Posted on 03/15/2012 7:05:29 PM PDT by U-238
Sandia National Laboratories is seeking a partnership with a private company to commercialize a new guided bullet that its engineers have invented, according to the U.S. government lab, which is managed by Lockheed Martin.
The Sandia researchers, Red Jones and Brian Kast and their colleagues, created a dart-like self-guided bullet for small-caliber firearms that uses laser guidance to hit targets more than a mile away.
"We have a very promising technology to guide small projectiles that could be fully developed inexpensively and rapidly," Jones said. The prototype was built using commercially available components and the initial testing in computer simulations was successful, according to Jones. There are several design and engineering issues to be hammered out, but Jones said the lab is confident about the science and the available engineering technology to solve the problems.
The prototype design is a four-inch long bullet with a built-in optical sensor in its nose to detect a laser beam on the target. The sensor directs guidance and control information using an algorithm and a small central processing unit that helps steer tiny built-in fins to guide the bullet.
According to the Sandia lab's computer simulations, an unguided bullet in real world conditions can miss a target that is half a mile away by almost 10 yards. With this guided bullet, however, it could strike within eight inches of a target.
Potential customers for this type of bullet could include the military and law enforcement agencies
(Excerpt) Read more at executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu ...
I think they are called BLAM - barrel launched adaptive muntion or REAM - Range Extended Adaptive Munition.
More here.
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA432910
You are correct on both counts.BLAM was followed in 1998-99 by the Range-Extended Adaptive Munition ( REAM), an Army effort to design a .50-cal guided sniper bullet.
So, how does the 12 ga. version perform?
I very much doubt that.
It all comes down the Economics of Scale.
Economies of scale are factors that cause the average cost of producing something to fall as the volume of its output increases.
OTOH, you need to paint the target with a laser. If the same spotter had a rifle, the work could be done less expensively.
Oh wait. Lasers can be tiny and affixed to a quadrotor.
Sounds like the EXACTO program.
Research laser-guided bullets can be precise to find the target but ...
This laser-guided bullet 4 inches long (about 10.16 cm), point 50 caliber ... for the
development of this laser-guided bullets It is EXACTO part of the project, ...
http://www.9abc.net/index.php/archives/73798 - Cached - SimilarSandia National Laboratories | Danger Room | Wired.com
Video: Self-Guided Bullet Spots, Steers and Nails Its Target (UPDATED) ... In
2008, they scored a $14.5 million contract as part of Darpa’s “Exacto” program, ...
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/tag/sandia-national-laboratories/ - Cached - SimilarAttack the System » Rj
In 2008, they scored a $14.5 million contract as part of Darpa’s “Exacto” program,
which sought to ... Each self-guided bullet is around four inches in length.
http://www.attackthesystem.com/author/rjweapon/ - Cached - Similar
Really neat stuff. I wonder how much of a turn the dart could make, to go around or over stuff to get to the target that the shooter himself couldn’t see. For longer shots that a sniper couldn’t make, why couldn’t the laser just be part of the gun, or would recoil mess that up, could you hold it on to lase after? I wonder if it’s slower than a regular round. Or do you need a whole different guy holding the laser like a spotter? Does the laser need to be a lot closer than a mile away? Sorry if my questions are idiotic, I don’t know anything about this stuff.
Freegards
So could a one time use small projectile (.22 or .11), which really begs the question where would this stuff be used anyways.
Interesting technology. Bet it will only be legal for police & military. Can’t have uppity peasants with such capability.
Military and Police hardware always leaks into the civilian sector.
bflr
Sandia National Laboratories(Sandia Base) from 1946-1971 the principal nuclear weapon installation in the world for designing and building them.
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