Seeing as how the designer of the Haenel was one of the designers of the 416, that really paints a picture that he directly implemented features from the 416 that may be patented. Having said that, he also helped design the SIG 516 after working on the 416 and HK haven't gone after that as far as i know, so god only knows what their specific issue is.

I think their specific issue is "OMG, we lost?! How dare they!" Not unlike Glock when the US Army picked SIG two years ago. It's even the exact same circumstances where all the entries met the requirements, but one was cheaper.

Apparently they also justified it that the Haenel had 7% better penetration. To me this sounds made up as they would have been using the same ammo out of the same barrel length so I don't get exactly how there would have been a measurable difference.

Yeah, that sounds unlikely to me, too. It wouldn't surprise me if it's falsified. HK winning the lawsuit that the German government filed against them over the G36 controversy could be construed as a bit of a black eye and embarrassment for the latter.

This was revealed a few months ago (I had forgotten about this topic), but anyway the HK416 A8 is being chosen so far.

https://strikehold.net/2021/03/02/th...ins-after-all/

I wonder if they are really still trying to make HKey a thing, or if the actual adopted gun will be different. The L85A3 was in service for less than 3 years before they started replacing the HKey handguards with new MLOK ones.

After several months have passed, images of the HK416 A8 are still showing it with the HKey. On the other hand, recent versions of the HK433 shown there and at Enforce Tac 2022 do have M-LOK handguards, so... we never know.

I guess we can't say they aren't trying with HKey, huh?

https://media.tenor.com/images/47e1c...667b/tenor.gif

So, the reason Haenel's contract for the MK556 was revoked? Drainage holes in the recoil spring assembly. Yes, folks, apparently HK has a trademark on drilling holes in the buffer tube.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...-cr223-rifles/

Words fail me.