German Bundeswehr Tribute

New design n features!

I added a new design hope u like it.

In the navigation are also 4 new pages… Assault rifles,  Handguns, Sniper rifles and Submachine guns.

Check it out!

Close Combat in IRAQ

Belgian ParaCommando’s

During the Second World War parachutist and commando units were founded in Great Britain. In 1952 the parachutist and commando units were brought together in a Para-Commando Regiment. Later an antitank company, a field artillery battery and a reconnaissance squadron were added. In November 1991 the Para-Commando Regiment became a brigade by adding new support units.

Missions

The Para-Commando Brigade operates closely with the 15th Transportation Wing of the Belgian Air Force and has a high level of operational readiness. The brigade can be put into action at very short notice and is therefore well suited to form intervention units. The Para-Commando Brigade is one of the Belgian contributions to NATO and is prepared to participate both in the Immediate and Rapid Reaction Force. From December 1992 to November 1993 the Brigade took part in UN peace support operations. Besides de defence of the Belgian territory the Brigade is also charged with the execution of operations to protect or evacuate our citizens abroad.

Training and exercises

All candidates to serve with the Brigade are volunteers. The are subjected to a thorough medical examination and follow, no matter what rank or Branch, a five month course at the Commando Training Centre of Marche-les-Dames before attending the one month parachutist course at the Parachutist Training Centre of Schaffen. At the end of this training, the candidates are fully qualified Para-Commandos. They then join their units where they carry on with their specialized and collective training. It is continuous up to brigade level and includes the different methods of brigade deployment: parachuting, assault landing, air and helicopter transportation,… This unit training is based on a three-year cycle, although some of it occurs in yearly activities, for instance specific para-commando exercises. These exercises are held in Belgium as well as abroad.

Air Force Special Ops – Combat Control

One of the most overlooked Special Operations branches in the United States Armed Forces is the Spec Ops Community within the Air Force. And that’s a shame too because there are some awesome warriors in their ranks. This promotional video showing the Air Force’s Combat Controllers at work is amazing to watch.

1er régiment d’infanterie Combat Movie

MG 3 machine gun

MG 42	MG 3
Caliber	7,92×57	7,62×51
Weigth	11,6 kg (gun) + 20,5 kg (Lafette 42 trpod)	10,5 (gun) + various tripods
Length	1219 mm	1225 mm
Length of barrel	533 mm	565 mm
Feed	belt	belt
Rate of fire	1200 – 1500 rounds per minute	700-800 or 1100-1200 rounds per mniute

With adoption of the MG 34 machine gun the Wehrmacht had the weapon that was envisaged some 20 years before, and the MG 34 bears the distinction of being the first practical universal (or general purpose) machine gun. While the MG 34 was good and practical, it was certainly not ideal. German experts wanted their machine guns to fire faster, while being simpler and less costly. A high rate of fire was desirable both for AA applications and for surprise flanking fire against targets moving through the battlefield. As early as 1937 HWaA issued a request for the next new universal machine gun,and three companies received development contracts – Johannes Grossfuss AG, Stubgen AG and Rheinmetall-Borsig AG. In 1939 a commission selected the Grossfuss-made MG 39 prototype for further development. Designed by engineer Gruner (often wrongfully referred to as Grunow) and small arms designer Horn, new weapon, in accordance with HWaA request, had a stamped steel construction, combined with locked breech, short recoil action. Initial trials suggested that the Grossfuss MG needed further development, and in late 1941 a small batch (about 1500 pieces) of improved guns was manufactured for troop trials as the MG 39/41.
The new machine gun, while being made to lower standards of fit and finish, proved to be quite functional and reliable (a feature that the much more “refined” MG 34 lacked, especially in the mud and snow of the Russian front). Subsequently, it was officially adopted as the MG 42, and production commenced later the same year.

