The acquisition of new assault rifles prepares the Bundeswehr, according to a media report problems. As the "Welt am Sonntag" reported, all weapons offered by different manufacturers fell through in initial tests. Thus, they did not meet the requirements of the armed forces. The newspaper relies on a confidential letter from the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr to the Ministry of Defense.
The assault rifle G36 from Heckler & Koch has been standard equipment for every Bundeswehr soldier since 1996. After identifying precision issues, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) decided in August 2015 to disarm the G36 and replace it with a new standard rifle. According to the article, 120,000 assault rifles are advertised for 250 million euros. After the end of the offer period, there had been "pre-contractual comparative trials" of the rifles offered by defense companies.
The sheet quoted from the letter, in the tests have been found contrary to expectations, "that the fulfillment of single must-claims by the presented assault rifles could not be provided." In order to remedy the shortcomings, the companies were granted a deadline of 15 February 2019. After that, the rifles would have to be checked again. The project is therefore delayed by about eight months.
For this reason, according to the report, the cost of the purchase of rifles increase: For new tests were material costs of 750,000 euros. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense told the "Welt am Sonntag" to just that until the completion of the procurement process for a new weapon "the operational capability of the G36 assault rifle is fully ensured."
In the dispute over the phasing out of the previous standard weapon Heckler & Koch had gone to court because the Ministry of Defense had demanded compensation for the deficiencies found. The district court Koblenz had rejected this demand.