Rare Sightings of Heckler & Koch G36 & HK433s in Ukraine
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- We've previously seen HK416s in use with a variety of Ukrainian units, but since mid-August there began to be sightings of small numbers of other Heckler & Koch rifles - HK G36s and the new HK433. In this video we'll examine which units are using, where they've been sighted and try and get to the bottom of how many might be in Ukraine.
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Thanks for watching guys, check out our accompanying article for this video here -
armourersbench.com/2024/09/29/rare-sightings-of-heckler-koch-g36-hk433s-in-ukraine/
433 really interesting to see out in the field. About a year ago we were looking for a new rifle for our patrol car and HK pitched the 433 and G36 to us. Department picked G36 cos they were cheaper but everyone universally thought 433 was a better rifle
What department is this, may I ask?
Im a police officer in an unspecified European country
that wil be fun once they start making migrants police officers like in the US
@@tylerd55555what the fcuk
The HK443 does not really offer any upsides over the G36KA4, besides the fact that it comes in a 9" barrel carbine version. That however is only a necessity for tactical units in CQB. Why did you think, that it was a better rifle? The shooting profiles and specs are really similar.
I always liked the G36K. Really easy to use and maintenance.
Whoa. Never thought I'd see the 433 in Ukraine.
Quite a surprise
Why? Cuz its newer?
@@NeostormXLMAX
Because most of weapons given to Ukraine are old
And there isn't any county formally adopted hk433
So hk433 isn't produced in significant numbers to be given
...this my opinion tbh I could be wrong
@@NeostormXLMAX It's rare. Very rare.
@@chavezchavo I mean - there isn't a better testing ground for new weapons than a near peer war
I was kinda surprised how long it took to see G36s considering latvia(?) Sent their anti drone devices that used G36 or G36 like furniture a long time ago.
Yeah, been expecting them to turn up for quite a while too!
Man.... I wonder how well Ukrainian Supply Officers doing? There are soooooo many different types of weapons being used that it must be absolute hell for the Supply Corp.
An absolute nightmare for sure. 😵💫
if you designate the rifle by "rifle, 556" and "rifle, 545" it gets easier. Also, in any modern supply chain, its not unusual to manage couple of thousands of different items, all with multiple batches, best before dates etc. This kind of stuff was harder when you had to track everything with pen and paper. But in any case, not ideal when you try to keep logistics simple.
@@KBKriechbaum
You have five major ones 5.45 Soviet, 5.56 NATO, 7.62-Soviet, 7.62-NATO/308 and of course, 7.62-Russian, but as the older Soviet-/Russian equipment cannot easily be replaced there will more of the NATO-standard stuff. The trouble is, there are too many types. The FNC 80 might be the favourite 5.56 example, but realistically any future re-equipment will be around an AR-platform. Interestingly, the PKM is the GPMG of choice and the Polish 7.62-NATO variant UKM is likely to serve as the baseline for a future replacement of 7.62-Russian ones.
@@KBKriechbaumi guess no spare parts, you break something you get another random rifle
@@JinKee in a war like that, yes. For the largest part of the army personnel, the type of rifle they carry is irrelevant. For vehicles it gets more complicated of course.
Dude, you’re always trying to expose pictures of people’s Kochs.
Koch Tracker in chief.
No Koch blocking!
@@thechrisandphaedrusshow Those guys are the worst.
@@TheArmourersBench you keep us firmly on the newest, freshest kochs out there. keep it up!
Koch's out, lads!
Much awaited, much appreciated excellent insights as always from you.
It really surprises me that since day 1 of the european assistance there were not as many g36 shipped as possible. After all, they were supposed to be easy to produce and use by the troops.
i was thinking the same thing, theres so many of them
Ak 74
Because to produce G36s you need to issue a contract. You can't just hand a IOU to HK and say we're in a war footing so get 100,000 units out the door.
@@ChucksSEADnDEADGermany is switching to the HK416, they should have a shit ton of g36s lying around. If not, they could just order a shit ton more of the 416 and unload old g36s to ukraine. I don't think they fully transitioned yet to the 416.
@@JD96893So far only the special forces of Germany have adapted the M416. Which can be counted on one hand.
As of now the German Military is still in the process of testing the Rifle to do minor improvements specifically for the german military. Adaption will start in late 2025.
To be fair I thought the same about the situation but then quickly found out that these rifles cant just be ordered but have to go through a lot of testing process to avoid adapting an inadequate rifle.
I literally searched 'g36 in ukraine' this morning.
