pictures courtesy of NATO unlesss otherwise stated.

On May 8, 2009, the NATO Army Armaments Group (NAAG), Land Capability Group 1 Dismounted Soldier (LCG1-DS) approved the STANAG 4694. After that standard code is the NATO version of what we already know as a Rail Interface System (RIS). Although useful on any small arm, the rail interface system is mainly associated with the individual rifle.

It can be argued that the RIS, of which the STANAG is the latest refinement, is the foremost advance in the small arms field since the introduction of the assault rifle. The assault rifle has not changed much since 1942. If we compare an MKb 42 (H), the first assault rifle, to one of the latest, say the AR160, we can easily recognize the type and their respective operators would have little trouble adapting to each other’s weapon.

Of course, there have been many changes and improvements. New materials, cartridges, different operating principles, foldable and adjustable buttstocks and even easily interchangeable barrels and calibres: but no real breakthroughs in the package. The soldier still has a selective fire rifle firing an intermediate cartridge.

The most productive trend in the evolution of these small arms has been the move to add accessories, mainly sights (but also other weapons, lights, handles, target designators, etc.) reaching its highest point with the introduction of the Rail Interface System which makes the rifle (or any small arm) a true weapons “system” of unprecedented usefulness and versatility.

The NATO designation was no surprise and came in a timely fashion, as it has been announced that there’s a need for several NATO countries to replace their current assault rifles between now and 2020.

Many readers are probably aware that the Picatinny or MIL-STD-1913 rail already had a NATO designation, STANAG 2324, as had equivalent devices from other countries like those Canada (C7/C8), Germany (G36 Dovetail), United Kingdom (AI L96/AW Dovetail and SUSAT Dovetail) and even the United States (XM8 PCAP). What NATO has done is to take one of the best solutions (and the most issued inside the Alliance’s armies) as a base for an improved standard for all members, solving the interoperability problems that had surfaced in recent years, affecting not only small arms but all kinds of device mounting solutions, including helmet mounting systems.

As it follows common sense, an accessory mounting system should not hamper proper weapon use and manipulation. As most accessories’ function is to improve marksmanship, the mounting system must insure proper zeroing and also be able to withstand harsh combat conditions without performance degradation. The working group identified considerable margins of improvement relative to rail straightness and zero retention and repeatability, resulting in the following changes incorporated in the new design:

• Metric reference drawing.
• The MIL-STD-1913 rail uses the lateral “V” surfaces both for clamping and accessory alignment. The NATO work-group found that using the top rail surfaces for accessory alignment, leaving the lateral angled surfaces for pressure clamping, results in big improvements in zero retention and repeatability.
• Reduction of straightness tolerances by 50%.
• Adjustment of some other measurements.
• Addition of some new measurements and tolerances.

This has resulted in an improved product standardized in the allied armies, but before dumping your current rails and expensive accessories, keep in mind that the new standard is fully backwards compatible with the previous MIL-STD-1913, so, no allied army, nor citizen, has to discard valuable equipment on behalf of international standardization.

A Look at the Future

This pretty much resumes the current military standards and answers the requirements for zeroing issues, but, mounting a rail interface system and so many accessories surely affects how a rifle handles and this opens the second part of the article that is looking into what NATO is preparing for the future.

As stated before, an accessory mounting system should not affect proper weapon manipulation. Anyone who has seen a picture of a rifle with a handguard rail system in place can realize how unwieldy it looks. Add to that a suite of accessories, as can be seen festooning the rifles of our soldiers, and there can be no doubt that the addition of so much volume and weight can have a great impact in how that rifle handles. NATO also realized that this amount of forward weight can be detrimental in handling the rifle in short range combat, the kind of fighting so prevalent in current and projected scenarios.

From an ergonomic perspective, the main offender is the addition of weight, especially to the forward part of the rifle, around the handguard, displacing the center of gravity forward and so affecting the balance of the system. It was also found that most accessories use batteries for power supply. Those batteries represent around 50% of the weight and volume of the accessories. But the proliferation of different types of batteries, used not only for rifle accessories but also for other equipment, has also created other associated issues. For instance, a recent Canadian Army report states that, during the course of a two week operation in Afghanistan, a rifle company used up more than 17,500 AA batteries, which raises an obvious logistic issue, especially for the smaller units whose missions may keep them away from their natural supply channels.

