Posted on 07/11/2014 5:30:49 PM PDT by mandaladon
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced the first successful live-fire tests of the military’s first smart, self-guided bullets.
In a video released by DARPA Thursday, Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance (EXACTO) .50-caliber bullets maneuvered independently mid-flight to accurately strike targets purposefully offset from where the firing sniper rifle was aimed.
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced the first successful live-fire tests of the military’s first smart, self-guided bullets.
In a video released by DARPA Thursday, Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance (EXACTO) .50-caliber bullets maneuvered independently mid-flight to accurately strike targets purposefully offset from where the firing sniper rifle was aimed.
Wired reported in 2012 the first successful prototype test of the military’s first-ever guided small-caliber bullets, developed by Sandia National Laboratories and Lockheed Martin. Around four inches long, the bullets feature optical tips to detect laser beams shown on targets. Actuators inside the bullets then steer tiny fins on their surfaces, which guide them to targets based on information from the tip sensors.
The bullets can strike a target accurately while accommodating for weather, wind, target movement and other factors, according to DARPA. The prototype tests were able to successfully strike targets from more-than a mile, or 6,500 feet away.
“For military snipers, acquiring moving targets in unfavorable conditions, such as high winds and dusty terrain commonly found in Afghanistan, is extremely challenging with current technology,” the agency explains on its website. “It is critical that snipers be able to engage targets faster, and with better accuracy, since any shot that doesn’t hit a target also risks the safety of troops by indicating their presence and potentially exposing their location.”
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
Obama ships the first crate to ISIS (or whatever the hell they're called now) Monday.
WE aren't allowed to shoot back with NATO's without a hall pass ...
fall into the enemy's hands ?
They'll friggin' SELL 'em to the enemy until they reverse engineer 'em ... I give it 30 days, max.
Warhammer 40k bolters!
1980’s movie “Runaway” starring Tom Selleck forsaw this.
First time I've heard 0.50 caliber bullets described as 'Small-Caliber'. The media would point out this could only be used by an automatic weapon. I know, I know, they'd still do it.
I wonder who this will first be used on. 50/50 the 50 Cal will wind up being used against Tea Party members.
“I wonder who this will first be used on. 50/50 the 50 Cal will wind up being used against Tea Party members.”
Seems like an awful lot of weapons we develop for use against our enemies end up in the hands of police for use against Americans.
Great as long as their available to Americans.
They’re going to be much more expensive and hard to make than conventional ammunition, for the forseeable future, whereas .22, 9mm, 5.56 and other popular rounds will be plentiful in our hands. I wouldn’t want to be shot at by 20 guys with .22LR rifles, would you?
50 cal is small caliber when the media reports the govt owns those guns. When they report on citizens, anything larger than a water gun is an large caliber assault weapon. Sadly, no sarc tag.
Wile E. Coyote, here ya go!
ordnance
FWIW - I am qualified to run the associated Mark 8 Range Keeper.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
First thing I thought of was the "Fifth Element" movie! Would hate to have that gun aimed at me during a demonstration showing the bullets self-guide away from me. Effective demonstration but I'd be shaking like crazy.
The technology is truly extraordinary.
I’m curious, when did, what year and what wars, the cannon ball go from a metal ball to something that exploded on impact ?
Of course, you're probably don't mean a ball that explodes after landing on a target, but a shell that detonates when it strikes.
Wonder when some hobbyist will create self-guiding ammo that regular folks can make for themselves...
I was making fuse timers for shells in the 1980s. The ability of electronics that small to adsorb that kind of shock and still work in that scale is indeed extraordinary.
That was back in 1963.
-PJ
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