The saga of the Heckler & Koch G36 Rifle continues. Since last year, the mainstay rifle in the Bundeswehr has been under attack for not being accurate when used in hot weather. In test reports, the G36 the accuracy becomes suspect after sustained automatic fire heating up the barrel. The report has resulted into the Bundeswehr looking into other alternative to replace last year.

But Heckler & Koch won’t give it up its case, suing the German government. According to Deustch Welle, the hearing of the case first took place in a court early this June in Koblenz, in Southern Germany where the army's procurement office is located.

More bad news for the company where it matters most --- the soldiers who are using the G36 rifle, and whose lives depend on it so it should be performing as expected.

In late 2015, as reported by Bild, a poll was undertaken by the German Army Research Centre during Trident Junction 2015 amongst Bundeswehr soldiers and the results were not good for the H&K G36. 43% of the respondents said their weapons were "rather not reliable" or "not reliable at all."  About 30% of the respondents say that their weapons are partly unreliable.

Though the G36 is not alone in the trust issue amongst German soldiers, 36% did not trust their heavy weapons such as machine guns, crew-served weapons, and anti-tank missiles. Germany’s spending on defence is 1.2% of the GDP, which is below the NATO recommendation of 2% of the GDP for member countries.

Even with the ongoing lawsuit, the German Defence Ministry are set to replace their G36 in 2019. As to what the rifle will be, it is still up in the air.