Ha! Well here we go. Thanks for watching!
2 of the 433s have EOTechs - one of them has a Thermal or NVG in front of it (but I’d assume it’s a thermal)…
Yeah looks like clip ones.
433 is something I would have never expected in the field.
Ukraine war is the real life Call of duty game.
I appreciate your work and content. Do you have a video on Ukraine DMR's? God bless
@@Diesel-the-Rottweiler I think he has one on the UAR-15
It would be interesting to know what Ukraine soldiers think about the performance, reliability and durability of Western rifles in Combat under their conditions, particularly in the winter. This goes for all the H&K models, but also the FN models seen in Ukraine
Not sure what you expect: western rifles are used in regions where it’s cold for long time now. Like Baltics and Scandinavia countries.
Also, consider quality of ammo is a main driver of reliability.
I don’t see individual episodes of soldiers to be more of a reveal than dedicated test runs where everything is properly documented.
There's plenty info out there if you follow some of the units, they talk about it often.
They prefer m4's because of the modularity (after market parts, high availability) and refined ergonomics. There isn't much available for niche guns and it's expensive (as many of the guys self fund equipment) so they can't easily upgrade rails or what have you. They always mention the increased need for maintenance and regular cleaning with western products, since theyre used to ak's. Apparently they had loads of malfunctions in the beginning because they didn't maintain the guns sufficiently and had to learn the hard way. They call a lot of the western makes "Gucci guns".
They have kind of unicorn chase going for rare items and they trade amongst each other from what I heard.
When will the myths finally die? The AK isn’t inaccurate and western rifles aren’t unreliable or flimsy. Ukrainians have said multiple times that they prefer Western rifles because of their superior quality and better modularity. An HK416, 433 or a DDM4 is just as reliable if not more reliable than an AK. These things eat dirt, water, sand, mud, snow whatever you throw at them and always function well, they work in the heat and in the cold - they are workhorses. Every rifle, no matter what platform, will jam when you consistently don’t clean and oil it and don’t maintain it.
The first batch of the MSBS Grot had some "first-production run" issues. These occurred after around 5000 rds., not very good. I heard once or twice that the Ukrainian SFO complained about the initial stiffness of the components made of ABS (or whatever they use) but they liked the good dispersion of heat.
Since then I think the 3rd iteration showed up. Seems they fixed everything. But these are opinions of heavy users of this rifle. Which I'm not.
This is likely the best way also for manufacturers to improve these guns as a large scale usage of these rifles hasn't really been seen before.
Especially because they use very modern rifles just like the 433 (and maybe some 416 that has been on used on the BF for a while now)
They're Heckling my Koch again 😢
433 is a SICK rifle.
The 433’s showing up is significant in my view. Maybe for evaluation purposes for a future official service rifle? 🤔 If I were to select 3 contenders for an official Ukrainian service rifle, it would certainly be the the HK-433, the Grot, or the upcoming Bren 3. They need to shift frontline units toward a modern standard platform at some point, although clearly this war will be fought with seemingly every type of fieldable combat arms.
All these rifles are on the same level and which one will become service rifle will just depend on which producer will give the best price and conditions (almost surely if new service rifle is chosen Ukrainians will want it to be manufactured locally on licence)
@@czwarty7878 definitely anywhere they could pick up domestic arms production is a win. However, I somewhat doubt they’ll be building something on the level of an HK factory in country for a single rifle platform.
Being armed with a weapon produced by the lowest bidder is not the dream of a soldier
@@alessandrotestori5396 at least in this case, we are talking about some of the best possible military arms ever made. If you are a soldier issued a cheap or outdated weapon, you have my sympathy.
I wish the Bundeswehr would have chosen the 433.
It's sad that almost the entire West is going for AR15 looking rifles now.
I am not into firearms. Could you explain what the 433 does differently compared to the AR15 platform? Maybe if you have some knowledge which is the main selling point of it, compared to the AR15?
@@mqxle7006 It's not about one platform being better, it's that the small arms world is getting less diverse, which saddens gun nerds.
Everyone is also going for multicam-esque camo, which saddens camo nerds.
Ahh Hk 433, everyone’s favorite Kilo 141 from MW19.
Do you have any plans to do a vid on SKS use in Ukraine?
I think so far I’ve only seen one early on used by a Russian. I assume there aren’t much SKS in use due to the 7.62x39 and maybe they were almost all sold to the US or as aid during a proxy war years ago.
they were used in the militia days around 2014-2016 never seen them after that, maybe they are among some LDNR commies
sks rifle is very much obsolete at this point and most AKs used are in 5.45 so 7.62x39 ammo isnt as common as you might think
I haven't really seen any SKS use myself, feel free to email me some sources. Currently planning Mosin-Nagant and PM1910 Maxim videos though. Have been tracking those since day 1.
