Place of origin Germany Used by See users Manufacturer Heckler & Koch | In service 2010–present Designed 2010 | |
Type General-purpose machine gun | ||
The MG5 (formerly known as the HK121) is a general-purpose machine gun manufactured by Heckler & Koch. The weapon is intended as a replacement for the Rheinmetall MG3. The MG5 resembles the 5.56×45mm NATO Heckler & Koch MG4 light machine gun, which was adopted into German military service in 2005. In June 2013, it was announced that Germany was testing and evaluating 65 samples and planned to buy at least 7,114 of the machine guns for the Bundeswehr during 2014–2017, in a deal that over time could grow to 12,733 HK121s.
Contents
Design details
The MG5 is gas-operated and chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO round. The weapon's operation is almost similar to that of the MG4 light machine gun. The safety and three-position fire rate selector levers are ambidextrous, the butt stock can be folded depending on the variant, and numerous Picatinny rails allow installation of optical sights and other accessories. The quick-change barrel has a heat shield and a carrying/barrel exchange handle. A hot barrel can be replaced without protective gloves. The iron sights consist of a collapsible front sight and a height and windage adjustable rear diopter sight. The charging handle is on the right side of the weapon. For feeding, 50-round belted ammunition pouches or 120-round belted ammunition boxes can be mounted on the left side. The MG5 can be installed on all mounts and tripods originally developed for MG3 machine guns, using additional adapters.