increased, until in some units it represented 1 in 4 of the weapons present in a squad. During its long service in the US military, it was pivotal in the evolution of U.S. fireteam tactics and doctrine that continues to the present day. Modern squad automatic weapons (such as the RPK and L86) are modified assault rifles or battle rifles (e.g. FN FAL 50.41 and M14A1) that may have increased ammunition capacity and heavier barrels to withstand continued fire and will almost always have a bipod. In the case of some assault rifles, such as the H&K G36 or Steyr AUG, the SAW is simply the standard rifle with a few parts replaced. However, the Austrian Army, though issuing the Steyr AUG rifle, does not issue the HBAR (heavy barrel) variant. Instead, the 7.62mm caliber MG74, a derivative of WW2-era German MG 42, is issued. Light machine guns, either belt-fed or magazine-fed, may be used as squad automatic weapons, as may general-purpose machine guns; for example, during most of the Cold War period, the standard squad automatic weapon in the British Army was the FN Mag-derived L7. The most common squad automatic weapons in use today are derived from two basic patterns: the Kalashnikov-based RPK or the purpose-designed FN Minimi. National examples Belgium FN Minimi FN SCAR(HAMR) China QBB-95 QJY-88 Germany West Germany's original plan in the late 1980s was to adopt the new 5.56mm Heckler & Koch G41 assault rifle (a variant of the HK33) to replace the 7.62mm Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle and the 4.7mm Heckler & Koch G11 carbine to replace the 9mm IMI MP2 Uzi and Heckler & Koch MP5. The end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany in 1990 forced everyone to scramble for a cheap alternative. The G36 family was created from a proof-of-concept prototype rechambered to fire the 5.56mm NATO cartridge. It is composed of an assault rifle (G36), light machine gun (MG36), assault carbine (G36K), and PDW (G36C). Though produced, presented and ordered, the MG36 was never adopted by the German Army as the differences and benefits to the G36 were seen as marginal, resulting in the order being cancelled. MG4 is standard platoon-level support weapon of the German Army, adopted in 2005. MG5 is general-purpose machine gun of the German Army, adopted in 2015. HK MG36 (Not in Use by the German Army) HK MG4 HK