HK Wins German Army Sniper Rifle Contract

The Bundeswehr, or German federal military, has tapped the home team at Heckler & Koch to supply it with a new model of sniper rifle based on the company's MR308.

The recently teased A6 Designated Marksman Rifle variant was shown off by HK at trade shows in Nuremberg earlier this year and was formally announced (German) by the company as the Bundeswehr's new G210 rifle on Aug. 27.

HK officials stated the 7.62 NATO-chambered MR308A6, with a 16.75-inch barrel, abbreviated M-LOK handguard, and full-length top Picatinny rail, was developed specifically for the G210 tender. Some 500 rifles will be delivered beginning in 2025.

Heckler Koch G210 MR308A6 — HK Chairman of the Board Dr.-Ing. Jens Bodo Koch at the contract signing for the Gewehr 210 with Arno Trebbin of the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BaAINBw); and HK Sales Director Marco Geissinger. (Photos: HK)

The company is also supplying the Bundeswehr with the HK416A8 in 5.56 NATO as the G36 – the country's standard infantry rifle – as well as the HK437 in .300 BLK as the G39 SD.

The HK437/G39 SD is already on the clock with the German military. Chambered in .300 Blackout, it runs a very short (7 or 9-inch) barrel and is optimized for suppressor use. (Photo: HK)

The 180,000-strong Bundeswehr, with a dedicated sniper history going back to 1914, is pretty stacked when it comes to specialty precision rifles even beyond new contracts to HK. The service fields the bolt-action Accuracy International AWM, AWM-F and AWM-C (as the G22, G23, and G35, respectively) in 7.62 NATO and .300 Win Mag; the semi-auto HK417 in 7.62 NATO as the G28, the bolt-action .338 Laupa-chambered Haenel RS9 as the G29, and the Barrett M82A1 .50 cal BMG anti-material rifle as the imaginatively named G82A1-- the latter of which is replacing the Accuracy International AW50 (G24) in the same caliber.

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