Mils (NATO) to Radians Converter

Enter the angle in mils below to get the value converted to radians.

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Result in Radians:

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1 mil = 0.000982 rad

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How to Convert Mils to Radians

To convert a measurement in mils to a measurement in radians, multiply the angle by the following conversion ratio: 0.000982 radians/mil.

Since one mil is equal to 0.000982 radians, you can use this simple formula to convert:

radians = mils × 0.000982

The angle in radians is equal to the angle in mils multiplied by 0.000982.

For example, here's how to convert 5,000 mils to radians using the formula above.
radians = (5,000 mil × 0.000982) = 4.908739 rad
conversion scale showing mils and equivalent radians angle values

Mils and radians are both units used to measure angle. Keep reading to learn more about each unit of measure.

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 Radian?

A radian is the measurement of angle equal to the length of an arc divided by the radius of the circle or arc.[1] 1 radian is equal to 180/π degrees, or about 57.29578°. There are about 6.28318 radians in a circle.

The radian is the SI derived unit for angle in the metric system. Radians can be abbreviated as rad, and are also sometimes abbreviated as c, r, or R. For example, 1 radian can be written as 1 rad, 1 c, 1 r, or 1 R.

Radians are often expressed using their definition. The formula to find an angle in radians is θ = s/r, where the angle in radians θ is equal to the arc length s divided by the radius r. Thus, radians may also be expressed as the formula of arc length over the radius.

Radians are also considered to be a "unitless" unit. That is, when multiplying or dividing by radians, the result does not include radians as part of the final units.

For example, when determining the length of an arc for a given angle, we use the formula above, rearranged to be s = θr. If θ is in radians and r is in meters, then the units of s will be meters, not radian-meters. If θ were in degrees, however, then s would have units of degree-meters.

Learn more about radians.

Mil to Radian Conversion Table

Table showing various mil measurements converted to radians.
Mils (NATO) Radians
1 mil 0.000982 rad
2 mil 0.001963 rad
3 mil 0.002945 rad
4 mil 0.003927 rad
5 mil 0.004909 rad
6 mil 0.00589 rad
7 mil 0.006872 rad
8 mil 0.007854 rad
9 mil 0.008836 rad
10 mil 0.009817 rad
20 mil 0.019635 rad
30 mil 0.029452 rad
40 mil 0.03927 rad
50 mil 0.049087 rad
60 mil 0.058905 rad
70 mil 0.068722 rad
80 mil 0.07854 rad
90 mil 0.088357 rad
100 mil 0.098175 rad
200 mil 0.19635 rad
300 mil 0.294524 rad
400 mil 0.392699 rad
500 mil 0.490874 rad
600 mil 0.589049 rad
700 mil 0.687223 rad
800 mil 0.785398 rad
900 mil 0.883573 rad
1,000 mil 0.981748 rad
2,000 mil 1.9635 rad
3,000 mil 2.9452 rad
4,000 mil 3.927 rad
5,000 mil 4.9087 rad
6,000 mil 5.8905 rad
7,000 mil 6.8722 rad
8,000 mil 7.854 rad
9,000 mil 8.8357 rad
10,000 mil 9.8175 rad

References

  1. International Bureau of Weights and Measures, The International System of Units, 9th Edition, 2019, https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/41483022/SI-Brochure-9-EN.pdf

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