For a time, it was seen that the G11 could be paired with the 5.56x45mm HK G41 as the newest German Army additions, the G11 being fielded with frontline forces while the G41 stocked second line units. The measure was rather optimistic and would have undoubtedly proved an expensive short-term/long-term commitment as well as a logistical nightmare. Now that fate had intervened, the German Army was forced to quickly evaluate an all-new new HK design against that of the bullpup Steyr AUG. The HK design was selected as the winner and inducted into the German Army inventory as the "G36" in 1996.
The G36 was something of a departure for HK considering their previous designs centered primarily on the use of the tried-and-true roller-locked delayed blowback system. However, the German Army sought a lighter, less expensive solution so a new automatic system based on the proven gas-operated, rotating bolt action was developed utilizing plastics where possible. The result was a very modern-looking assault rifle that has since proven reliable, robust and adaptable. Design work on the G36 project spanned from 1990 to 1995 before seeing formal adoption into service.
The G36, in severely modified form, also is used as a "kinetic energy" part of the US XM-29 OICW weapon. It also appears that in this form it also can be adopted by US Army as the separate XM-8 light assault rifle, to replace in the near future not so successful Colt M4 carbines, which are now in service with US military.
Technical description
From the technical point of view, the G36 is a radical departure from all the previous HK rifles, based on the proven G3 roller-delayed system. The G36 is a conventional gas operated, selective fire rifle, made from most modern materials and using most modern technologies.
The receiver and most of the others external parts of the G36 are made from reinforced polymers, with steel inserts where appropriate. The operating system appears to be a modification of the older American Armalite AR-18 rifle, with its short stroke gas piston, located above the barrel, square-shaped bolt carrier and the typical rotating bolt with 7 locking lugs. Of cause, there also are many differences from the AR-18. The bolt carrier rides on a single guide rod, with the return spring around it. The charging handle is attached to the top of the bolt carrier and can be rotated to the left or to the right. When not in use, the charging handle aligns itself with the axis of the weapon under the pressure of its spring, and reciprocates with the bolt group at the top of the receiver. The gas block is fitted with the self-adjustable gas valve, that expels all the used gases forward, away from the shooter. The ejection window is located at the right side of the receiver and features a spent cases deflector to propel the ejected cases away from the face of the left-handed shooter.
All the major parts are assembled on the receiver using the cross- pins, so rifle can be disassembled and reassembled back without any tools.
The typical HK trigger unit is assembled in a separate plastic housing, integral with the pistol grip and the triggerguard. Thanks to this feature, a wide variety of firing mode combinations can be used on any rifle, simply by installing the appropriate trigger unit. The fire and safety selector is ambidextrous and has controls on both sides of the receiver which took upon the design of the original G3 selector. Selector settings are described with letters: "S"—safe ("Sicher"), "E"—semi-automatic fire ("Einzelfeuer") and "F"—continuous fire ("Feuerstoß").[2] HK also offers several other trigger options, including the so-called "Marine" trigger group, with settings analogous to the standard trigger, but the selector positions have been illustrated with pictograms. A semi-automatic only trigger unit (lacks the "F" setting) is also available.
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G36 is fed from the proprietary 30-rounds box magazines, made from translucent plastic. All magazines have special studs on its sides, so two or three magazines can be clipped together for faster reloading. The magazine housings of the G36 are made as a separate parts, so G36 can be easily adjusted to the various magazine interfaces. By the standard, the magazine release catch is located just behind the magazine, in the G3 or AK-47 style, rather than on the side of the magazine housing (M16-style). A 100-round Beta-C dual drum magazines of US origins also can be used (these magazines are standard for the MG36 squad automatic versions of the G36).
The side-folding, sturdy skeletonized buttstock is standard on all G36 rifles. It folds to the right side and does not interfere with rifle operation when folded.
The standard German Army versions of the G36 are equipped with a ZF 3×4° dual optical sight that combines a 3× magnified telescopic sight (with the main reticule designed for firing at 200 m and bullet drop compensation markings for: 200, 400, 600 and 800 m crosshairs and a range-finding scale) and an unmagnified reflex sight (calibrated for firing at 100 m) mounted on top of the telescopic sight. The reflex sight is illuminated by ambient light during the day and uses battery powered illumination for use at night. Electric illumination is activated automatically by a built in photo sensor and can be manually activated to boost the brightness of the reticle in daytime low contrast situations.
The export versions have a single telescopic sight with a 1.5× magnification and an aiming reticule fixed at 300 m. All rifles are adapted to use the Hensoldt NSA 80 third-generation night sight, which clamps into the G36 carry handle adapter in front of the optical sight housing and mates with the rifle's standard optical sight. The sighting bridge also functions as a carrying handle and features auxiliary open sights molded on top of the handle that consist of a forward blade and rear notch, but these can only be used with the reflex sight removed, as in the G36V. The optical sight system is produced by Hensoldt AG (a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG).
