AUG.

The cold war was a turbulent time. Under the spectre of nuclear annihilation, the world prepared for a conflict  that would hopefully never happen.

But it undoubtedly left a legacy. The AUG. An Austrian bullpup with distinctive appearance. So what prompted Austria to develop a new firearm?

What makes the AUG unique? And why do its magazine look like waffles? 1945. The third Reich was crumbling.

The Western Allies were crossing the Rhine,  while the Soviets swept in from the East. On the 13th of April, the Soviets captured Vienna, and drove the remaining German  forces back towards their homeland.

The city was in ruins. Austria was  divided into 4 occupied zones. A provisional government was formed, and a formal  secession from the 3rd Reich was announced.

Over the next decade, Austria rebuilt. In 1955, they regained their political  independence as the Austrian State Treaty was signed. This was contingent  on a Declaration of Neutrality, which prohibited Austria from joining any military  alliance or hosting foreign military bases.

So Austria was once again an independent country,  but they found themselves politically isolated: Lodged between NATO to the west;  And the Warsaw Pact to the east.

Surrounded by the tension of the Cold  War, national defence was a priority. Their equipment at the time was a pick-and-mix  of leftovers from the Americans and Soviets.

Austria needed their own weapons,  and they needed them quite soon. So in 1958 they adopted the StG58 - a licensed version of the Belgian FN  FAL manufactured by Steyr.

Steyr were a longstanding Austrian arms  manufacturer, originally founded in 1894. They started out making rifles, diversified  to bicycles - eventually automobiles.

Now, the StG58 was a perfectly  good battle rifle. But there are a number of flaws intrinsic to the concept.

They're long, heavy and tough to handle under automatic fire. Lighter rifles with  modern materials were the future.