In general terms, the MG 42 was a great success. It fulfilled the roles of a light machine gun on a bipod, a medium machine gun (on a newly developed Lafette 42 tripod), and an anti-aircraft machine gun, mounted in single and twin installations, ground and vehicle-mounted. It was relatively inexpensive to make and required less raw materials than the MG 34, and it was simple to maintain and use. On the minus side, it had a somewhat excessive rate of fire, usually quoted as 1200 rounds per minute, although German WW2 era manuals listed it as 1500 rounds per minute (25 rounds per second). This rate of fire resulted in excessive consumption of ammunition and rapid overheating. While the extremely rapid barrel change procedure allowed for sustained fire, the resulting accuracy left something to be desired; excessive vibration from recoil, combined with a short sight radius, resulted in degraded long range accuracy compared with earlier MG 34 and, especially, the heavy MG 08 Maxim guns. Nonetheless the MG 42 was an impressive and fearsome weapon, known among Allied soldiers as “Hitler’s saw”, for the sound of the firing which resembled the sound of a giant mechanical saw.
After the WW2 this weapon, unlike other wartime designs, lived on, as in 1958, the FRG (West Germany) re-instituted its official armed force, known as the Bundeswehr. Since the core of the Bundeswehr was formed of WW2 veterans, it was logical to adopt weapons which were already proven and familiar to the troops; and the MG 42 was one of such weapons. It was, obviously, chambered for a ‘non-NATO’ cartridge, but this was only a minor issue, as the 7.62×51 NATO and 7.92×57 Mauser shared the same cartridge base diameter, and were somewhat similar in ballistics. The real problem, however, was that Germany had lost most manufacturing facilities for the MG 42, so the newly reestablished Rheinmetall concern had to install production facilities from the ground up. The production documentation for original MG 42 machine guns was obtained from Grossfuss company and transferred to Rheinmetall (German government had to pay significant royalties to Johannes Grossfuns for manufacturing rights). Since the preparation for manufacture took some time, the FRG purchased some ex-Wehrmacht MG 42 weapons from other countries. Those guns were converted to 7.62 NATO by Rheinmetall and officially designated MG 2. The newly produced MG 1 guns went through a number of modifications, which resulted in the definitive MG 3 version, which still is rather close in design to the war-time MG 42, although made to much higher standards of fit and finish. The simplicity, low manufacturing cost and high effectiveness of the MG 3 attracted several other countries, which either bought the guns from Rheinmetall (such as Denmark), or obtained manufacturing licenses and build (or at least have built in the past) the same guns domestically (such as Italy, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Yugoslavia). In total, at least twenty armies have used or still are using the MG 3 and its versions. It must be noted that in some countries these guns were used under their “commercial” Rheinmetall designation MG 42/59.

