H&K Doesn’t Just Hate You, They Hate America Too
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 9 months ago
H&K hates you, or so they say. It appears they hate America too.
German gunmaker Heckler & Koch said U.S. aerospace and defence company Orbital ATK Inc had filed a suit in the United States seeking damages in excess of $27 million.
In the complaint, filed at the U.S. District court in the district of Minnesota, Orbital said it was seeking damages for breach of contract over the XM25 semi-automatic weapon system which Orbital and Heckler & Koch started developing more than 20 years ago.
“Heckler & Koch GmbH rejects all claims, based on the information we have so far,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
“Heckler & Koch GmbH did not receive the complaint formally from the U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota so far,” the gunmaker also said in its brief statement.
A spokesman for Heckler & Koch declined to comment on the details of the claims.
Orbital said in the filing, seen by Reuters, that Heckler & Koch had failed to deliver twenty additional prototypes of the XM25 weapon systems, as contracted, and that its failure to do so meant the U.S. Army had raised the possibility of terminating its contract with Orbital.
“Even if the Prime Contract is not terminated, Orbital ATK has incurred and will incur additional costs as a direct result of the substantial delay caused by Heckler & Koch’s non-performance and the need to re-procure the twenty weapons from an alternate manufacturer,” it stated in the filing.
Orbital is also asking in the filing that Heckler & Koch transfer certain intellectual property to enable another contractor to carry out the work.
The filing said Heckler & Koch had queried whether the weapons, which target enemies protected by walls or hidden in hard-to-reach places, would violate international laws of war.
The filing also said that after receiving legal opinions, Heckler & Koch had said it would only supply the weapons if the U.S. government provided a special certification, which the government refused to do. Informal mediation failed, and Heckler & Koch refused to engage in formal mediation, the filing stated.
Um … what? As best as I can determine, H&K decided that the very weapon they were designing for the stated purpose of being an airburst counter defilade weapon isn’t appropriate in anyone’s hands, and decided not to fulfill contractual obligations.
On February 3, 2017 at 9:56 am, Col. Douglas Mortimer said:
I’m not fond of H&K myself.
On February 3, 2017 at 10:18 am, Fred said:
It all sounds very normal from a DoD contracting and publicly traded company (orbital) standpoint and then H&K goes all weird and decides to interpret Geneva and Hague themselves outside of the lawmakers whose nations are signatories. There is something deeper here that, if it goes to court, could come out. I think it will be settled eventually. Our fedgovs are going to have to tell these guys to play nicely.
I’m automatically on Orbital’s side. I like me some Federal Premium ammo.
On February 3, 2017 at 11:56 am, Archer said:
I like Federal ammo, too. But I’m automatically on Orbital’s side because I refuse to support a company whose customer service basically amounts to, “You suck, and we hate you.”
If they treat their customers that way, why would anyone assume they treat their contractual partners any different?
On February 3, 2017 at 3:08 pm, Fred said:
never called their customer service before. Thanks for letting me know. Maybe Trump will slap a tariff on them and you can call them back and tell them about sowing and reaping.
On February 4, 2017 at 6:37 pm, RealitiCzech said:
ATK is quite willing to screw you over during an ammo panic on existing orders.
On February 3, 2017 at 3:56 pm, rocketguy said:
You know ATK split up and Federal is under Vista now? There is some stock intermingling but they have their own chain of command and such. Oh, the employee prices we used to get on Federal ammo!
I could point out the idle mfg building where XM25 ammo should be in full rate production…
On February 3, 2017 at 11:08 pm, Fred said:
I did not know that. ATK must have spun them out right after the orbital merger. Huh. I can’t keep up with all the wheeling and dealing. If I had owned ATK after the merger I would have known this I guess.
On February 10, 2017 at 6:18 pm, Warmongerel said:
No more employee discount? I was going to apply in Anoka, mostly for that reason.
On February 10, 2017 at 10:26 pm, rocketguy said:
If you’re an employee of Vista, sure you get employee discounts. If you manage to work at Anoka or travel there as a Vista employee, you get access to the “candy store” – the seconds.
However, I went with the OrbitalATK side of the split and no longer have access…I’m also permanently spoiled wrt retail prices. At least our stock isn’t tanking…
On February 4, 2017 at 6:35 pm, RealitiCzech said:
HK is on shaky ground after the G36 business, and the German press really doesn’t like them (because guns are bad). Can’t blame them for being over sensitive on matters that could wipe out their business in Germany.
Headlines would be akin to: “Evil Gun Company Who Committed G36 Fraud Now Making Illegal Weapons for Trump/Hitler’s America.”