Sweden and Finland aim to jointly procure new service rifle
The two countries are reportedly likely to be interested in the HK416, HK417 or HK433 of Heckler & Koch, or perhaps the FN Herstal FN SCAR 16 or 17
Eyal Boguslavsky
| 10/05/2021
Photo: The Finnish Army
A press release issued last week by the Swedish Ministry of Defense revealed that Sweden and its neighbor Finland intend to jointly procure a new type of service rifle for their armies.
The Firearm Blog website, which reported the news, said that Sweden currently uses the AK5, a Swedish version of the FN FNC that uses 5.56x56mm NATO ammunition, while Finland uses a variety of RK 62 and RK 95 (7.62x39mm) rifles. The question remains which rifle will be procured, and what caliber of ammunition will be used.
Will Finland abandon the 7.62×39, or will Sweden abandon the 5.56×45? Or will both countries adopt a new caliber like the 7.62×51 or even something else? For example, there is also a highly-anticipated new type of ammunition, the 6.8×51mm hybrid, which cannot be ruled out, according to the report.
Without more information on the caliber preferred, the rifles that appear likely to be of interest to the two countries are the Heckler & Koch HK416, HK417 or HK433, as well as the FN Herstal FN SCAR 16 or 17. Some of them are already in use by certain Special Forces in both Sweden and Finland. Their neighbor Norway, as well as many other allies, use the HK416 widely.
From a different perspective, it should be noted that Sweden still has many older 7.62x51mm Ak4 rifles, with a small amount in the regular Army and a large amount in the National Guard. A new rifle, or rifle family, could certainly be used to upgrade them. From Finland’s perspective, it is probably harder to change the type of ammunition. However, it should be mentioned that Finland's reserve corps recently ordered a semi-automatic AK clone made by Dasan Machineries of South Korea, so the caliber will remain the same one way or another, according to the report.
The two countries are reportedly likely to be interested in the HK416, HK417 or HK433 of Heckler & Koch, or perhaps the FN Herstal FN SCAR 16 or 17
Photo: The Finnish Army
A press release issued last week by the Swedish Ministry of Defense revealed that Sweden and its neighbor Finland intend to jointly procure a new type of service rifle for their armies.
The Firearm Blog website, which reported the news, said that Sweden currently uses the AK5, a Swedish version of the FN FNC that uses 5.56x56mm NATO ammunition, while Finland uses a variety of RK 62 and RK 95 (7.62x39mm) rifles. The question remains which rifle will be procured, and what caliber of ammunition will be used.
Will Finland abandon the 7.62×39, or will Sweden abandon the 5.56×45? Or will both countries adopt a new caliber like the 7.62×51 or even something else? For example, there is also a highly-anticipated new type of ammunition, the 6.8×51mm hybrid, which cannot be ruled out, according to the report.
Without more information on the caliber preferred, the rifles that appear likely to be of interest to the two countries are the Heckler & Koch HK416, HK417 or HK433, as well as the FN Herstal FN SCAR 16 or 17. Some of them are already in use by certain Special Forces in both Sweden and Finland. Their neighbor Norway, as well as many other allies, use the HK416 widely.
From a different perspective, it should be noted that Sweden still has many older 7.62x51mm Ak4 rifles, with a small amount in the regular Army and a large amount in the National Guard. A new rifle, or rifle family, could certainly be used to upgrade them. From Finland’s perspective, it is probably harder to change the type of ammunition. However, it should be mentioned that Finland's reserve corps recently ordered a semi-automatic AK clone made by Dasan Machineries of South Korea, so the caliber will remain the same one way or another, according to the report.
