The HK23 is a West German 5.56×45mm NATO light machine gun. The HK23 is based on the 7.62×51mm NATO HK21 general purpose machine gun.
History[]
HK23 was developed in 1972. The purpose of this gun was to compete with various small calibre guns of the time. The main purpose of the gun was to export to foreign markets instead of special development for the German Bundeswehr and German law enforcement agencies. Ten years later, in order to participate in the U.S. military’s automatic class weapon campaign, Heckler and Koch also derived HK23E and participated in the election under the name of XM262, but eventually lost to FN Minimi, the Belgian state owned Herstal. Later named M249).
Design[]
The HK23 is a light machine gun version of the HK21 that was based on the G3 battle rifle.