The MG 42 is a short-recoil operated, air cooled, belt fed weapon which fires from an open bolt. The barrel is quick-removable, and can be replaced in less than six seconds by a properly trained crew, although an asbestos glove is required to remove the hot barrel. The action of the weapon is operated by the recoil of the locked barrel, assisted by a muzzle booster which uses pressure from the muzzle blast to increase the recoil impulse. Locking is achieved by a pair of rollers, which are forced outwards from the sides of the bolt head to engage cuts in the barrel extension. Locking (outward) movement of the rollers is controlled by the wedge-shaped front part of the bolt body; unlocking (inward) movement of the rollers by the cams made in the receiver. This is a simple and solid system which minimizes the length of parts that are under stress upon discharge, and also minimizes the strain on the receiver. On MG 3 machine guns, two types of bolts are available, with standard weight (about 650 gram) for fast rate of fire and with heavy weight (about 900 gram) for slow rate of fire. It must be noted that those bolts also are used along with different return springs.
The receiver and barrel jacket are made in one unit, and formed from a sheet of rolled steel, cut to shape by pressing and stamping, and then welded and pinned to form a gun housing of generally rectangular cross-section. The front part of the housing serves as a barrel jacket and has a number of oval cooling slots at all sides except the right. The right side of the jacket has one long slot which is used to remove the barrel. The barrel is held in place by a hinged lock, located at the rear of the opening in the right side of the jacket. To remove the barrel, the operator must first lock the bolt in the open position (cock the weapon), and then turn the barrel lock to the right and forward. This will release the barrel and bring its breech area out of the jacket, so it can be grabbed (using the issued asbestos glove or other heat insulation means if the barrel is hot) and pulled back and out of the jacket. The new barrel is then inserted all the way forward and lock then is snapped into place, bringing the barrel into alignment with the action.
The gun is fed using belts only. Feed direction is from the left to right; the feed is of the one-stage, push-through type. The belt is same as for the MG 34, with steel links with open pockets, assembled into non-disintegrating 50-round lengths. The same MG 34 type “Gurttrommel” 50-round drum-type belt containers can be used with the MG 42, and a new type of lightweight plastic 50-round belt container was developed in West Germany by HK and is now issued with MG 3 guns. The belt feed is operated by the reciprocating bolt which has a roller at the top of its body. This roller engages the cam track in the oscillating lever, located in the top-opening feed cover. The lever operates the belt pawls in two steps, on both opening and closing movement of the bolt, resulting in a smooth and positive feed. This two-step belt traction is particularly useful because the high rate of fire results in high-speed belt movement, and this system reduces the strain put on both the feed unit and belt links. Current production MG 3 guns can fire either non-desintegrating or desintegrating belts.
The trigger unit is of relatively simple design, and permits for automatic fire only. The manual safety is of the cross-bolt, push button type, located at the top of the pistol grip. The charging handle is located at the right side of the receiver, and is separated from the bolt group (it does not move when gun is fired). Each MG 42 was issued with an integral, adjustable bipod attached near the muzzle; MG 3 guns may have two points for bipod attachment, one near muzzle and another near the center of the gun. In the medium role, the MG 42 was used from the Lafette 42, a complicated foldable tripod with buffered cradle. A wide number of tripods is available for MG 3 guns, as produced in several countries.
The standard sights are open, fully adjustable, and mounted on folding bases. The universal tripod has provisions for mounting telescopic sights for long range and indirect fire missions.

Heckler-Koch HK UMP

Caliber: .45ACP, .40SW and 9x19mm Luger/Para
Weight: 2.1 – 2.2 kg empty
Lenght (stock closed/open): 450 / 600 mm
Barrel lenght: 200 mm
Rate of fire: 600 – 700 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 10, 25, 30 rounds
Effective range: 100 meters

The UMP (Universal Machinen-Pistole = Universal Submachine Gun) had been developed by the Heckler & Koch company of Germany in the mid- to late- 1990s and first appeared on the markets in 1999. The key idea behind the UMP was to ceate lightweight and powerful submachine gun, that also will be cheaper than one of the J&K’s flagships, the MP-5. UMP, being targeted primary for USA law enforcement market, first appeared in .45ACP and .40SW chamberings, and later – in 9mm.

The UMP is a blowback-operated select-fire submachine gun, being fired from the closed bolt. The receiver is made from the polymer, the controls are fully ambidextrous. UMP can be fired in full-auto, in single shots, and in 2 or 3 round bursts (optional). UMP also has bolt hold-open device, which traps the bolt in the open position when the last round from magazine had been fired. UMP has side-folding buttstock and two set of picatinny rails – one on the top of the receiver, and the other – on the forend. These rails can accept wide variety of sighting and other equipment, such as red-dot sights, laser pointers, tactical grips and flashlights. The barrel has quick mount for snap-on silencer.

