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Rifle from the manufacturer Haenel: The Thuringian company is supposed to deliver the new assault rifle for the Bundeswehr
Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa
After a long selection process, the future armament of the German soldiers is practically certain.
The Thuringian gunsmith CG Haenel is to deliver the new assault rifle.
That's a surprise.
CG Haenel started the bidding process as an outsider.
The heads of the Ministry of Defense informed the representatives of the Defense Committee on Monday about the results of tests and test series that were carried out under the leadership of the Procurement Office (BAAINBw).
The Haenel weapon had proven to be technically somewhat better in the tests, and at the same time more "economical" in the range, it was said on Monday.
On Tuesday the Ministry of Defense announced that the decision of the registry was "subject to parliamentary approval".
Documents are currently being prepared for this.
The aim is for parliament to deal with the issue at the end of 2020.
The Ministry of Defense announced the successor to the G36 from the manufacturer Heckler & Koch in 2017.
The major order involves 120,000 assault rifles.
The first tender was designed for a quarter of a billion euros - something should be added to this summer over the years.
Haenel offered a version of the MK556 (caliber 5.56mm).
The semi-automatic version of the weapon is used as the CR223 by the police in Saxony, among others.
Bitter message to decision-makers in Berlin
At Heckler & Koch from Oberndorf, the frustration after the decision is great.
According to SPIEGEL information, majority shareholder Andreas Heeschen sent a downright bitter message to leading employees and political decision-makers in Berlin on Monday evening.
The brief message suggests that HK will question the decision for competitor Haenel in court.
Heeschen, contrite, describes how "the Federal Ministry of Defense Heckler and Koch will refuse the contract for the delivery of the future assault rifle of the Bundeswehr after around 60 years".
As the majority owner, Heeschen continues, "I deeply regret this development".
By examining the tender in front of the public procurement tribunal, Heckler & Koch could at least massively delay the process.
As a rule, the proceedings before the chamber take a long time, the ministry is already familiar with this from other large armaments projects.
The opposition also wants to take a close look at Haenel's selection.
"Of course we in the budget committee will take a very close look at how this decision came about," said defense politician Tobias Lindner (Greens) to SPIEGEL.
He expects the ministry to make all criteria of the selection decision transparent.
Heckler & Koch had criticized the award process
Heckler & Koch is the manufacturer of the current G36 assault rifle.
There had been a dispute about this in recent years, which revolved around accuracy under extreme conditions - the high-intensity fire fight with long firing sequences or under extreme climatic conditions.
The then Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced in 2015 "that the G36, as it is constructed today, has no future in the Bundeswehr".
In the past year, Heckler & Koch criticized the ministry in the middle of the ongoing award process and, in a letter to von der Leyen, demanded a specification of a larger caliber.
It was also criticized that there was no fair and competent selection for the G36 successor model.
The interaction of weight, barrel length, ammunition and target performance is technically complex with weapons.
The caliber of the ammunition determines the penetration power, but also limits how many shots can be carried by the man - because of the weight.
Gunsmith Haenel is owned by a holding company from the United Arab Emirates
Only the caliber of the weapon is not specified in the tender, but a weight.
In the tender, the Bundeswehr also requested a rifle that is suitable for all climate zones.
Sufficient firepower was also required to be able to hold the enemy down temporarily, i.e. to force them into cover.
Haenel is already supplying the Bundeswehr with a sniper rifle.
The company belongs to the Merkel Group, which is part of the Tawazun Holding (United Arab Emirates).
Obviously, the fact that today's company could be dependent on Arab money did not interfere with the decision.
In 2008, CG Haenel resumed operations as a start-up.
The former founder and namesake Carl Gottlieb Haenel established industrial weapons production in Suhl from 1840 onwards.
A third bidder - Sig Sauer from Eckernförde - had withdrawn from the current tender.
Sig Sauer complained about unequal treatment and also made this due to the limited access to test ammunition, which Heckler & Koch had and could take advantage of because of other supply relationships.
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mgb / ulz / dpa
