German Guns: These Weapons Are the Backbone of the Bundeswehr Infantry

The Bundeswehr's experience on international missions has shown that the standard-issue G36 assault rifle has limitations in terms of range and penetrating power. Which is why the Bundeswehr procured the G27 battle rifle. It closes the gap between the G36 and large caliber systems. The G27 is a semi or fully automatic rifle with telescopic sight for use by infantry. A so-called light support weapon. The weapon is primarily used by the special forces of the army as well as the navy and air force. And by the joint support service too. The nearly five kilogram G27 allows precision shots to be made at greater distances of up to 600 meters. It has a theoretical rate of fire of 600 rounds a minute. The G27 is a robust and modular military weapon. The cold hammer forged chrome-lined barrels are available in different lengths. It's even possible to fit a silencer. The weapon can be individually configured by the shooter. Telescopic sight, reflex sight, laser light module, laser pointer and grenade launcher can be attached to the numerous accessory rails. The magazine can hold either 10 or 20 rounds of 7.62 millimeter by 51 caliber ammunition. The weapon can be fired in automatic mode with a fire rate of 600 rounds a minute. It's mostly used in semi-automatic mode so as fast as I can pull the trigger. Other accessories include a bipod, foregrip and NSV-600 night vision attachment. Compared to the standard issue G36 rifle, the G27 has a much higher muzzle power and range. Thus making it much more effective against single targets. The kit comes with three magazines. I generally increase that to four or five, as many as I can carry. In Hotheim, the 292nd ranger battalion is about to storm another building. This time the assault teams have the support of a relatively new weapon. We've deployed a support element that is in cover in the woods. They're equipped with three machine guns to cover the target building with suppressive fire. This enables the assault elements to do their job. So the enemy in the building is kept down and their ability to respond reduced, allowing our two assault teams to maneuver and breach the building. While one of the assault teams waits undercover, the other takes care of the barbed wire barricade in front of the building. Everyone, this is Alpha, counting down for covering fire. Hammer in three, two, one. Hammer. Hammer. We generally differentiate between hammer and sickle. Hammer means suppressive fire covering the entire building and breaching site. And as soon as the assault teams are operating close to the building, we call sickle. The covering fire is then shifted deeper. The assault teams deploy smoke grenades. Invisible to the enemy, they then storm the building. Good coordination between fire and movement is crucial here. Hammer ceased, let's go. The soldiers shoot blank ammunition. This way, shots are simulated as realistically as possible. Entry point open, we're going straight in. Alpha 3, everyone inside, ground floor secured. Request, take next floor. Need the next team, over. The infantrymen usually fight in squads or fire teams of four to 12 soldiers. Although they all have the same basic training, they are also specialized in different ways. Weapon systems and entry methods, radio communications and combat medic. Once the first floor has been cleared, a machine gun team moves in and takes up position in the house in order to engage hostile troops. Three, two, one. Hammer. Hammer. Sickle. Sickle. The weapon being used here is an MG5 general purpose medium machine gun. The fully automatic weapon can fire short and long bursts. The MG5 is used either dismounted with a bipod or mounted on a tripod as a light support weapon. The MG5 weighs around 12 kilograms. It shoots 7.62 millimeter by 51 NATO caliber rounds. The weapon has a range of up to 1000 meters and can fire up to 800 rounds a minute. The MG5 has a gas-operated reloading system and the firing rate is adjustable via the gas offtake. I can set it to shoot at 640, 720 or 800 rounds per minute. The MG5 is a fully automatic belt-loaded weapon. It has a telescopic sight with four times magnification and a red dot can be switched on. There's a fold-up mechanical sight on the receiver and barrel as a backup should the optical sight be out of action. The MG5 is used on all of the Bundeswehr's combat missions. For this reason, its operation and tactical deployment are drilled repeatedly. So regarding the enemy situation, enemy in platoon or at least reinforced squad strength in the area armed with handheld weapons, RPGs and vehicles means tactical pickups armed with .50 caliber machine guns. Left neighbor Charlie 2, right neighbor Charlie 3. My plan, Charlie 1 takes up wide defensive positions as designated with pickets to detect enemy tactical reconnaissance early and repel enemy attacks. Eliminate the enemy. MG, you take up position on the far left. Your job, destroy the enemy from half squad size and unarmored vehicles. But hold your fire. Wait until I give the order. The squad leader intends for