Gentlemen,
I would like some assistance in verifying the history of the use of the KM2000 in the Bundeswehr. This subject came up a few days ago on the DDR Forum and some of what was said there does not sound logical to me. I have reproduced the comments from the DDR Forum below.
"Back in 2000 when I was an Observer Controller at Hohenfels a unit from Schweinfurt came to train and they brought with them the German recon Platoon from their partnership unit. All of the German soldiers were carrying AK bayonets and said they were issue items. I did not look very well at how they were attached to their web gear.
GREENDUDLEY
I have not had confirmation of dates yet, but, these "Kampfmesser schwer" were issued to all members of at least one unit 313 Fschjg Btl. They were used as combat knife only.
Marc Sherriff
Update to above; they were issued to all Infantry units until 2006-2007, to replace the Kampfmesser 2000. Now replaced by a new version of the "Kampfmesser 2000" called the "Kampfmesser 2010"
Marc Sherriff"
First hand knowlege of the modified AK in wear verifies that it was issued and worn in the field in 2000. Since these bayonets would only have become available to the BW some time after October 2 1999 this would seem to be the earliest they could have been issued given the fact that they had to modified for wear by the BW.
It would not seem reasonable to me that an AK47 with a modified scabbard would be introduced in 2000 to replace a combat knife that is labeled the "KM2000". I could see it being issued as a temproroy measure until sufficient numbers of the KM2000 became available for issue to all BW Infantry/combat units. Presumably, the KM2000 was only introduced in the year 2000. I can not find any mention of a KM2010 any where on line. I did find a wiki article that said that the steel used in the KM2000 had been changed in 2008 to improve the edge holding ability of the knife and that the company had produced a model with a spear point rather then a "tanto" blade. This spear pointed blade appears not to have been adopted in the BW.
In 2010 the Bundewhr uploaded to YOUTOUBE a video of how a KM2000 was made. This video is easy to find on line. It would seem odd to me that the BW would put a video of the manufacturing process of the KM2000 on line in 2010 if they were introducing a new combat knife that same year.
All that being said, anything is possible and I would appreciate any comments that could be made by people who have knowledge of the issue, use and wear of these two combat knives. In particular the KM2000.
Regards,
Gordon
I would like some assistance in verifying the history of the use of the KM2000 in the Bundeswehr. This subject came up a few days ago on the DDR Forum and some of what was said there does not sound logical to me. I have reproduced the comments from the DDR Forum below.
"Back in 2000 when I was an Observer Controller at Hohenfels a unit from Schweinfurt came to train and they brought with them the German recon Platoon from their partnership unit. All of the German soldiers were carrying AK bayonets and said they were issue items. I did not look very well at how they were attached to their web gear.
GREENDUDLEY
I have not had confirmation of dates yet, but, these "Kampfmesser schwer" were issued to all members of at least one unit 313 Fschjg Btl. They were used as combat knife only.
Marc Sherriff
Update to above; they were issued to all Infantry units until 2006-2007, to replace the Kampfmesser 2000. Now replaced by a new version of the "Kampfmesser 2000" called the "Kampfmesser 2010"
Marc Sherriff"
First hand knowlege of the modified AK in wear verifies that it was issued and worn in the field in 2000. Since these bayonets would only have become available to the BW some time after October 2 1999 this would seem to be the earliest they could have been issued given the fact that they had to modified for wear by the BW.
It would not seem reasonable to me that an AK47 with a modified scabbard would be introduced in 2000 to replace a combat knife that is labeled the "KM2000". I could see it being issued as a temproroy measure until sufficient numbers of the KM2000 became available for issue to all BW Infantry/combat units. Presumably, the KM2000 was only introduced in the year 2000. I can not find any mention of a KM2010 any where on line. I did find a wiki article that said that the steel used in the KM2000 had been changed in 2008 to improve the edge holding ability of the knife and that the company had produced a model with a spear point rather then a "tanto" blade. This spear pointed blade appears not to have been adopted in the BW.
In 2010 the Bundewhr uploaded to YOUTOUBE a video of how a KM2000 was made. This video is easy to find on line. It would seem odd to me that the BW would put a video of the manufacturing process of the KM2000 on line in 2010 if they were introducing a new combat knife that same year.
All that being said, anything is possible and I would appreciate any comments that could be made by people who have knowledge of the issue, use and wear of these two combat knives. In particular the KM2000.
Regards,
Gordon
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