NDIA individual weapons seminar call for papers regarding ancillary equipment, selected Mr. Swan’s abstract titled, “Sermon On The Mount”
The presentation included a brief history of the past 25 years to present, and documents devices and weapons. The documented photo history also included how the A.R.M.S. standard rail dimensions were first adopted by Canadian Forces, Colt, and Picatinny as the 1913 dovetail rail and how/where they are applied today.
The Sermon on the Mount presentation includes:
- – A brief history of where and how we were mounting early aiming devices
- – How new mounting systems and devices evolved
- – How developers for fire control are governed by weapons surfaces, ergonomics and tactics
- – Modularity was not always understood or practiced
- – Lasers were not always around, understood, nor wanted
- – Dovetail Rails were a hard sell at one time
- – Why weapons designers need to work with optics/laser/NV and mount makers before, during, and after development
- – Why all branches of the services must have their specific needs in fire control addressed in common interfacing
- – Human engineering factors
- – Should we rely on electronics alone for hand held point of aim weapons?
- – What needs to be considered for providing reliable power to future weapons? Is a battery the only way?
- – Built-in devices vs. field interchangeable systems
- – Importance of helping weapons run cooler thus longer, and keeping barrels free of direct attachment of rails and mounted devices
- – Helping Electro-Optic devices run longer without failures due to weapon heat and vibrations