German army tests new MG4 A3 machine gun

The German military began testing an improved version of the MG4 light machine gun. Modernized weapon equipped with a new scope and improved mechanical components.

This was reported by the press service of the Bundeswehr.

Tests are conducted in units of the 26th Army Airborne Brigade of the German Armed Forces, stationed in Zweibrucken. The German military is doing this at the request of the Federal Office of the Bundeswehr for Equipment, Information Technology and Technical Support (BAAINBw).

The modernized MG4 A3 machine gun was developed by Heckler & Koch. It differs from the previous version not only in improved ergonomics, but also in more advanced technical characteristics. Less recoil allows for better control of fire and higher accuracy. Its enhanced combat effectiveness and range, optimal rate of fire and ease of handling make it stand out among its analogues.

The new machine gun is equipped with a 4x30 sight, which has a holographic crosshair. This allows you to effectively use weapons even at night.

Presumably, the MG4 A3 is planned to be put in the troops next year.

Comments

[novel66]

and what is the survivability of the trunk ??

[uav80]

300 write maximum shots then quick change ..
rate of fire about 890 + -50

[novel66]

wimps !! at PKM 500

[uav80]

These are different classes of machine guns, RMB then you need to compare MG5 or nakaynyak with MG3

[novel66]

and what classes? explain, I'm not very in the subject, for me a machine gun - he is a machine gun

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Quote: novel xnumx

and what classes? explain, I'm not very in the subject, for me a machine gun - he is a machine gun

In our case, it is necessary to compare with RPK-74, RPK-74M. Under a low-pulse, intermediate cartridge.

[Catfish]

Fair remark.

[Kalmar]

Quote: novel xnumx

wimps !! at PKM 500

MG4 - conditional manual machine gun under 5.56, for him a long line is not so relevant.

[novel66]

I, naively, thought that for a machine gun a long line - the most important thing

[Kalmar]

Quote: novel xnumx

I, naively, thought that for a machine gun a long line - the most important thing

In general, yes, but there are some nuances. In the sense that the idea of ​​a long line for different classes of automatic weapons is also different. A fighter with a light machine gun, firstly, carries his ammunition on his own hump, and, secondly, runs around the battlefield with his squad. As a result, the ability and need to thresh in bursts of 300+ shots at him arises infrequently.

[voyaka uh]

There are several types of fire:
1) protective - long lines aimlessly to force the enemy to lie down (or so that the chain could not attack)
2) fire support - short bursts at firing points. Or by enemy groups less than 400 m.
3) dagger - in close combat.
---
As a guard, they reduce the rate of fire. In close combat - increase. (If there is a gas return regulator). I write about the Belgian MAG I worked with.

[novel66]

is he better than RMB?

[voyaka uh]

I don’t think so. MAG - a whimsical machine gun. It was necessary to thoroughly clean this gas pressure regulator. He clogged with soot.

[novel66]

I respect the pros ..

[Maki Avellevich]

Quote: voyaka uh

I don’t think so. MAG - a whimsical machine gun. It was necessary to thoroughly clean this gas pressure regulator. He clogged with soot.

there is little but was good. whose approach could have been solitary.
in short, tender and nostalgic emotions cause me to talk about FN MAG.
although I confess that he was not my "Pakal". that is, only on the courses of a very young fighter he shot.
Well, when he was already in reserve, Dir el Balah and El Bire a little.

[Insurgent]

Quote: novel xnumx

wimps !! at PKM 500

With a certain skill, adjusting the intensity of fire as possible, from the PC (M) with the barrel from the PC (as in the photo), they managed to make about 1000, and sometimes a little more shots, without "burning through" the barrel ... we were numbered as a "thousand-man" ...

It is obvious, after all, that the new product from Heckler & Koch, the MG4 A3, is not his grandfather MG-42 ...

[novel66]

Well, thank God .. it’s easier for us

[Kunica]

Genetic memory makes you cringe from such a header.

[210ox]

Don't tell me. "Bonecutter" is a grandson.

[Uncle lee]

"Bone cutter", "Hitler's Circular Saw", "Emga", "Crosspiece". This is about MG-42 ... And how good is this?

