likely to find in favour of Heckler & Koch in its bid to prove the G36 is not deficient. Source: Bunderswehr


A German court has disclosed it is likely to back Heckler & Koch (HK) in its legal action to prove that the G36 assault rifle is not deficient, as has been claimed by the German Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The Koblenz regional court stated on 3 June that its preliminary legal opinion is that the G36 is not deficient within the context of its procurement contract; in other words the MoD received what it had ordered and didn't complain about it earlier.

"The G36 has been procured since the 1990s, but the first complaints surfaced in 2011. The changed operational and environmental parameters when operating in Afghanistan have not been taken into consideration [by the MoD] when placing additional orders," Presiding Judge Ralf Volckmann said.

A final decision is set by the court on 2 September, giving both HK and the MoD the opportunity to be heard once more in the matter.

In the meantime, the MoD said it has conducted further laboratory tests with the G36 that support its view of the rifle suffering from systematic deficiencies.

HK took the legal action to have it bindingly established by a court that the reported technical deficiencies of the G36 are actually non-existent. The court ruling does not cover any kind of compensation however. In the past, both the MoD and HK have stated that they would reserve all legal rights in the matter, including seeking compensation from the other.

The Bundeswehr is looking for a replacement service rifle to be introduced from 2019 onwards. Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said in April 2015, that "the G36, [in its current state], has no future in the Bundeswehr." The remark was made after a technical evaluation by the government-funded Fraunhofer Research Institute reported in March 2015 that the G36 failed to meet accuracy requirements both through "self-induced" heating (for example by firing the weapon rapidly), as well as increased climate related temperatures in simulated environments.