Words: Rich Norman
Pics: Rheinmetall via Europäische Sicherheit & Technik (ES&T)
This could be the Fifty Shades blog to end all Fifty Shades blogs.
I spotted this fantastic example of mixed low observable colours on militarynews.jp. It seemed to be straight out of the RAL8000 text book, but it isn’t an H&K product:
Curious, I traced the pic back to Europäische Sicherheit & Technik (ES&T). In fairness to militarynews.jp they did cite ES&T, but I wanted to make sure that it was the original source of the news.
This laser aiming device is made by Rheinmetall and is known as the VTAL (Variable Tactical Aiming Laser).
ES&T’s article is translated below.
BAAINBw – referred to in the article – stands for Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr. It is the Bundeswehr’s procurement agency.
The G95 – to which the article also refers – is the Bundeswehr designation for the HK416A7. This adds weight to the VTAL’s colourway being influenced by H&K’s RAL8000 spectrum.
What’s striking about Rheinmetall’s mix of colours is that it pretty much covers the key RAL8000 tones seen on the HK416A5 in the wild over the last few years; including the newer grey colour:
The really interesting part is that the VTAL’s body exhibits the purple-brown RAL8000 ano seen on some early HK416A5 upper receivers.
Has RAL8000 come full circle – or did someone just top up the ano dye?
Catch up on more RAL8000 articles, here:
Fifty Shades of RAL8000 Part 1
Fifty Shades of RAL8000 Part 2
Fifty Shades of RAL8000 Part 3
Fifty Shades of RAL8000 Part 4
Fifty Shades of RAL8000 Part 5
The Reptile House 