[uav80]

Option A3 is reportedly similar to MG4A2A1. A significant design change is due to the introduced safety concept. Her philosophy, which requires protection in all positions of the machine gun shutter, is intentionally transferred from MG5 to MG4.

[novel66]

Is the trunk too short?

[Insurgent]

Quote: novel xnumx

Is the trunk too short?

Trend , have a machine gun several interchangeable shafts of different lengths for different tasks.

Even in the RF Armed Forces, it seems for the first time in domestic practice, RPK-16 implemented such an idea ...

[uav80]

450mm without a muzzle, for a small piece 5,56 / .223 is it the same if you take the same M249 / Minimi for comparison, then the length varies from 349 to 465 depending on the model? if you take RPK-16, then he has the length of the main trunk 410 long 550 ...
The same PKM 658, if you take MG5, then from 460 to 660 there is the most common 550th trunk

[Catfish]

Outwardly, all the same Belgian "mini". They tightened it up there, twisted it up there, added it here, but the base that was, remains the same. It looks like our Kalash and I are busy, nothing fundamentally new. Just licking a good design.

M249 FN MINIMI.

FN MINIMI Para /

[senima56]

The photo is not MG4 A3!

[uav80]

In the photo in the article, most likely MG4A2A1, this option is basically identical to MG4A2, but does not have electronic connections to the “Footman of the Future” communication system

[Shuttle]

Whatever the inheritance of this machine, it should be recognized that its ancestors had very remarkable performance characteristics.

[Domovenok]

German army tests new MG4 A3 machine gun

A familiar system .. How many of our from this machine gun system put in WWII ..
Reading an article, teeth grind

[pereselenec]

Quote: Domovenok

Reading an article, teeth grind

Take valerian.

[Domovenok]

Quote: pereselenec

Quote: Domovenok

Reading an article, teeth grind

Take valerian.

I’ll accept it, but what do you accept ..?

Quote: Kalmar

Quote: Domovenok

How many of ours from this machine gun system were put in WWII

In WWII, MG-34 and MG-42 were used, their automation system is completely different.

Yes, it’s understandable, but the MG abbreviation is somehow warping here!
Against whom they are modernizing this machine gun .. That's the question! Like Shakespeare ..
All this men will not like me ..

[Kalmar]

Quote: Domovenok

but the MG abbreviation is somehow jarring here

What should they do if the "machine gun" in German is only so abbreviated?

Quote: Domovenok

Against whom they are modernizing this machine gun .. That's the question! Like Shakespeare ..
All this men will not like me ..

Are you just now worried? H&K is a large and serious office, it has been producing and modernizing for more than a dozen years, and not only in the interests of the Bundeswehr.

[pereselenec]

Quote: Domovenok

Yes, it’s understandable, but the MG abbreviation is somehow warping here!

It’s just that you have a female mindset. You do not react to facts and information, but to emotions and pens. We saw two letters nearby and immediately their teeth creaked, the heart began to beat

[Kalmar]

Quote: Domovenok

How many of ours from this machine gun system were put in WWII

In WWII, MG-34 and MG-42 were used, their automation system is completely different.

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

In common with the MG line (MG-34, MG-42 and MG-45) only in the name!
How would our RPK with DP-28 have no more in common?

[Insurgent]

Quote: Kote pane Kohanka

How would our RPK with DP-28 have no more in common?

And what did you write?

At first - clumsy unreadable ;
Secondly - RPKalashnikov и DegtyarevaP, what do they have in common besides the classification "machine guns"?

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

For example, store food, without the possibility of using tape.

[Insurgent]

Quote: Kote pane Kohanka

For example, store food, without the possibility of using tape.

Explanation, I will say ... so-so - "just to get rid"...

[Catfish]

Colleague, hello.

... RPKalashnikov and DegtyarevP, which have in common, except for the classification of "machine guns"

I think that’s exactly what Vlad had in mind, only yes, he did it somehow unintelligibly. But in fact, he’s a service man and, at least, with Kalash of all models and types, he is personally familiar and short.

