The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency has awarded a contract to German defense manufacturing company Heckler & Koch for the delivery of HK416 assault rifle sets, according to a company statement.

The supply order will run over 36 months, beginning in 2019 and has an overall value of approximately 22 million Euro, approximately $@25 million.

Norway was the first nation to approve the Heckler & Koch HK416 for their Army and National Defense, and the new contract means they will buy an additional 11 000 HK416, of which approximately 7 000 are to the Home Guard.

The HK416 is a modern and highly modular assault rifle platform for law enforcement and military users. Depending on the requirements it can be tailored to the demand of the user concerned without having to make concessions regarding the strict specifications made on accuracy and handling safety.

The HK416 A5 is a further development of the HK416 assault rifle in 5.56 x 45 mm NATO calibre.

The most striking changes compared to its previous versions as well as to market available AR platforms include an improved and tool-less gas regulator for suppressor use, a redesigned, user-friendly lower receiver, which allows complete ambidextrous operation of the weapon and ensures optimised magazine compatibility, as well as numerous technical improvements to maximize the operator safety, reliability, ammunition compatibility and durability under real operating conditions.

Against the background of the political efforts aiming at the realisation of a European safety and defense politics Heckler & Koch has for decades equipped many European Armies with a standard assault rifle.

The most prominent users are Germany (G36), France (HK416AIF), Norway (HK416), Spain (G36), Lithuania (G36), Latvia (G36) and the UK (SA80A2/A3). Added to these is a very large number of military and police commando units having adopted one or several weapon models made by Heckler & Koch.