Heckler – Koch HK MP7

Caliber: 4.6x30mm HK
Weight: 1.5 kg empty
Length (stock closed/open): 340 / 540 mm
Barrel length: 180 mm
Rate of fire: 950 rounds per minute
Magazine capacity: 20 or 40 rounds
Effective range: 150-200 meters

HK MP7A1

The HK MP7 Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) is a member of a relatively new class of small arms, called Personal Defense Weapons (PDW; such specialized weapons are build since the start of WW2). The PDW are intended, as name implies, to be a defensive sidearm for second-line troops, vehicle crews and other military personnel who normally not issued with assault rifles. Previously, these troops were issued with pistols or submachine guns, but proliferation of body armor in recent years made those guns ineffective. The first firearm, intended as “the new age PDW” and offered in that class was Belgian-made FN P90, and it had special low-impulse, high-velocity ammunition, capable of penetration of current military body armor and helmets at ranges of 100 meters and beyond, while being much smaller and lighter, than assault rifle. The HK MP7, originally known simply as HK PDW, is another entry in the PDW class, and thus is a direct rival to FN P90.

The HK MP7, first announced in 2000, entered production in 2001 and, by early 2007, is officially adopted by German military, as well as some German special police units, such as KSK, and also offered for export sales. The British Military Police issues HK MP7A1 to its personnel since 2005, and it is believed that some South Korean special forces also use MP7A1.

ksk with mp7

The HK MP7 submachine gun / personal defense weapon has layout of a typical compact submachine gun (or a large pistol), with magazine being inserted into pistol grip, with folding forward grip and telescoped buttstock. The action of the MP7A1 is somewhat unusual for weapon of such small size, since it is gas operated, rotating bolt design, which strongly resembles the action of the HK G36 assault rifle, suitably scaled down. The ambidextrous fire mode selector/safety switch allows for semi-auto and full-auto modes. MP7A1 it designed to fire special, high velocity ammunition, 4.6x30mm, that looks like scaled down rifle round. That ammunition is unique to the MP7 and another HK weapon, the HK UCP / P46 pistol.
The receiver of MP7A1, along with integral pistol grip, is made from the polymer with steel reinforcements. Top side of the receiver hosts a Picatinny-type accessory rail for sight mountings. Standard sighting equipment is usually a set of low-profile open sights on quick-detachable mounts, plus a collimating (red-dot) sight Additional rails can be installed on either side of receiver, next to its front end.  The MP7A1 could be fired single-handedly, or using both hands, either like the pistol or using a front grip. Telescopic buttstock can be extended to give additional stability. With buttstock and front grip are collapsed, the MP7 can be carried like any big pistol in the special holster, and can be effectively used in close combat.

The 4.6x30mm ammunition is loaded with pointed all-steel bullets with brass jacket. Bullet weight is 1.6 gram (25 grains) and the muzzle velocity is 725 m/s (ca. 2400 fps). Manufacturer claims the 100% penetration of the CRISAT body armor (1.6mm of Titanium plus 20 layers of Kevlar) at the distance of 200 meters. Other types of ammunition, including tracer, frangible, spoon-tip (rapid-tumbling for use against unarmored human targets), blank and trill (inert) also available for MP7A1; ammunition is currently manufactured in UK by BAE Systems / Radway Green plant.

different type of ammo

Heckler und Koch MP-5 (Germany)

	MP-5A2	MP-5A3
Caliber	9x19mm Parabellum (also .40S&W and 10mm Auto)
Weight, empty	2.54 kg	2.88 kg
Length	680 mm	490 / 660 mm
Barrel length	225 mm
Rate of fire	800 rounds per minute
Magazines	15 and 30 rounds

HK MP-5A2 with fixed stock and plastic S-E-F trigger group.