[Insurgent]

Quote: Sea Cat

I think that’s exactly what Vlad had in mind, only yes, he did it somehow unintelligibly. But in fact, he’s a service man and, at least, with Kalash of all models and types, he is personally familiar and short.

But he replied (reacted to the comment), also somehow unintelligible ...

He would also write that what is common between the RPK and DP-28 is that they both bullets shoot ...

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

There was a time to answer!
I agree, I was mistaken in the name and messy wrote. I repent.
Degtyarev machine gun, he is still DP-27!
Now about the similarity of the design of the DP-27 and RPK-74.
1. Concept of application.
DP, despite the ammunition, a light machine gun, in contrast to the uniform MG-34 (42).
2. DP in the series was only magazine (disk) in RPK-74 (horn). The Germans had tape and drum power at the MG-34 (42).
3. That Degtyarev infantry, that the PKK did not have interchangeable barrels.
4. Gas automation!
5. The number of grooves, thread, etc.
To write further laziness!
Regards, Kote!
Konstantin, thanks for the kind word!

[Catfish]

Hello, hello!
MG-45 did not go into series, did not have time.

Photos on the tests.

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

Konstantin, thanks again!
MG-45, don’t go! In Germany, Yugoslavia after the war, the MG-42 was launched on the assembly line.
MG-45 remembered that he, like the hero of the article, reached the experimental tests.
in the army!
Regards, Vlad!

[Catfish]

The MG-45 went into the post-war years in Switzerland under the index SIG MG 710-3 from the famous company SIG Sauer.

[Kote Pan Kokhanka]

And here, I forgot about it! Thanks for editing !!!

[Catfish]

Yes, this is not an amendment, but just an addition, it’s about the Germans.

[Vasyan1971]

The upgraded weapons are equipped with a new scope and improved mechanical components.

Well, you can do this forever.
As in pharmaceuticals: not a new medicine to come up with, but a new name, while motivating it with more advanced features, ergonomics and advanced innovations.
And so do all. Meyer's law, panimash!

[Kalmar]

Quote: Vasyan1971

Well, you can do this forever.

In modern small arms, it’s not so easy to come up with something radically new and equally radically useful. Therefore, most of the improvements come either from production (new materials, better processing, etc.) or from additional devices (sights, silencers and other joys).

[Crimean partisan 1974]

In modern small arms, it’s not so easy to come up with something radically new ..... everything is very simple to come up with and has already been invented. but ... with ..... a sleeveless shell is the future of a small arms armament. but while smart guys do not want, want more bribes from the existing

[Kalmar]

Quote: Crimean partisan 1974

everything is very simple to come up with and already invented

If invented, it’s not new))

Quote: Crimean partisan 1974

sleeveless is the future of small arms

Why? She is full of her troubles. For example, how to give the cartridge proper mechanical strength so that, consider, the powder bomber with the bullet inside does not crumple and break when not handled in the field. Something to greatly simplify the design of a weapon with a sleeveless also does not work: you still need to provide a mechanism for the extraction of axial cartridges. Well, the absence of a sleeve does not in itself give an increase in ballistic characteristics.

Rather, the future lies in some concepts that did not find application at the time due to technological limitations that existed at that time. Roughly like with a rifled weapon: it appeared at the beginning of the 16th century, but gained mass distribution only in the 19th, when adequate technologies for its production appeared. Similarly, in the future, various "unprofitable" concepts such as arrow-shaped bullets, tapered barrels, etc. may be reanimated.

[Crimean partisan 1974]

Why? She is full of her troubles .... yes there are not any troubles. work in this direction was carried out as far back as the 70s by Dvoryaninov and Shiryaev, and the performance characteristics of the rifle active-reactive ammunition were revealed by the then commission as redundant, the topic was closed on this. there was still Gerasimov. again, the topic was not even closed but was not considered,
Consider, the powder checker with a bullet inside did not crumple and did not break during unkind handling in the field. .... well, the tracer-bullet somehow does not crease. and the operation of automation is similar to SVD where the gas piston and the bolt carrier are disconnected by a spring. which makes it possible for powder gases to leave the barrel during reloading, although in SVD this principle is associated with minimizing the withdrawal of the barrel from the aiming line, then this is what you need in a shellless case
Well, in general, gizmo-free ammunition could look like this

[Kalmar]

So the question is: what’s the benefit? Those. Obviously, without a shell, the ammunition weight is slightly reduced, but this is not directly called a super-advantage.