7.62x39 is a common cartridge, AKMs are still in use on the front by both sides. SKS'es are stuck in stockpiles and aren't used because they're simply inferior to AKM in every way.
@@czwarty7878 I totally agree that an AKM is better than an SKS in almost every way possible, but I’ve seen more Mosin’s in use by Russians/its Puppets then SKS. Which is why I think it’s an ammo issue, because why issue mosins when an SKS is available, the 7.62x54r is of course commonly used while my guess is that 7.62x39 isn’t.
How many SKS are there? God knows. The US likely has not even procured 1% of the total stocks of SKS of Europe. There is way more of these rifles than is reported and the SKS is one of the most ubiquitous rifles on Earth, that much is certain.
There was a number floating around that there is approximately 20 million SKS in Europe, but it is also known that SKS stocks are vastly undercounted, because there are so many in storage who would even bother to check. Countries in Eastern Europe were producing them for their own armies but also for neighbors. There may be well over 30-40 million produced in the East of Europe and additional vast quantities of SKS in Asia. The rifle is frankly heavy, outdated, but it offers the lowest cost entry point to automatic fire and so it becomes this battle rifle of choice to the poorest of the warring poor in the likes of Asia and Africa.
We know the number of SKS produced is underneath the total amount of AK produced in Eastern Europe, because the SKS production was mostly ceased when that design took over, but as far as knowing how many there are, it's like guessing how many jelly beans are in the jar- which gets more complicated when you note how many manufacturers of the SKS there are.
Thanks again, Matt.
Thank you!
i always wondered about the G36, germany has vast numbers but those do not really adopt to stanag accessory. means it needs a conversion first. but germany isn't the only producer or country having them in service. they may origin in security company contracts or law enforcement. the versions seen hint that.
I don’t think that Germany has currently surplus G36, the replacement with new G95 (HK416 A8) starts in 2026.
Germany had amongst other weapons donated a bunch of G36 and G3 to the Peshmerga fighters in Iraq to help them against ISIS.
Afaik Germany sent 8.000 G36 and 12.000 G3 to the Peshmerga fighters in 2014-2016.
The G36s were designed and build to the German conscript army many decades ago, STANAG accessories weren’t a thing back then. However, with a simple handguard and upper rail swap that would be easily fixable.
The mass of German G36 have integrated 3 times scope and a red dot on top (total scope fi for a conscript army back then when every other armies had simple crosshairs and only the Steyr AUG had a 1.5 times scope).
These optics aren’t fancy nowerdays, but a three times scope is still better than nothing.
Spain had the export version G36E that only had a scope (I think it was 1.5x or 2x) and crosshairs on top instead of the red door.
The vast majority of G36 was simply bought for German conscripts and will be used for reservists in the future.
got any info on those french 40mm launchers that you mentioned couple months ago
They haven't arrived. The rifles ordered haven't been manufactured and shipped yet sadly. I've reached out to the company but no news as yet.
@@TheArmourersBench oh ok, thanks for answering
@lefunnyN1 always try to. Thanks for watching!
Awesome video, thanks! We know that UKR Special Forces were training and likely be equipped with Haenel MK556s, are their any information / footage about that?
Azov is 12th terriorial defense not to be confused with 3rd Separate Assault Brigade...although as a late commander of 3rd SaBr put it "Azov is the shield, 3rd is the axe, both wielded by Denys Prokopenko"
Do you have a link to the kraken Instagram channel you talk about?
Yep, all sources are linked in the accompanying article. Linked in the description. Thanks for watching.
Good to see modern stuff used in modern war
The issue with the translucent original mags is that the hinges to connect several magazines are a hindrance when drawing the mags out of ammo pouches. That’s is why many German soldiers in mission cut the hinges/filed them down.
That is why some prefer their party manufacturer mags over the original ones.
Wow
That FOG shirt. Always Forward.
5:06 Kraken FOG
2:00 That's a Aseutra dual QM2. Not the BL, that uses borelock mounting system.
Ooh thank you, will double check that.