The standard G36 rifles can be fitted with the HK AG36 (AG—Anbau-Granatwerfer) 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher, which is a breech-loaded break-action weapon with a side-tilting barrel. It also can be fitted with the bayonets. Interestingly enough, G36 uses an AKM (Russian: Автомат Калашникова Модернизированный; Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy or "Kalashnikov modernized automatic rifle") type II blade bayonets, which are left from the now non-existent NVA (East Germany Army) stocks.
Variants
G36V (V—Variante "variant"): Previously known as the G36E (E—Export), it is the export version of the standard G36. The G36V has all of the characteristics of the standard rifle with the exception of the sight setup and bayonet mount. It is fitted with a x1.5 or x3 sight and lacks the integrated reflex sight; the bayonet mount is a standard NATO type. This version was produced for Spain and Latvia.
MG36 (MG—Maschinengewehr "machine gun"): Squad automatic weapon version of the G36 equipped with a heavier barrel for increased heat and cook-off resistance. The MG36 and MG36E are no longer offered by H&K.
G36K (K—kurz "short"): carbine variant with a shorter barrel (fitted with an open-type flash suppressor) and a shorter forend, which includes a bottom rail that can be used to attach tactical accessories, such as a UTL flashlight from the USP pistol. The carbine's barrel lacks the ability to launch rifle grenades and it will not support a bayonet. The weapon retained the ability to be used with the AG36 grenade launcher. G36Ks in service with German special forces are issued with a 100-round C-Mag drum. There are two variants of the G36K. The first and most commonly known has x3 scope/carry handle attached to the top, while the second is the one with the iron sights and rail (no scope included).
G36KV (formerly G36KE): export version of carbine variant, G36K with sights like G36V.
G36C (C="Compact", commonly mistaken for "Commando", a term trademarked by Colt Firearms for the CAR-15): This subcarbine model is a further development of the G36K. It has a shorter barrel than the G36K, and a four-prong open-type flash hider or a birdcage type flash hider. The extremely short barrel forced designers to move the gas block closer to the muzzle end and reduce the length of the gas piston operating rod. The handguard and stock were also shortened and the fixed carry handle (with optics) was replaced with a carrying handle with an integrated MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. The dual optical sight found on the standard G36 and G36K models was replaced with a set of rail-mounted detachable iron sights that consist of a semi-shrouded front post and a flip-up rear sight with two apertures of different diameter. The short handguard has four accessory attachment points, one of which could be used for a vertical grip. The G36C was developed and produced in January 2001.
G36A2: This is an ordnance designation allocated to an upgraded variant of the G36 used by the German Army. The G36A2 is equipped with a quick-detachable Zeiss RSA reflex red dot sight[29] mounted on a Picatinny rail that replaces the original red dot sight of the dual combat sighting system. The G36A2 upgrade kit also consists of the shorter G36C stock (Designed for better handling with use of body armor and load bearing equipment), new handguard made of aluminium (provides better heat resistance during long periods of firing) with an optional 4 Picatinny rails and a vertical foregrip with an integrated switch for operating an Oerlikon Contraves LLM01 laser light module.
Specifications
Weight
G36: 3.63 kg (8.00 lb)
G36V: 3.33 kg (7.3 lb)
G36K: 3.30 kg (7.3 lb)
G36KV: 3.0 kg (6.6 lb)
G36C: 2.82 kg (6.2 lb)
MG36: 3.83 kg (8.4 lb)
MG36E: 3.50 kg (7.7 lb)
Length
G36, G36V, MG36, MG36E: 999 mm (39.3 in) stock extracted / 758 mm (29.8 in) stock folded
G36K, G36KV: 860 mm (33.9 in) stock extended / 615 mm (24.2 in) stock folded
G36C: 720 mm (28.3 in) stock extended / 500 mm (19.7 in) stock folded
Barrel length
G36, G36V, MG36, MG36E: 480 mm (18.9 in)
G36K, G36KV: 318 mm (12.5 in)
G36C: 228 mm (9.0 in)
Width
64 mm (2.5 in)
Height
G36, G36K, MG36: 320 mm (12.6 in)
G36V, G36KV, MG36E: 285 mm (11.2 in)
G36C: 278 mm (10.9 in)
Cartridge
5.56×45mm NATO
Action
Short-stroke piston, rotating bolt
Rate of fire
750 rounds/min cyclic
Muzzle velocity
G36, G36V, MG36, MG36E: 920 m/s (3,018 ft/s)
G36K, G36KV: 850 m/s (2,788.7 ft/s)
Effective firing range
800 metres (870 yd), 200–600 m sight adjustment
Feed system
30-round detachable box magazine or 100-round C-Mag drum magazine
Sights
Reflex sight with 1× magnification, telescopic sight with 3× magnification (export version has a 1.5× magnified sight) and back-up fixed notch sight