The Heckler & Koch P8 is the standard sidearm of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces). It was introduced in 1994 to replace the Walther P1 that was previously in service with their armed forces for 35 years. The P8 is built by Heckler & Koch and is a modified version of their USP chambered in 9x19mm. The frame is made from fiberglass-reinforced polymer with stainless steel inserts and the slide is manufactured from stainless steel. As with all variants of the USP series, the P8 includes the mechanical recoil reduction system into its design, drastically reducing the amount of recoil both felt by the shooter and absorbed by the handgun.