All this points to a need to reduce the number and types of batteries to be used in the different infantry equipment, including those of the “soldier system,” and also the desirability of developing a centralised power supply system for the rifle mounted accessories, which could allow to store a single common battery into the buttstock or pistol grip, thereby repositioning the center of gravity to a more convenient location. In fact, the battery may even be taken completely out of the rifle, having a common power supply for the “soldier system” worn on the soldier’s web gear.

NATO is working on a rail interface system capable of supplying power to the accessories attached to it. To this end the NATO working group mentioned earlier, with participation from Canada, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the U.S. Army and U.S.M.C. (France and the United Kingdom withdrew in 2006 and 2008 respectively) is working in close cooperation with NATO’s LG/1 Dismounted Soldier Systems. Their first common task is to get data on the batteries in use throughout NATO and the power demands of the different devices, in order to define a power requirement for a typical soldier’s daily mission, which will be used to create a baseline requirement for future systems.

Several NATO countries (Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United States) have contacted the industry for powered rail technology demonstrators. Colt is proposing two technologies to Canada. One is an induction system by Komtech Mfg., Inc. and the other is a system based on elastomeric contacts from Greene Tweed, that will consist of a series of elastomer protected electric contacts which will only let power through when compressed by the attached accessory. Both will allow wireless power transfer between the rail and the mounted accessories. Additionally, both of them would allow mounting accessories in different positions on the rail; the powered rail system being able to identify which accessory is in each position in order to supply it the necessary power. Both technologies are capable of withstanding harsh combat conditions. The battery may not even be in the weapon system but be part of the soldier system and transfer power trough a special glove connector, also wireless. This last feature, however, may be debatable, as it’s obviously important to have some redundancy in case you need to grab your rifle in a hurry and be separated from or have the rest of your gear damaged. Also, as the soldier systems like the Raytheon Android Tactical System and the Joint Battle Command-Platform JBC-P are taking the shape and size of smart phones it doesn’t seem that attaching them to external power supplies may be the best choice. There’s also a growing need to have a personal radio, a role that may be taken by the soldier system, at least for short range (squad level) communication, contributing to power demands and the convenience to swap accessories (like cameras or night vision) between weapons and personal gear (like helmet mountings). In this writer’s opinion the most promising path will be to have dedicated batteries for weapon, soldier system and radio but it will be very advantageous to retain the capability to tap power from each other in case of need. So it would be interesting to try to devise a common connector and output standard, be it wireless or not.

Once you start thinking about a powered rail, you naturally progress to considering how that will affect future sensors attached to it and also consider the possibility and convenience of adding a data transfer system, in order to be able to share sensor input with the soldier’s and external systems. This opens another field for development and standardisation. In fact there are WiFi capable target acquisition devices on the market.

All of these are middle term projects but they will surely enter service as a natural evolution of current systems.

NATO is also working on other weapon and soldier improvements as it’s currently investigating optimum foregrip location, and a special buttstock that would allow use of a rifle while wearing a face protection mask. There are also more possibilities for standardizing other items as might be magazines, pressure switches, flash hider, muzzle threads and even bayonet lugs. So there’s still a lot of work to be done before we see the assault rifle reach the end of its career.

Located in the ancient city of Segovia, the Spanish Army Academy of Artillery was founded in 1764 by Don Félix Gazola, under orders of King Carlos III, unifying and centralizing the tasks until then undertaken by several different institutions dispersed trough the kingdom, some of them dating back to the 16th Century. Since then it has been one of the foremost military and technological institutions in Spain, as its graduates were in charge civilian and military engineering tasks until well into the 20th Century. Originally sited in the Alcázar (a Medieval castle), it was moved to its current location after the fire that destroyed the original site in 1853.

The main grounds of the Academy are inside the city of Segovia, just across the street from the Roman Aqueduct in a former monastery dated 1220. A separate site is the Polígono Baterías just outside the city and used until the turn of the century as a shooting range for live firing of all kinds of artillery, some times shooting to targets sited across the city.

The Academy’s mission is the human, technical and tactical formation of all Spanish artillerymen and women of all graduations and its continued training and updates, as well as being the custodian of the values, tradition and spirit of the Arm. Its modern simulation facilities allow for training on the whole scope of the artilleryman’s trade saving time, money and ammunition.

A visit to the Academia starts several weeks in advance, by requesting permission to the Museum’s director. Then the Academy Museum staff will contact you to confirm dates and times. On the day of our visit we were greeted by the Colonel Director of the Museum and a member of his staff that would act as our guide. After an introduction by the colonel and discussion of the topics of our interest, we were guided through the chosen areas.

