How long to computer’s are shooting people?
Great for a sniper rifle...but we need this technology for HUNTING rifles!!
The cautious political reaction is to realize that this means that the military will no longer need to train men how to be riflemen (which they can take home to ensure their status as free citizens).
I think I read a book by Stephen Hunter on this very thing.
. . what if HAL had one?
Sounds a lot like the M1 Abrams fire control system that’s been in play for decades. Once you lase your target and induce a ballistic solution it’s pretty much a matter of squeezing the trigger...even if you’re shooting a moving target from a moving platform.
Damn....we got ammo but no batteries !
We’re dooooomed !
I’m against it.
Nuke em from orbit,,, it’s the only way to be sure.
The B.O.R.S. System is pretty close to this.
They can do just about everything now except calculate the F/L, Target, and Midwinds- That will always remain an art. But it is always good to take the human out of the factor when possible.
I hope they add Jpoint/Docter style reflex dot optics on the sides of the tubes since they seem to be going semi-auto with precision weapons now.
EMP
Sure it can be made to work. They’ll probably use some laser emission to measure downrange winds.
And that’s where it will fail. As soon as he’s emitting something, the sniper has given up his #1 asset: his inability to be seen.
It also means that when the cute little widget breaks, the operator likely has no clue how to go “old school” and get the job done.
This is another example of a silly obsession with toys in our military procurement these days.
I’m not sure how a computer could compensate for varying wind speeds over different terrain at various distances.
This very system has been on board the M1A2 tank for a long time now. Wonder why it took so long.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t. I’ve been wondering how long before they add stabilizers. you know...like the electronic gizmos they put in high end binoculars nowdays. The next step after the self aiming rifle would be to install a heads up display in a visor so you can sniper shoot from the hip without actually sighting down the barrel...or from behind a berm without peering over the berm.
IT WAS HOT on the roof. Above, the sky was fast-forward: zeppelin fleets of cloud alternating with ragged anarchic flags of black. Bright stars, mil- and comsats, meteors, junk. Moh Kohn crouched behind the parapet and scanned the band of trees half a klick beyond the campus perimeter. Glades down, the dark was a different shade of day. He held the gun loose, swung it smoothly, moved around to keep cool. The building's thermals gave him all the cover he could expect, enough to baffle glades or IR-eyes that far away.
"Gaia, it's hot," he muttered.
"Thirty-one Celsius," said the gun.
He liked hearing his gun. It gave him a wired feeling.Ken MacLeod, The Star Fraction.