Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK orH&K;German pronunciation:[ˌhɛklɐʔʊntˈkɔx]) is a Germanfirearms manufacturer that produceshandguns,rifles,submachine guns, andgrenade launchers. The company is located inOberndorf am Neckar,Baden-Württemberg and also has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.

Heckler & Koch GmbH

Company type	Private (GmbH)
Industry	Defense
Founded	28 December 1949; 75 years ago (28 December 1949)
Founders	Edmund Heckler Theodor Koch Alex Seidel
Headquarters	Oberndorf am Neckar , Germany
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jens Bodo Koch (CEO)
Products	Firearms,weapons
Revenue	€305.1 million (2022)[1]
Operating income	€46.23 million (2022)[1]
Net income	€50.639 million (2022)[1]
Total assets	€328.194 million (2022)[1]
Total equity	€70.313 million (2022) €85.251 million (2021) [1]
Number of employees	1,156 (end 2023)[2]
Website	heckler-koch.com

Heckler & Koch was founded in 1949 by formerMauser engineersEdmund Heckler,Theodor Koch, andAlex Seidel, who founded the company out of the shuttered Mauser factory in Oberndorf.^[3] The company initially producedmachine tool and metal parts until 1956 when, in response to aBundeswehr contract for a newservice rifle, HK developed theHeckler & Koch G3. The success of the G3 rifle prompted HK to transition to the defense industry. HK was owned byRoyal Ordnance from 1991 to 2002, and is currently part of the Heckler & Koch Group, comprising Heckler & Koch GmbH, Heckler & Koch Defense, NSAF Ltd., and Heckler & Koch France SAS. The company's motto is "Keine Kompromisse!" (No Compromises!).^[4]

Nicolas Walewski's financial holding company CDE has held a majority stake in Heckler & Koch since July 2020.^[5]

With the fall ofNazi Germany and the followingAllied occupation of Germany,Oberndorf came underFrench control, and the entireWaffenfabrik Mauser AG factory was dismantled by French occupying forces. All factory records were destroyed on orders of the localFrench Army commander. In 1948, three former Mauser engineers,Edmund Heckler,Theodor Koch, andAlex Seidel, saved what they could from the factory and used what they had salvaged to start a machine tool plant in the vacant factory that became known as the Engineering Office Heckler & Co.^[6][7]

On 28 December 1949, the Engineering Office Heckler & Co. changed its name and was registered officially as Heckler & Koch GmbH. Initially the new company manufactured machine tools,bicycle andsewing machine parts, gauges, and other precision parts.^[8] In 1956, Heckler & Koch responded to theWest German government's tender for a new infantry rifle for theBundeswehr with the proposal of theG3battle rifle, based on the SpanishCETME Model 58 rifle and developed in cooperation withCETME.^[6][7] The German government awarded Heckler & Koch the tender and in 1959 declared the G3 the standard rifle of theBundeswehr.^[9][10] Later in 1961, Heckler & Koch developed the 7.62×51mmHK21general-purpose machine gun, based on the G3.^[11]

In 1966, Heckler & Koch introduced the HK54machine pistol, which eventually launched in 1969 as theMP5submachine gun.^[12] Two years later, the company introduced theHK33assault rifle, a smaller version of the G3 chambered in5.56×45mm NATO.^[13][14]

In 1974, Heckler & Koch diversified into two more areas, HK Defense and Law Enforcement Technology and HK Hunting and Sports Firearms. Since then, HK has designed and manufactured more than 100 different types of firearms and devices for the world's military and law enforcement organizations as well as sports shooters and hunters.^[15] In 1990, Heckler & Koch completed two decades of development of their caseless weapon system and produced prototypes of theG11 rifle. The company also produced prototypes of theG41 assault rifle intended for theBundeswehr. Due to the international political climate at the time (East and West Germany uniting and defense budget cuts) the company was unable to secure funded contracts from the German government to support production of either weapon system and became financially vulnerable. The following year, Heckler & Koch was sold toBritish Aerospace'sRoyal Ordnance division.^[4]