As can be expected from such an institution, its grounds are full of military memorabilia and artillery pieces, both in and outdoors. Don’t forget that the first use of artillery in Europe took place in the siege of the Spanish city of Niebla in 1262 so, there’s a wealth of Artillery lore to preserve and display.

Understandably, there’s some bias towards materials of local design and manufacture but without dismissing foreign made pieces both used by the Spanish armies and also by other countries, as exemplified by an Arisaka field gun brought from South East Asia, which is now guarding a stairwell shaft.

The Main Hall’s walls are decorated with inscriptions remembering those battles in which artillery played main or decisive roles. The Graduates Gallery has wall panels listing the names of all persons graduated from the academy since its foundation, as well as a board containing the names or artillerymen awarded the Medalla Militar Individual, Spain’s second highest military reward.

It also hosts a series of cabinets containing fully detailed miniatures of antique artillery pieces, carriages and limbers, being, as our escort pointed to us, the teaching aids used before the arrival of computer presentations. This gallery also houses a collection of flags preserving, among others, all the Academy’s historic flags. Worth mentioning is the standard carried by the artillery regiment of the volunteer División Azul (also known as Wehrmacht 250 Division) through the Russian Campaign of World War II.

A prominent place is reserved for the statues or artillery captains Daoiz and Velarde, the first military personnel to join the people’s uprising against Napoleon’s invasion in May 2, 1808, which was the starting point leading to the first defeat of the emperor’s armies. Formations and roll calls are performed at the orders court, whose walls support boards with the names of all artillery officers fallen on duty.

The Materials Room houses part of the artillery collection illustrating the evolution of breech loading artillery from 14th Century iron and brass cannons to 20th Century pieces, with some additional older specimens, like a 40mm Ribadoquín from the 16th century, which is a breechloader, or a field piece from 1777 specifically designed to fight the Pampa Indians in Argentina, a forerunner of similarly mobile pieces from other European countries.

Indigenous designed and made materials, like a 40mm Ramirez Arellano infantry cannon, a very innovative design for 1927, are in force, but there’s also a very good representations of Italian artillery from the first half of the 20th Century, up to a 105/14 OTO-MELARA M-56, still in service in many countries after more than half a century, a mark also attained by the locally made and now retired 105/26 Naval Reinosa that sits at its side.

No artillery collection would be complete without a good sampling of Krupp, Skoda and Schneider guns and this one is no exception. There’s even a presentation Christophe volley gun, a gift from the Belgian maker to King Alfonso XII. A separate room houses the collection of ammunition spanning the range from stone balls to base bleed shells.

The Rockets Room has a couple Congreve rockets from the 19th Century and a very detailed display of rocket technology evolution from 1945 up to the 1980s as Spain was very active, and innovative, in the development of this kind of weapons in that timeframe.

The Portable Arms Room is home of the topographic tools, mortars and small arms. This latter collection is shared between this location and the now restored Alcázar. The weapons display comprises edged weapons, a superb collection of rifles starting with a 16th Century Harquebus and spanning all the evolution of the rifle up to the CETME L, the latest assault rifle designed and made in Spain, which was replaced by the H&K G36 a few years ago.

The display concentrates on breech loading rifles, with samples from several countries and more specifically with Spanish military rifles, with very complete collections of Remington Rolling Blocks (Fusil Modelo 1871 in Spain) and all the evolution and variants of Spanish Mausers from the 7×57 models of 1892 and 1893 to the 8×57 Model 1943 and latter conversions to .308 Winchester.

There are also samples from Winchester lever action and semiautomatic rifles used by the Spanish armed forces and several indigenous breech loading systems, as well as a board displaying the evolution of the CETME assault rifles, from the first prototypes in 7.62×40 (including a belt-fed version precursor of the H&K 21 with detachable barrel and marked “Mauser-CETME”), to the last version chambered in 5.56×45. Also worth mentioning is a superb 19th Century cabinet brought from Fábrica de Oviedo displaying a full set of templates and tools for making the Mauser 1893 rifle, as well as a wall board displaying one of those rifles completely disassembled.

There’s also a handful of submachine guns, most of them Spanish made, and a small but varied mortar collection from between world wars, including the now world standard Stokes designs but also several Spanish (like an early ECIA and a Valero) and foreign mortars and grenade launchers from France, England, Italy and Russia, including a Brixia grenade launcher and a Mosin-Nagant rifle converted by radically cutting its barrel and fitting a grenade launching cup and a bipod.

