Heckler & Koch MG5
General purpose machine gun
The MG5 machine gun was developed by the Heckler & Koch (HK) company as a possible replacement for the famous MG3. It was designed in 2010 and was originally known as the HK121. It is based on a
HK MG4 light machine gun, chambered in 5.45x56 mm ammunition. In 2013 the HK121 was tested, evaluated and formerly adopted by the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) as the MG5. Since then the Heckler & Koch company dropped the HK121 name and markets this weapon as the MG5. In 2015 German MoD ordered a first batch of 1 215 of these weapons.
The MG5 can be used by the infantry, as well as a vehicle or helicopter mounted weapon. There is even a co-axial version of this machine gun, intended to be mounted on tanks and armored vehicles. The mounting interface of the MG5 is compatible with the older MG3. It can be used on the same tripods and mounts, that are already in service.
The MG5 is a gas operated weapon. It is chambered for a standard 7.62x51 mm NATO round. Even though the MG5 is based on the similar MG4, few parts are interchangeable due to different calibers and sizes of these weapon.
The MG5 has a polymer pistol grip and buttstock. The buttstock is side-folding. It is quite unusual feature for this class of weapons
This machine gun fires in automatic mode only. It has a selectable rate of fire and can switch between 640, 720 and 800 rounds per minute.
The MG5 is a belt-fed weapon and uses disintegrating belts. It uses 50-round belts in drum containers 120-round belts in boxes.
This weapon comes with iron sights with a flip-up front post. There is a Picatinny-type scope rail on top of the receiver. It accepts various sights or night vision scopes.
This machine gun is fitted with a small bipod. There are Picatinny-type rails mounted on the foregrip for mounting various accessories.
Effective range of fire with bipod is 600 meters when fired from the bipod. Maximum range is 1 200 - 1 500 m, when mounted on a vehicle gun mount.
The baseline MG5 weights around 11.2 kg, and depends on actual configuration and accessories. Spare barrel weights another 3 kg. The barrel is air cooled and quick detachable. It has a heat shield and carrying handle, that is also used for barrel exchange. A hot barrel can be replaced without protective gloves.
http://www.military-today.com/firearms/hk_mg5.htm