The Heckler und Koch submachine gun, MP-5, is one of the most famous and wide-spread firearms of its class, developed since the Second World War. Its development began circa 1964 under the company designation HK MP-54, or simply HK 54. In the 1966, German police and Border Guard adopted the HK 54 as the MP-5, and it was originally available in two forms – MP-5 with fixed buttstock and MP-5A1 with retractable buttstock. Some years later HK slightly upgraded the design of MP-5, replacing the sights (from flip-up open notch rear and blade front to drum-type diopter rear and hooded post front) and the muzzle (replacing the two-slot muzzle compensator to the tree-lugs QD silencer mount without compensator). Other improvements made over the time concerned the magazines (early type magazines were of straight box type, latter – of curved box type for improved reliability). The trigger units also were upgraded – from original stamped steel with plastic grip to the all-plastic units, integral with grip, and with various fire modes and marking. Over the years MP-5 were adopted by the huge numbers of police, security and military forces around the world, including the German police and border guard, British police and elite Army SAS units, American police, FBI, Navy and Marine Corps, and many, many others. MP-5 is still manufactured in Germany by the HK itself, and also licensed to Greece, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico. The only real rival to the MP-5 in the terms of proliferation across the world is the famous Israeli UZI submachine gun. Most interestingly, the German Army (Bundeswehr) did not adopted the MP-5, most probably due to the economical reasons, and turned instead to the… UZI submachine guns, made under license in Belgium.
The success of the MP-5 is outstanding. It is based on the high quality and reliability of the gun, great single-shot accuracy (thanks to its closed bolt action), great flexibility and, of cause, good marketing. It seems that no other modern SMG at this time can rival the MP-5 in popularity (UZI is not manufactured anymore).

HK MP-5N. Modern version developed for US Navy. Features plastic trigger group of latest design, with ambidextrous selector lever and “icon” markings. Barrel is threaded to accept US-made detachable silencers, in addition to HK standard three-lug mounts. Retractable buttstock of A3 configuration.

The MP-5, basically, is no more than the scaled-down version of the Heckler-Koch G3 battle rifle. It shares the same basic design with stamped steel receiver and the same roller-delayed blowback action, derived from the post-war CETME rifles. The trigger units are hinged to the receiver and are now available with various fire mode options,  including 2 (Safe, Semi-auto), 3 (Safe, Semi, Full Auto) or 4 (Safe, Semi, Limited burst of 2 or 3 rounds, Full auto) position levers, ambidextrous or not, and marked with letters, digits or icons. The MP-5 is always fired from closed bolt for improved accuracy, but this limits the amount of sustained fire due to the barrel overheating and resulting cook-off problems. To avoid this, MP-5 cocking handle could be locked in the rear position in the special slot, leaving the bolt in the open position, with no cartridge in the chamber. To commence the fire one must simply release the cocking handle from its notch and then pull the trigger. Modern MP-5 submachine guns are equipped with three-lug quick detachable silencer mounts on the barrel. Sights are similar to other HK models, and consists of the front hooded post sight and the adjustable for windage and elevation drum-type diopter rear sight. Special quick-detachable clamp mounts allows for installation of night, optical and red-dot sights if required. Standard magazine capacity is 30 rounds, but shorter 15 rounds magazines are available. Special versions were developed and manufactured in limited numbers during 1980s-90s for the US Law Enforcement market, chambered for more powerful 10mm Auto (10x25mm) and .40S&W (10x22mm) ammunition. These guns can be easily distinguished from more common 9mm models by straight box 30 rounds magazines, made from plastic.

Navy Seals with MP5N

While all of MP-5 can be fitted with silencers, there also a dedicated silenced version of MP-5, called MP5SD2 or SD3 (depending on the stock type). This version is equipped with non detachable integral silencer, and the vented barrel, to reduce the bullet muzzle velocity down below the speed of sound. The MP-5SD is intended to fire standard 9mm ammunition, not the special subsonic one.

Semi-automatic only versions of the MP-5 were once made for civilian market under the designation of HK-94, some with longer, 16 inch (406 mm) barrels, to conform with US laws. There also is an US company, called Special Weapons LLC, that is manufacturing semi-automatic, civilian MP-5 clones in various pistol calibers, including the .45ACP.

Visual difference between trigger units:
left -earliest type stamped steel with plastic grip (converted from semi-auto only civilian gun HK 94, with American markings on selector);
middle – early type all-plastic with S-E-F markings;
right – most modern all-plastic design of “A4” variation, with additional 3-rounds burst facility and icon markings.