The active-reactive ammunition presented in the image is not an uninteresting idea, but technological difficulties are just seen here: uneven burning of a marching charge or inaccuracy in the manufacture of this nozzle itself will greatly affect accuracy. At least a similar Gyrojet had such a problem rather acutely.

[Crimean partisan 1974]

At least, a similar Gyrojet had such a problem rather sharply ....., a similar Gyrojet .... my provided sketch with a gujet has no similarities. and stamping nozzles is it all stamping ... read the sketch again, well, if calculations are required, I will throw them offhand

[Kalmar]

Quote: Crimean partisan 1974

I don’t have a sketch with a gujet

Not exactly the same, but there are similar points:

Another thing is that it is purely reactive, but the main difficulties will arise on this reactive section. Again, you can look at the experience of gunners: there they have been experimenting with APC for a long time, and the problem with accuracy for unguided shells has not yet been completely resolved.

[Kalmar]

I completely forgot: and specifically, what is the advantage of caseless performance? With the same success, it would be possible to make a conventional "sleeve" cartridge with an active-reactive bullet. This would also have a certain plus: instead of an expelling charge, a solid core could be placed in the center of the bullet: you can get a decent penetration ability (I don't see how to provide it in the variant on the sketch), and the balance of the bullet will not change so much as it burns out cruise charge.

[Crimean partisan 1974]

and specifically sleeveless performance, what advantage does this give? ..in my opinion, this gives compactness at a fairly high Joule at a distance of a kilometer or more because a direct shot will be just that. at the expense of aerodynamics. there certainly are problems. but by analogy with the 9 mm low-impulse 9--39, it will have potential tens of times

[Kalmar]

Quote: Crimean partisan 1974

in my opinion, it gives compactness at rather high Joules at a distance of a kilometer or more

Compactness of what? Ammunition? It doesn't seem like that was such a big deal in a modern rifleman. And high energies at long ranges, if I understand you correctly, are already about active-reactive ammunition, and not about sleevelessness (see above).

[Crimean partisan 1974]

this is about active-reactive ammunition, .... correctly understood. But not all. I gave a sketch where in a small arms ammunition you can put TWO MODE SOLID FUEL ENGINE, which has the very redundant performance characteristics, compactness in that 3 centimeters fit in the handle. and with it much more than in pistols of a non-revolving design. Gerasimov proved it. Well, as a whole. they don’t want then it is not necessary. but I can only squeeze out a dumb fixation and a stopper on a cartridge case

[Nikolai Petrov]

Who knows who knows. But, however, they can’t surpass the designers of the possessed. I'm talking about MG-34 (42). And special thanks to the amers that they were able to remake the people who could fight with Russia in ..... (as it were, so as not to be banned), well, in these bearded women.

[Vasyan1971]

Quote: Nikolai Petrov

Who knows who knows.

Well, how can you not recall the Browning M2? Not to mention the Maxim machine gun, which the brothers still kill people.

[kulinar]

Quote: Uncle Lee

"Bone cutter", "Hitler's Circular Saw", "Emga", "Crosspiece". This is about MG-42 ... And how good is this?

I heard a lot about him. That's not a chance to shoot him. Even with the Yugoslav counterpart.

[aviator6768]

It makes no sense to give the characteristics, everything is available ... the rpk machine gun is a plus / minus, but the Kalashnikov is more reliable a priori ... And as for the heavier one - from the PC (PKM), I think there is no one around yet .... Well. who dragged the "two-ton" understands ... Then - the cords (cliffs under the NATO patron and not hohlyatskie) are already comparable with competitors ... we will measure ourselves on the field ...

[Zoomlion]

Good machine gun. MG series all normal turned out

[Lord of the Sith]

What cartridge? Old?