The modern Austrian Army, or Bundesheer, dates back to 1955 and, by extension, to the old Kaiserliche Armee of the Habsburgs that fought the Turks and later Napolean back in the day. They have a reputation for military innovation, producing the superb Lorenz rifle— one of the first percussion-type muzzleloader– in 1854, fielding the famous Skoda mortars of WWI that put the end to the concept of impregnable fixed fortifications and then, more recently, being the first army to field a polymer-framed pistol, adopting Austrian firearms inventor Gaston Glock’s Pistole 80 as its official sidearm more than 40 years ago.
Now, the Austrians are at it again as witnessed by a recent post from the Bundesheer, showing the Army Non-Officer Academy in Enns conducting safe firearms training with their Glocks and a Mantis system.
A dry-firing tool, the MantisX attaches to an accessory rail, the user then installs the smartphone application, pairs the device with a phone via Bluetooth, and conducts their training.
The system then evaluates shooting performance, identifying areas of improvement, and tracks progress over time.
The Austrians seem to be using the company’s Laser Academy system, judging by the target.
Interesting stuff for sure.