In what is probably a very intelligent solution for the high-tech warrior, Beretta and T-Works are working on what they call an "Intelligent Rail System" Technology. This is a promising technology as this system will be able to power any weapons accessories mounted on it and even moves data from various accessories to help in effective shooting and situational awareness.

The Intelligent Rail System distributes power from a battery pack that is located in the stock area. The battery pack uses standard AA batteries (which we would recommend to be Lithium L91 batteries as they last longer) which are readily available everywhere, especially at local stores. Any weapon device that requires power can draw the power from the battery pack once it's installed on the Intelligent Rail System.

This feature enables weapons accessories designers to eliminate battery compartments such as illuminated optics, laser pointers and weapon lights. This leads to lighter and more compact accessories as batteries usually take up significant space in  the design. With a standard power source, the shooter doesn’t have to take several types and sizes of batteries, lessening the load.

As for the data transfer component, an example is a rangefinder mounted up front can transfer the information to the optics at the back which will then be adjusted based on the information. With Wifi or Bluetooth connectivity it can retrieve or transmit information to other devices a soldier carries such as a Heads Up Display (HUD) which is now also nearing reality.

Here is the video of the Intelligent Rail System at the SHOT Show 2014:

For future soldier programs, this Intelligent Rail System is a good concept in terms of making the weapon part of the overall loadout of a warfighter in the future. Other concepts that we have seen such as computers, power supplies and communications have been designed without the weapon as part of the intelligent platform. With the Intelligent Rail System, the weapon becomes fully integrated.

The Intelligent Rail System can also be implemented for Airsoft guns. With all the power requirements of the airsoft players, especially Milsimers, it would be very much handy to power up most of the accessories we mount on our airsoft guns. We just want a stripped down version as we have no use for the data feature for now. Perhaps the battery pack would have compartments for both AA Lithium and a Lipoly battery to power the AEG motor, that would surely eliminate the need for different types of batteries.