Mils (NATO) to Minutes of Arc Converter

What Is a Mil?

A mil, short for milliradian, is equal to 1/6,400 of a circle. The mil used by the US military and NATO forces is slightly different than the true value of a milliradian, which is equal to 1/6,283 of a circle.

During World War I the US adopted what is now the NATO mil to replace degrees and minutes for use in artillery sights. They opted to round mils to 6,400 per circle for simplicity at the time. Today, the mil is commonly used to measure adjustment of sights and scopes of firearms.

There is rightfully much confusion as a result of the mil adopted by the US military and NATO being slightly different than the milliradian.

A mil is sometimes also referred to as an angular mil. Mils can be abbreviated as mil; for example, 1 mil can be written as 1 mil.

Learn more about mils.

What Is a Minute of Arc?

The minute of arc is a unit of angle equal to 1/60th of one degree, or 1/21,600 of a circle. The minute of arc is also equal to π/10,800 radians.

A minute of arc is sometimes also referred to as an arc minute, arcminute, or minute arc. Minutes of arc can be abbreviated as arcmin, and are also sometimes abbreviated as MOA or amin. For example, 1 minute of arc can be written as 1 arcmin, 1 MOA, or 1 amin.

The minute of arc is most commonly represented using the prime (′), although the single-quote is commonly used. For instance, 1 minute of is most commonly expressed as 1′.

Learn more about minutes of arc.