During 1994 and 1995, the German government awarded Heckler & Koch contracts for producing an updated standard assault rifle and updated standard sidearm for theBundeswehr. Heckler & Koch developed and produced the Project HK50, a lightweight carbon fiberassault rifle, which became theG36 assault rifle. In addition, Heckler & Koch produced the P8 pistol, derived from itsUSP handguns produced since 1989. The USP was adopted as the standard sidearm of theBundeswehr in 1994, and the G36 was adopted as their standard-issue rifle in 1995.^[16]

As the result of a 1999 merger between British Aerospace andMarconi Electronic Systems, Heckler & Koch was owned by the resultingBAE Systems; it was contracted to refurbish theBritish Army'sSA80 rifles (which had been manufactured by Royal Ordnance)^[17] This contract entailed a modification program to the SA80 series of rifles to address a number of reliability issues with the design. In 2002, BAE Systems restructured and sold Heckler & Koch to a group of private investors, who created the German group holding company HK Beteiligungs GmbH.

In 2003, HK Beteiligungs GmbH's business organization restructured as Heckler & Koch Jagd und Sportwaffen GmbH (HKJS), and its business was separated into the two business areas similar to the 1974 business mission areas: Defense, and Law Enforcement and Sporting Firearms. In 2004, Heckler & Koch was awarded a major handgun contract for theUnited States Department of Homeland Security, worth a potential $26.2 million for up to 65,000 handguns.^[18] This contract ranks as the single largest handgun procurement contract in U.S. law enforcement history.^[19]

HK was contracted by theUnited States Army to produce thekinetic energy subsystem^[20] (see:kinetic projectiles orkinetic energy penetrator) of theObjective Individual Combat Weapon, a planned replacement for theM16 rifle/M203 grenade launcher combination. The OICW was designed to fire 5.56 mm rounds and 25 mm grenades. The kinetic energy component was also developed separately as theXM8, though both the OICW and XM8 are now indefinitely suspended.

Heckler & Koch developed anAR-15/M4 carbine variant, marketed as theHK416.^[21] HK replaced thedirect impingement system used by theStoner design on the original M16 with ashort-stroke piston operating system. The civilian models are named the MR223 and, in the U.S., the MR556A1.^[22]

In 2007,United States Secretary of the ArmyPete Geren agreed to hold a "dust chamber" test pitting the M4 against theHeckler & Koch HK416 andXM8, as well as the rivalFN SCAR design. The Heckler & Koch XM8 and FN SCAR had the fewest failures in the test, closely followed by the HK416, while the M4 had by far the most.^[23] In 2007, theNorwegian Army became the first to field the HK416 as a standard-issue rifle.^[24]

HK sells its pistols in the United States to both law enforcement and civilian markets, through its HK USA subsidiary. The company has locations inVirginia,New Hampshire, andGeorgia.

Heckler & Koch has produced a variety of firearms including theG3,HK21,MP5,HK4,HK33,HK69,VP70,PSG1,USP,G36,MG4,UMP,MP7, andHK416 which have become some of the most iconic and widely adopted firearms in the world, used by dozens ofmilitaries,police forces, andparamilitaries worldwide. Many of itsprototype weapons including theG11,HK CAWS,XM29 OICW, andXM8, have also become recognizable. HK firearms useblowback operation,short-recoil,roller-delayed blowback,gas-delayed blowback, and short-stroke pistongas operation. HK is responsible for several innovations in firearms, such as the use ofpolymers in weapon designs, modernpolygonal rifling, the feasibility of high-velocitycaseless ammunition in prototype service rifles, andintegral rails for handgun attachments.^[25]

Heckler & Koch products use an internal naming system, consisting of anabbreviation and a two- or three-digitWerknummern designation popularly referred to as the "HK 3-digit system".^[26][27] Each letter and digit is assigned a specific meaning outlined in the convention to make them easier to identify and differentiate by name.

