MG5

MG5 is the Bundeswehr designation for a 7.62 firing general purpose medium machinegun, official product/project name from the designing company H&K would be HK121. Developed as a scaled up version of the 5.56 firing HK123 (MG4), design finished in 2010 and enter service immediately after development, intended to replace the previous 7.62 firing service MG the Rheinmetall MG3. MG5 features different variants other than the main production universal model, vehicle mounted/coaxial variant MG5A1, infantry squad support MG5A2 and MG5S for special forces service. Sharing the same operation mechanism as MG4, MG5 is also classified as a belt-fed gas-operated rotating bolt action medium machine gun, designed to chamber the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. MG5 variants differs in barrel length, total length and adjusted mechanism, resulting in performance difference in terms of muzzle velocity, effective range and rate of fire. Light weight A2 variant would feature the shortest barrel (460mm), the slowest rate of fire (640 r/m), effective firing range up to 600 metres. While mounted/coaxial A1 variant have the longest barrel (663mm), the fastest rate of fire (800 r/m) and effectively covering up to 1500 metres of range when mounted properly. MG5 is fed by MG3's 7.62 non-disintegrating munition belts, comes in lengths of 50 rounds or 120 rounds, 50-round belts can be combined in drum magazines while 120-round belts are placed in large capacity boxes. Ejection system is similar to MG4, munition belt enters from the left side of the receiver, spent belt and shells leaves from the right side. Aiming of MG5 relies on Diopter sight, but compatible optics can be mounted on the Picatinny rail on top of the receiver. Other features retained from MG4 such as the adjustable buttstock, integrated bipod unit, tripod mounting lugs and the hammer-forged quick-change barrel.