the MG5 crew to provide fire support for the infantry fighting in front. The two soldiers that make up the MG crew get ready. The men move quickly between cover until they've almost reached their assigned position. Get ready. Roger. MG ready for action. Go, go, go. Now go. The MG crew consists of two soldiers who work closely together. The machine gunner engages the enemy. The other observes where the rounds land and assists with the operation of the machine gun, which weighs nearly 12 kilograms. Both coordinate closely with the other soldiers in the infantry unit. The two soldiers switch positions several times, following their advancing comrades from the flank. Enemy unit 250 meters dead ahead. Thanks to its low recoil, it's possible to accurately fire longer bursts on target. We're using 7.62x51 mm rounds. It comes in ball, armor-piercing, and tracer versions. The tracer ammunition is essential for night combat capability. The ammunition of the MG5 is fed by a cartridge belt. The 120-round belt boxes or belt drums are attached to the left side of the weapon. It can theoretically fire 800 rounds a minute. The Bundeswehr paratroopers carry the nearly 80-kilogram GMG automatic grenade launcher to a prepared position. They will soon be using it to support their teammates in their fight against the enemy. The crew of the large-caliber weapon consists of a squad leader, gunner, and loader. The GMG is an automatic light support weapon for the infantry and the combat security forces of the Army, Air Force, and Navy and fills the gap between RPG and mortar. We're a company-level fire support weapons unit. Our job is to neutralize targets, single or area targets, mobile or stationary, at a distance of 100 to 1,500 meters. The GMG is one of the Bundeswehr's most modern weapons systems. The housing is injection-molded. The weapon itself is mounted on a tripod. The over one-meter-long weapon weighs 29 kilograms and 61 kilograms with tripod and mount. It fires 40-millimeter by 53-caliber ammunition and has a maximum effective range of 1,500 meters. It can theoretically fire 350 rounds a minute. The optical sight has range markings going to 1,500 meters. There are also lead markings for engaging horizontally moving targets. At today's shooting range, the soldiers are using training rounds identifiable by their blue plastic head. In combat, high-explosive or fragmentation rounds are used. There are also flashbang, tear gas, and smoke cartridges available. The paratroopers get themselves ready. Their comrades are engaged in the firefight with their assault rifles and MGs. They've requested the support of the grenade launcher crew by radio. Delta Golf receiving, over. Okay, guys, we're on. Here we go. The three men of the GPG crew leave cover and move forward. Having arrived in position, the squad leader instructs each man on their specific job. Marcel, here. Put that over there. You set up the base. Leuchtenberger, stay here for now. Yes, sir. They continue undercover to the designated position at the edge of the woods. From there, the soldiers can survey the battlefield and deploy their weapon. Without being spotted by the enemy. Once my base is set up, mount it. Now is the GMG mounted on the tripod. Everything undercover and as quietly as possible. The belted ammunition is fed from the left from an ammunition box with 32 rounds or an ammo backpack with 64 rounds. The loader feeds the first cartridge on the belt into the feed chute. The weapon is partially loaded. To finish loading, it has to be cocked. The weapon is now ready to fire. Half left, half left. Range 150. Finger with the right of the left ridge. Got it. Fire. Fire a cluster. 150. Enemy APC making observation. Stop. Ranging shot. Fire. Two clusters. Automatic fire. Fire for effect. Enemy eliminated. Firepower, especially infantry firepower, is always a combination of technology, tactics, training, and attitude. The combat mindset. You have to go into combat with the will to win the battle. You have to engage in a firefight with the attitude, I'm going to win this firefight. Fortunately, the Bundeswehr has been putting greater emphasis on this combat mindset in recent years. Seedorf in Lower Saxony. Besides the paratroopers, specialist forces of the 31st Airborne Regiment are training an assault here in a so-called urban warfare training ground. In addition to the G36 rifle, they will be using the Bundeswehr P8 pistol. Hands up. The P8 pistol was developed under the designation USP, universal self-loading pistol, specifically for use by the police and military. The P8 was issued to the armed forces from 1997 together with the G36, but the role of the weapon itself has changed significantly. The pistol used to be a personal protection weapon for military leaders and large weapons systems operators. It's now used as the secondary firearm across the board. Each soldier has his assault rifle and a P8 as a backup as well. The P8 is made from plastic and steel. The specially dust-protected magazine holds 15 rounds. The pistol is just under 20 centimeters long and weighs 750 grams unloaded. This makes