Self guided mid flight changing bullets. No longer sci go

[prsman23]

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/darpa-has-created-self-guided-mid-flight-changing-bullets

Accuracy’s the name of the game when you’re a military sniper. If you fail to acquire a target, you risk the safety of fellow troops by highlighting their presence and potentially giving away their positions. But hitting moving targets is no mean feat when conditions are challenging, for example during shifting winds or poor visibility if the landscape is dusty.

That’s why the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) embarked on a rather ambitious project which set out to develop technology that would “revolutionize rifle accuracy and range,” with the ultimate goal of improving sniper effectiveness and increasing troop safety. And what have they come up with? None other than movie-style, self-guiding bullets that can change course mid-flight.

Their new “Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance” (EXACTO) bullets seem to function in a similar manner to the laser-guided bombs developed by US scientists during the Vietnam War. The technology marries .50 caliber maneuverable bullets with a real-time guidance system that allow the projectile to change direction during flight in order to correct for anything that may throw it off course.

The EXACTO bullets are complete with optical sensors positioned on the surface of the nose that collect in-flight data which is then sent to internal systems for interpretation. The data gathered is then used to adjust the position of a series of external fins on the projectile, which changes its direction.

According to DARPA’s website, the system should “greatly extend the day and nighttime range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems,” minimize the time required to engage with targets, and also reduce misses.

DARPA recently released a video showcasing the technology, in which the rifle intentionally aimed slightly off target. You can see how the bullet manages to successfully change its flight path and connect with the intended target despite being aimed to the right. Check it out here:

[dakotashooter2]

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/darpa-has-created-self-guided-mid-flight-changing-bullets


DARPA recently released a video showcasing the technology, in which the rifle intentionally aimed slightly off target. You can see how the bullet manages to successfully change its flight path and connect with the intended target despite being aimed to the right. Check it out here:

So if the gun is aimed off target how does the bullet know what the target is?

?????? I'm kind of fond of my bullets going where I want them to go/aim not where they think they should go.....

[Bent Ramrod]

That's amazing, although it looks like a computer simulation more than an actual shot. But I'm in whenever somebody gets a Group Buy together for a mould for this.

:mrgreen:

A lot of the ammunition contracted for by the Defense Dept is not supposed to be pinpoint accurate. It can fail a First Article Inspection if the dispersion is too small. A lot different than the requirements for sporting rifle or match ammunition.

[Multigunner]

If heat waves or other atmospheric distortion make the target appear to the human eye to be several feet from where it really is but the target is painted by means of a laser indicator then the projectile can correct its course to hit where the target actually is rather than where the barrel had been pointed.

Light bends and at extreme long ranges it can bend quite a bit more than we might think is possible.

[Multigunner]

This reminds me of some historical examples.
Turkish Archers found a way to rain arrows onto sappers planting charges against fortress walls under cover of movable shields that protected them from missiles fired or thrown from the parapets. The Turks used arrows with two vanes cut from feathers with opposite orientation. The result was a curved or looping path. They could fire this arrows at a high angle and these would do a full loop and come back to strike among the men at the bottom of the wall, as if fired from the opposite direction.
Cherokee Indian legends tell of spirit warriors who fired arrows that curved around trees to strike their enemies. Its believed that Turkish soldiers captured by Francis Drake were marooned on the Carolina coast and became assimilated into the Indian tribes. Perhaps some brought the Turkish archery secrets with them.

[dakotashooter2]

The point I was trying to make was that at some point the sights have to be on the target when the targeting info is sent to the bullet or the target has to be painted for the bullet to know where to go. The writeup is somewhat misleading. I don't think you can intentionally aim off the target and the bullet is going to know whether it needs to go up down right or left to get to a target which has never been indicated to it.

[starmac]

I'm thinking they will likely be a tad more expensive than home cast, maybe even store bought cast.

[Multigunner]

The point I was trying to make was that at some point the sights have to be on the target when the targeting info is sent to the bullet or the target has to be painted for the bullet to know where to go. The writeup is somewhat misleading.
Many such articles are poorly worded.
We might aim the rifle to one side or the other to allow for a cross wind, kentucky windage.
If I get the drift the smart bullet senses whether the shooter allowed enough for windage, or speed of the target if its moving, and corrects the course mid flight if need be.

If this is a development of an earlier invention, that device would lock in on a target and fire when the rifle was pointed at it whether you were looking through the sight or not. Any inability of the shooter to maintain a proper sight picture at the moment of firing was negated.
If the shooter was wobbly with fatigue or injury the rifle sight took over preventing his firing unless the shot would be a good one and then firing when the sight crossed the target.
Personally I don't cotton to the idea of a machine taking away that final instant of control. I might see something at the last instant that would indicate I should hold my fire but the rifle might still go ahead and fire the moment everything was lined up.

[Springfield]

Hate to be a spelling Nazi but “Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance” would be a rule or law, not ammunition. If they can't get that right why should the rest of the article be correct?

[cainttype]

A good while back, the .50 "laser guided" bullet that was under developement was featured in a documentary detailing possible "future weapons". The designers at the time described a scenario of a shooter from a concealed hide, shooting over a shallow hill at a small target he couldn't see, the bullet homing in on a laser designator employed by a forward-postioned operator.
The example they used was the small clearance between the turret and body of a tank, inferring that a two man team could possibly destroy even heavy armor with the system. The weapon system would be extremely portable, including farly large amounts of ammo, while deploying very small units... Sure looked sci-fi back then...Of course, I also remember seeing land-based, corded phones depicted with monitors so you could see who you were talking too in sci-fi movies (thinking "Wow!...Wouldn't that be something"). Today, I carry one on my belt and use it constantly...even to check-out this new-fangled Internet thingy. :)

[montana_charlie]

http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/12/darpa-bullet-graphic.jpg