The HK naming convention is not a fixed convention, but rather a guideline, and not all HK products follow it; this is typically done for marketing purposes or quirks in the weapon's development or intended role. For instance, theHK416 does not use a proper abbreviation ("HK" does not mean anything specific), nor does it use proper digits (the HK416 was originally two models, the "HKM4" and "HKM16", that were later amalgamated into the HK416); using the 3-digit system, the standard HK416 would likely be referred to as the G333. Such products tend to have proper internal designations anyway; the HK416 is internally referred to as the HK333.

Most HK products have aprefix of between one and three letters, corresponding to a word or term in German (though some refer to English terms instead, with no German equivalent). Several were only used for a single model, such as the "Universal" weapons (UMP,UCP,USC, andUSP). Some abbreviations are used as asuffix to designate specific variants.

TheWerknummern designation system assigns two or three digits which correspond to the product's technical specifics. They are placed after (or if a suffix, before) the abbreviation and denote the generation,form factor, andcaliber ormunition of the weapon.

The date code is a two-letter combination used to specify the year a weapon was manufactured in. These are not part of the product's name, but are printed for identification directly on the weapon itself. They are only used on handguns.^[28]

Heckler & Koch handguns produced at HK's German facilities are marked with "DE", Germany'sISO 3166-1 code. Handguns manufactured in HK facilities outside Germany, or those produced in Germany before 2008, do not have the DE marking.

Heckler & Koch long arms mostly follow a set of sharedtrigger group standards forselective fire andsafety, with corresponding markings and pictograms.^[29]

H&K has been accused of shipping small arms to conflict regions such as Bosnia^[30] andNepal,^[31] and has licensed its weapons for production by governments with poor human rights records such asSudan,Thailand andMyanmar.^[32] It has been argued that the company effectively evaded EU export restrictions when these licensees sold HK weapons to conflict zones includingIndonesia,^[33]Sri Lanka^[34] andSierra Leone.^[31]

According to the newspaperStuttgarter Nachrichten (31 August 2011), as well as the state broadcaster ARD, a large stockpile of G36 assault rifles fell into rebel hands during the August 2011 attack onMuammar Gaddafi's compound inTripoli. It is unclear how many were exported to Libya and by whom.^[35]

On 11 December 2011, federal, state and local Mexican police officers usedbattle rifles to fire onAyotzinapa Rural Teachers' College students and peasant organizations to disperse a blockade onMexican Federal Highway 95D, resulting in the deaths of students Jorge Alexis Herrera and Gabriel Echeverría de Jesús. According to media reports,7.62×51mm NATO round casings were found at the scene, matching those used by H&K G3 rifles.^[36] InIguala andCocula, corrupt police officers and cartelmen are known to have used H&K G36 rifles during the2014 Iguala mass kidnapping on 26–27 September 2013. At least six teaching students were murdered by cartelmen and corrupt local police, and 43 others are missing and presumed dead. Other than the six identified persons, no other bodies have been found, and they are believed to have been incinerated.^[37]

As a result of efforts by civil society and human rights organizations in Mexico and Germany,^[37] H&K and two of its former employees were brought before the Provincial Court of Stuttgart. After ten months of trial, on 21 February 2019, the court convicted them of illegally selling arms to Mexican governmental institutions which failed to acknowledge their due observance of human rights.^[38][37] The two former employees (sales manager Sahlmann and administrative employee Beuter) had been found to have used fraudulent permits in the sale of 4,700 rifles and large quantities of ammunition. H&K was issued a fine of 3.7 million euros, and the two men received suspended sentences of 17 and 22 months. The spokesman of the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, said that the amount of the fine should go to the victims and their families.

On 30 March 2021, Germany'sFederal Court of Justice (BGH) upheld the lower court's decision, finding that H&K employees knowingly falsified information on the nature and destination of arms sold by the company in order to attain federal export licenses.^[39]

• List of modern armament manufacturers

• Official website 
• HK USA website