Will be interesting to see if HK put the 433 forward for Project Grayburn though I strongly suspect the 416 will be Hks entry because the army seems to currently favour the AR 15 silhouette at the moment and its won other NATO contracts recently
Interesting seeing 433 in combat use. About to transfer to 433 (11 inch) going from a mix of Mp5 and AR platform for police use. 433 is very similar but a proper update of G36 with many ergonomic improvements. 416 considered. Would expect to see more in policing when G36 life spans start to expire. Many going to AR platforms, but 433 seems natural successor for current G36 users.
Is there any MG5 in ukraine?
As when DVL-10 and AS VAL video
Yep there are MG5s, here's my video on them - ruclips.net/video/qN3hC2585tc/видео.html
@@TheArmourersBench Thanks will have a look!
@@medicmedic2608 watch the video bruh
Germany so far officially confirmed the delivery of 350 MG5.
Tip for non German speakers: if you can't say the German "ch" try saying Kosh instead of Cock sounds closer to the propper pronounciation
I've been told it's closer to 'coke' in the past haha.
@@TheArmourersBench the German ch sound is more a mix of a hissing cat and someone choking. And there's even "Sch" but that's like the English sh
@@painfultruth1846 I heard the ch in German can be said different ways. In the north they say it like “ck” but in the south its said like “sh”
I use Polish pronunciation and a friend from Schleswig Holstein said it's good.
@@TheArmourersBench Whoever told you that was clearly trying to make you sound like a nunce.
If you see a ukie using a G36 those are Freedom stalkers, but be careful, monolith uses them to.
Laser on the pictured rifle @5:30 is not a Steiner Dbal. Can't tell what it is but looks like a Holosun.
Thanks could be, lasers aren't my strongest area. There is a lot of Holosun out there.
Cover the SiG 516's seen in a lot of combat footage. There's a RUclipsr from Ukraine who posted about it
Ooooh, I like H&K, they're sexy. Thanks man. I love your videos. I saw this pop up as I was going to bed last night and I almost watched, but I would have fallen asleep. I'm glad I made myself wait until I was alert and awake before I watched, cos this was really interesting. It's so interesting to see what soldiers are choosing to use, and how.
Is it just me or are the G36's a bit stubby ? looks very compact.
Yeah they're carbine length barrels.
@@TheArmourersBench ah... thanks for that
These are the shorter K versions. Standard is longer, C variant even shorter.
Oh right ......OK.
👍
The soldiers just downloaded Modern Warfare: Ukraine Season 3 weapons that's why.
It´s "Heckler and Koch" not "Heckler and Kock"!
Lol my dude I've pronounced it every possible way over the years and every time I've been told I'm wrong.
@@TheArmourersBench It´s simple. "Heckler" - like in "heckler". Then go do google translate, "cook" -> "Koch" in German. And let it say the word. "Ch" is not "ck".
@PeterNichtlustig0815 I'll nail it next time. Thanks.
Good possibility for all weapon manufacturers to test and showcase their products…
My impression of the g36 is that the plastic receiver is huge and longer than the m4
Mags too
not used to seeing all that rails on a g36
It’s mainly a simple handguard switch (one bolt without any tool required).
Modern G36 all come with a long picantinny rail and integrated emergency crosshairs on top. So that’s how all G36es look nowerdays.
I forgot about the 433. Very cool to see them. Super cool rifle!
LOVE YOUR REPORTS!
Thank you!!
@@TheArmourersBench sure thing guvna
SLAVA UKRAINI!!!!!!!
Heroiem Slava to you sir
They are using the bushmaster m4 in Ukraine 556
Question: I have seen enough photos of Scar-L MK16s in ukraine, but how about MK17s? is there any info about them being used in the field? Thank you as always!
Great question a friend has been helping me track the SCAR-Hs, they're rarer but definitely in some use. Will do a video on them soon.
Damn the Ukrainian got even more scarier, good luck with that Russian you ain't wanna mess with that
I wonder how many shovels it can take on at once
2:19 Well I did Nazi that coming.
Jokes, I know there are plenty of nazi-types on both sides of the Ukrainian conflict lol. A war drawing in extreme ethnonationalists? You don't say! The symbol on the top of the left patch is the "Wolfsangel", in case you've never seen it before.
That symbol is ubiquitous in Ukraine
😑
MSBS GROT WHEN?!?!?!
MSBS Grot promise at the end of the vid 🙏
@@TheArmourersBench
sorry but i witch Jack Daniels - i didnt lasted that long
Holger 26 and killo 141 in kastovia
5:20 thats not a DBAL A2
Thanks mate!
Not that I'm an expert, but I wanted to share that the outline of the G36's looks like the civilian version. Maybe they donated different trigger packs alongside with them to make them full auto or they use them in a DMR role. Would be interesting to know.