Finally, there’s a collection of machine guns and automatic rifles, highlighted by a pair of 11.43mm 1885 Gardner guns (in one and two barrel versions). Also worth mentioning is a brass Maxim from 1890 in 11mm, a pair of 7.62×54 Spitalni-Komaritsky (models of 1928 and 1930), a Spanish Trapote 1913, a Oviedo Coruña 1925 and a Mexican Mendoza automatic rifle, all in 7×57, to name a few.

The Sciences and Technology room preserves technical and scientific instruments from centuries past, as well as teaching aids. There’s also memorabilia from French scientist Louis Proust who was professor of chemistry at the Academy for 14 years, formulating the law of definite proportions during his tenure. Since its foundation, the Academy has maintained a very well stocked library, containing many ancient first editions, which is open to modern investigators, civilian and military. It issues grants to investigators who publish works based upon the library’s funds.

Visits to the Academy must be requested in advance by writing or faxing to the attention of the museum’s director: Attn.: Director del Museo de la Academia de Artillería, C/San Francisco Nº 25. CP 40001. Segovia. Spain. Fax: 921435464. Be sure to request with enough advance, to offer alternate dates (in case your first choice enters in conflict with the Academy’s official agenda), and include an e-mail address to expedite arrangements.

The museum is open only in the mornings, so you can use the afternoon to visit the nearby Alcázar. As it is housed in a historical complex, the Academy lacks facilities for the physically impaired. The staff can speak English, and probably some other languages, depending on who is assigned there at the time of your visit. There are information sheets and a very nice guide book (only in Spanish).

Segovia is around 80 Km North of Madrid and well connected by rail and road transport. It is a popular excursion from Madrid and has an excellent tourist infrastructure and a lot of historical sites to see. Also nearby are the Royal Palaces of La Granja and Riofrio, very worth visiting by themselves if you stay overnight or for non-gun people. And make sure not to miss the excellent gastronomy.

Vienna’s Museum of Military History is one of the most important military museums in the world. Located near Vienna’s city centre, it’s near to the famous Belvedere Palace and very well connected by public transport.

The location is part of the Arsenal, Vienna’s former garrison. Its building was purposefully built as a museum between 1850 and 1856 by order of Emperor Franz Joseph I; thus being the oldest museum in Vienna and also claiming to be the oldest purposefully built museum in the world. The architecture of this building and the remainder of the original complex are very interesting, ascribing to Byzantine, Hispano-Moorish and Neo-Gothic styles. Most of the original complex is now a public park and also hosts the museum’s outdoor exhibits.

The museum covers the historic period from 1618 to 1945 (although the outdoor exhibits includes many more modern pieces) and is a very lively organization, hosting several activities ranging from period swordsmanship to cannon firing, culminated by the Montur und Pulverdampf, a huge historical re-enactment event. For more information and videos, please, check on Google and YouTube.

Getting back to the museum proper and having admired the façade, one can dedicate time to visit the outside exhibits. Composed mainly from one of the best ancient artillery collections, this exhibit is partially covered under two roofed pavilions. There are also aircraft and military vehicles. Admittance to the external exhibits is free unless there’s any activity in progress.

Inside the main building you will be greeted by the Commander’s Hall – a pillared hall decorated with the statues of the main military commanders in Austria’s history.

A chronologically organized visit starts in the first floor. Its left wing has two halls dedicated respectively to the 17th and 18th centuries. Opposite is the zone covering the historical period from 1789 to 1866. Back at the ground level, the left wing covers the period from 1867 to 1918, with a hall dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph and the Sarajevo assassination and another to World War I. Opposite the Commander’s Hall are the Republic and Dictatorship (1918-1945) and Austrian Naval Power Halls.

The 17th century was a troubled period for Europe, starting with the 30 Years’ War, which convulsed the continent from 1618 to 1648. That’s the historical period that saw the restoration of permanent armies in Europe. The museum hosts an impressive collection of body armour from this period as well as pole arms and a very informative audio visual display showing the actual operation of a musket. There’s also a very well preserved carriage mounted volley gun.

The next section covers one of the most important episodes in Europe’s and world history: the 1683 Ottoman’s second, and last, siege of Vienna which was the last attempt of the Ottoman Empire to conquer Europe. The victory of the combined Imperial and Polish armies signalled the start of the Turkish retreat from the continent. The displays of Turkish weaponry are very interesting due to their exoticism, including the famous compound bows, which at that time still rivalled, and even surpassed, firearms in terms of range and rate of fire.

