BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
The compasses we were issued were always calibrated in "MILS" as opposed to degree's. If I remember correctly 6400 MILS was equal to 360 degree's.
Are MILS still used?
Are MILS still used?
Last I knew they were still used for Artillery direction. I have a small Artillery theodolite that I used for underground survey, and that was where I first ran into them.
I just had to consult Google and it looks like it is still the case, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_mi
Are MILS still used?
Yes it is, especially for Artillery... :smil:
I'd suppose long range snipers need more accuracy
No, it was always degrees, minutes and seconds for us although I can't speak for the Gunnery side of things where they are doing indirect fire under the direction of a spotter. Most of our naval "goonery" is either direct (line of sight) fire or radar controlled.I have no idea if RN or RAN ships were fitted with MILS or degree's compasses.
I surprised, I would have thought you blokes would have been trained using MILS
I'd suppose long range snipers need more accuracy
Good lor, I did remember rightly 6400 mils = a full circle:mrgreen:A gun that is 1 MIL(S) off firing at a target 20km away will miss the target by about 20 meters, and 1 MIL(S) isn't very much (A full circle = 6400 MILS)...
And that formula is also quite handy for fire direction, spotting targets etc. manually for forward observer teams..
1 MIL at 1000 meters = 1 meter.... Just need a couple of known points in the terrain and you can direct fire manually using only a pair of binoculars with a MILS scale printed on the lense... :smil:
All ADF land navigation is done using Mils. Air Force and Navy use degrees. Except where an Air Force Combat Controller is calling artillery, when he uses Mils. Confused?
If I remember correctly (bearing in mind this was over 30 years ago and memory fades) on our maps, grid north was true north while yours show Grid, True and Magnetic. But I could be wrong
Grid north can be the same as true north, but it depends on where you are in the world (where the map is). :smil:
This was UK
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