What? It's just upgrade pack all modernized G36s look like that
The civi models have thumbhole stocks, not the ones pictured. The ones sent to Ukraine are just using newer gen-2 furniture.
@@colbunkmust I think he means HK243 and not SL8. But the new parts from 243 are already standard part of upgrade pack for G36
@@colbunkmustthat were very old SL8 versions. The rules that sports weapons in Germany cannot look like war weapons (“Anscheinsparagraph”) was a long long time ago.
Most SL8 were upgraded and are basically indistinguishable from the full auto G36es anymore.
@@Grimshak81 HK still offers the SL8 with the thumbhole stock, point being the newer iterations are just semi auto versions of the second gen g-36
Slava Ukraine 😊
HK433 was announced by Germany and covered by certain websites.
Got a link? Definitely haven't seen that
I don’t think that Germany announced HK433.
Germany so far in terms of assault/battle rifles officially sent 3.125 Haenel MK 556 (1.875 more on order) and 531 CR 308 (319 more on order).
Im pretty sure a lot of the g36s have the Steyr G62 upgrade kit.
I don't think so no.
Looks like HK original stuff.
Have any XM7 or SIG MCX Spear rifles been seen in Ukraine so far? I've been wondering how the 6.8x51mm (.277 Fury) ammunition that they fire will perform in combat.
👍🇺🇸/🇺🇦
There's MCXs but no sign of 6.8 rifles yet.
@TheArmourersBench it's been a while but I could have sworn on Abraxas Spa's twitter there were pictures of some kind of MCX Spear alongside an MCX Spear LT in 7.62x39. But it was months (if not over a year) ago and I suspect may have been a 308 semi auto version.
@@5t3v0esque I don't think it was a 6.8 Spear. Probably a civilian gun.
@TheArmourersBench not sure if I wrote it clearly but that was my assumption too.
I recall it looking like it had the longer handguard and barrel of the civvie version.
best weapon in the world
Which one?
mosin
@@johnsmith-jq1uc🤡
@@maxkraus7063 💀
What are the Ukrainians using shotguns for or are they using them at all?
Drones
Yes, they use shotguns for drones. They have Mossberg 390 (or 590, something like that). They made semi-auto shotguns in Ukraine but don't know what it's called. Recently they signed a contract for a cheap shitty Turkish semi-auto. It seems a real piece of art in terms of "quality" and "reliability" but it costs something like $300 or $400.
not a dbal on the 433
Apparently not, my mistake. Thanks for watching!
What about catching rain off the roof. I grew up wh th rainwater .
Don't forget to clean your Kochs fellas!
I’ve seen H&Ks in the hand of other military’s, especially Cartels, compared to the average joe in the states.
Shows H&K’s priorities. Especially the G36. Strange to finally see these in combat, because no one in the civilian world can attest wether how reliable these firearms are
The “cartel” guns are:
- the ones captured by cartels in Mexico from Mexican counter narcotic forces, in regions where German rifles weren’t supposed to show up (was a medium sized gun export control scandal in Germany years ago)
- Mexican customers that bought the civil SL8 that looks similar
- anyone else who bought it and sold it on to Mexican cartels
- I BET Heckler and Koch would be very very very happy to sell HK rifles to ANY western police force or military if these pay for the rifles
…you DO know how a free market economy works do you? You want more HK rifles in western militaries: buy them. HK is the LEAST part that will block you from it.
The Russians will have trouble finding parts and ammo for these.
Barnaul manufacturers 5.56 for the Russian military. Spetsnaz has quite a few M16 variants in their armory that they train with. M4s, HK416s, etc..
@@donwyoming1936 Good point. These are decent loot drops.
The point about parts stands though.
The corruption won't help... thankfully.
I see this happening again. 5.56 vs. 7.62X39. Also, what I see is The Armed Forces of Russia pushing forward and almost fully reaching there goals. So why is America supporting this? Anybody out there know the answer.
>what I see is The Armed Forces of Russia pushing forward and almost fully reaching there goals
We're reading these cheap lines for two years already lmao. Aren't you people tired? Yes yes I know, two more weeks and we'll totally see. Another year will pass and you'll still be posting how Ukraine is on brink of collapse and Russia already won, at least put in some effort next time
Stop eating crayons.
Rogerslav Smithov from Texas Oblast strikes again
“Fully reaching their goals”?
Like… in three days, yeah? XD
follow the money forever war. THis could have been over in a month if war profits were not in the game. WHERE is the RICO charges