In the 18th century hall is a very well preserved small mortar, known as the Belgrade Mortar, credited with having fired the shot that blew the main magazine of the Belgrade fortress on August 14, 1717 causing more than 3,000 casualties and precipitating the fall of the city. Another very interesting display contains several hand grenades dated circa 1765.

Crossing the building to the opposite wing is an exhibit dedicated to the French Wars. The main piece from a technical point of view may very well be the oldest military aircraft still preserved, which is a French observation balloon. Another very interesting display is the presence of a couple over/under flintlock muskets, presented as soldier’s weapons. There’s also a single tube rocket launcher together with a selection of rockets and artillery shells from the first half of the 19th Century.

At ground level is the wing dedicated to the second half of the 19th century until 1918. There’s a very interesting display showing the development of the breech loading rifle in Austria and also a representation of that country’s sidearms.

There’s an entire room dedicated to the Sarajevo assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, which was the spark that ignited the First World War. Preserved there is the car in which the crime took place, the pistol used by Gavrilo Princip to commit the crime and even the uniform worn by Archduke Ferdinand on that fateful day.

Following that room there’s an extensive collection of objects covering World War I comprising even a specimen of the infamous French Chauchat light machine gun. The array of weapons from both sides is extensive that includes flamethrowers, machine guns, personal armor, chemical warfare equipment and even some medieval looking maces for hand to hand fighting. Artillery from the period ranges from a small hand portable cannon to a very imposing 38cm howitzer. There’s even an original Albatross B1 airplane prototype, as well as several armoured domes taken from fortifications, some of them wearing impressive battle scars.

The presence of several specimens of the Vilar-Perosa machine gun was most interesting. It was the first pistol caliber machine gun, chambered for the 9mm Glisenti round, and fed from a top mounted, detachable magazine. It was twin conception (a double gun) intended to be used as a light machine gun/automatic rifle, complete with bipod and spade grips. On display is a specimen mounted on a special wooden structure designed to be suspended in front of a man’s chest so he could fire the weapon while advancing. The basic gun was 21 inches (533 mm) long and weighed 14.34 lbs (6.52 kg) – quite a handful for such a feeble cartridge. After the war, almost all the surviving pieces where stripped from their twin mounts and given conventional stocks giving birth to the OPV and Beretta 1918 submachine guns.

The “Sea Power Austria” room is dedicated to Imperial times when Austria (now a landlocked country) operated a sizable naval force, a period spanning 200 years ending in 1918. On display is an impressive model of a battleship, several antique torpedoes, and even a conning tower salvaged from a sunken WWI submarine. The collection of small arms includes some Colt revolvers.

The exhibit dedicated to the World War II has an interesting array of small arms including a FG42 rifle. There is also a machine gun turret from an American bomber, accompanied by an electrically heated airman’s suit, and several other aircraft.

There’s also an instrument panel from a Me 109 fighter as well as a WWII jet engine and a Fiesler Storch short take off and landing light airplane. Artillery is represented by an 88 mm Flak 36 together with a searchlight and a German 75 mm antitank gun. Other anti-tank weapons are a Panzerfaust, a Panzerschreck rocket launcher and a British PIAT grenade launcher. Inside this same hall there are several German vehicles, both wheeled and tracked, and a most impressive Kettenkrafttrad half track motorcycle complete with cargo area tarpaulins and towed chariot.

There’s also a specimen of the SdKfz 302 Goliath – the German unmanned ground vehicle. This was a miniature wire guided tank, complete with armour and tracks, used to place demolition charges.

If you are accompanied by persons who are not that interested in military history, they can visit the nearby Belvedere Palace, originally home of one of the foremost imperial generals and now an art museum, housing some of the most famous paintings by Gustav Klimt. If you need to recover energies after the visit, one of the most popular restaurants in Vienna, Salm Bräu, is next door to Belvedere Palace.

Museum of Military History, Militärhistorisches Institut, A-1030 Vienna, Arsenal, Objekt 1.
Phone number: +43-(0)1- 79561-0.
Website: www.hgm.or.at.

Public transport: underground line U1, Südbahnhof station and U3 Schlachthausgasse stations.
Bus lines 13A, 69A, streetcar lines 18, D.

Open daily (please, check before visit, as at least several museums in Vienna close one day per week) from 9am to 5pm. Closing days: 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 1 November, 24, 25 and 31 December.

Entry fee is 5.1 € (includes audio guide in several languages, including English), additional small fee for picture taking, no flash or tripod allowed. Informative sheets in several languages are available. English speaking staff. There are facilities for physically impaired persons. There’s a small café in the premises and nearby hotels and restaurants.