This was a replacement for the H&K G3. The G36 was lighter andhas a folding stock and built-in optical sight. It uses a varient of the short-stroke gas system of the Armalite AR-18. With the collapse of Communism, and the G11 Project no longer needed, the Bundeswehr was left with the G3. The G36 was the immediatly availible replacement as the German service rifle, produced from 1990s to the present