it comparatively light. It fires 9mm by 19 caliber cartridges in semi-automatic mode and has a maximum effective range of 50 meters. The weapon is equipped with a classic iron sight. To strip the P8, assuming I have a loaded weapon with magazine, I first need to do a safety check. First, I make sure the safety is on. Then I remove and check the magazine. It's empty. Next, I check the chamber. To do this, I always turn the weapon towards my target, form a cup with my left hand, retract the slide, lock it with the slide stop, and then I can see that there's nothing in my left hand. Inspect the chamber again, see that the weapon is also empty. Now it's safe to work on. To strip, first thing is to remove the slide. Now I can strip the weapon. There I have the recoil spring and guide rod, the barrel, and the slide. The P8 is stripped. The P8 is for aimed semi-automatic firing. It serves principally as a secondary weapon for personal defense. The Bundeswehr generally uses 9mm cartridges with a ball projectile. However, this ammunition cannot penetrate modern body armor. That's what the G36 is for. Basically, it's for shooting people, the enemy on foot at close quarters. But the real effective range for a good marksman is 20 to 25 meters max, Being a semi-automatic weapon, you can naturally shoot fairly quickly, but your accuracy would drop significantly if you did. The P8 can hardly achieve a man-stopping effect with 9mm ball ammunition and individually aimed shots. So the Bundeswehr's shooting concept was changed. The shooter should fire repeatedly until incapacitation is achieved. Firearms training should naturally start by teaching basic marksmanship skills. But they should always be taught in conjunction with tactical skills and start as soon as possible. This includes individual tactics, such as how do I load my weapon, how do I clear a jam, how do I move from cover to cover, how do I engage an opponent against different target backgrounds. But should also include team tactics. Bounding fire, for example. Fire and movement. Extremely important. And one of the keys to surviving on the modern battlefield. Modern special forces and specialized units in today's Bundeswehr have a wide range of different weapons systems at their disposal. Being an extremely compact weapon, the MP7 submachine gun is ideally suited for operations in confined environments, like house-to-house combat. It bridges the gap between assault rifle and pistol. Because of its compact design, it's primarily issued to the crews of armored and unarmored vehicles. The Feldjäger, the Bundeswehr military police, also use the MP7. The MP7 weighs barely two kilograms. Due to its small caliber, it has a maximum effective range of 150 meters. It has a cyclical rate of fire of 950 rounds per minute. The MP7 is a close-range weapon. That means it's used to engage enemy troops at close quarters due to its effective range of 150 meters. Before stripping the weapon, I do a safety check. So I remove the magazine, lock the slider, put that in position, check whether the chamber is clear of ammunition or ammunition parts. Then I move the slide forward again, release the safety catch, squeeze the trigger. The first step is to remove the two retaining pins from the receiver with the barrel. I've removed the buttstock complete with recoil spring, charging handle and bolt carrier. I could now remove the upper receiver as well. But this is only taken off for technical inspections or cleaning, so the weapon is now field-stripped. The MP7 is small and easy to handle, but still has a high penetrative power at short range. The 4.6 mm x 30 caliber cartridges can also penetrate military body armor. A magazine can hold up to 40 rounds. The center of mass of the bullets is toward the rear. This causes the projectile to tumble following impact, leaving a larger wound channel. In this way, the man-stopping effect is increased. I normally have a magazine in the weapon and generally carry an additional six magazines. In addition to an iron sight, the MP7 is fitted with a reflex sight with illuminated dot. An additionally mounted NSV-80 night sight attachment makes the submachine gun night combat capable. The weapon has an extendable stock and a folding foregrip. For covert operations, a silencer can also be fitted. The majority of the global population today lives in urban environments. So you have to be prepared to prevail in an urban battlefield. This is an extremely challenging environment, because you aren't just moving in one dimension, that is on the ground, but on different levels of buildings. So you have to pay attention that there aren't drones flying around that could give away your position. You're moving from brightness into darkness. You have to work in the sewers, so you need night vision equipment. You'll need laser light devices there. You need handguns that you can use from cover. And you need to be aware that the enemy, a booby trap or worse, could be lurking behind every wall and around every corner. So urban warfare involves one of the most challenging infantry combat techniques you can think of.