Was at a barbecue earlier tonight, started talking to some guy who claimed to be a veteran of the German Navy ('96-'00). He was also an insane bigot, but that's beside the point.

I asked him about the HK USP and HK G36 he was issued. He'd never heard of HK (I even clarified by saying "Heckler and Koch"), the USP or the G36.

I was surprised to learn that every sailor in the German Navy is issued a fully-automatic Walther P99 and a Kalashnikov made of polycarbonate.

Maybe he meant that he was in the Airsoft German Navy? I guess I should have asked if the P99 was chambered in 6mm or .177

__________________
The Emperor has no TelePrompTer™.




You are aware most navy personnel do not normally get issued individual arms?

__________________
The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd. Indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

-Bertrand Russell

Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable

-Laurence J. Peters

I never said that you had no right to have an opinion. I just said that it was, in fact, worth nothing.

-Maineman ( on 12 June 2007)

No, I was not aware that this was universal. Clearly it isn't - sailors in the German Navy are issued the fully-automatic Walther P99 and the polycarbonate Kalashnikov

__________________
The Emperor has no TelePrompTer™.




Why?

I can't think of many places on earth where issuing small arms to the crew makes less sense than onboard a modern naval vessel.

If it comes down to hand to hand combat, the ship is already compromised.

This story, while it may be true, makes like no sense to me.

They all want to be James Bond.