Super bullet could strike target a mile away

A new design for a self-guiding bullet could allow sharpshooters to accurately fire at targets a full mile away.

The bullet, which is still in a prototype phase, is the brainchild of Sandia National Laboratories researchers Red Jones and Brian Kast. It is designed with built-in actuators and tiny fins that should allow it to rapidly adjust its path in flight.

Designed with the military, law enforcement, and recreational shooters as potential customers, the bullet is four inches long and has an optical sensor embedded in its nose for the detection of a laser on its target, Sandia said in a release today. The bullet also has built-in guidance and control electronics that receive data from the optical sensor and then manipulate the electromagnetic actuators. And the actuators use that data to steer small fins in order to direct the bullet directly to its target.

In the release, Sandia's Jones explained that the design of the self-guiding bullet required abandoning the traditional way rifle ammunition works. With conventional rifles, a fired bullet has to spin like a spiraling football pass in order to fly straight. But Sandia's bullet "flies straight due to its aerodynamically stable design," Sandia says, "which consists of a center of gravity that sits forward in the projectile and tiny fins that enable it to fly without spin, just as a dart does."

Although Sandia predicts that its self-guiding bullet could dramatically improve accuracy over long distances compared to traditional bullets, it doesn't promise perfect targeting. But according to a patent application Sandia filed, the new bullet could hit within eight inches of its target at a firing distance of a mile. That compares to a standard rifle-fired bullet, which tends to miss a target by about 29 feet after traveling a mile.

Would a bullet that big make a good sniper system? I've been reading up on the DARPA programs aimed at increasing sniper range, like EXACTO. There's been no news for 6 months.

http://www.special-operations-technology.com/sotech-home/340-sotech-2011-volume-9-issue-6-august/4577-better-bullets.html

New Guns, New Bullets Weapons and ammunition operate as one system.

There can be no doubt that in the field, the reliability of one affects the reliability of the entire system. A weapon system that the warfighter can rely on accomplishes several things. It increases morale, increases safety and increases mission success rate. With that in mind, another way entirely to get more accurate and better performing bullets is to put them in new and improved guns. That’s the philosophy behind AAI’s proprietary Lightweight Small Arms Technologies, or LSAT program. AAI is working with the Army to develop LSAT through the Joint Service Small Arms Program Office, located at the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

Key objectives of the program are to maintain or improve lethality and reliability over current systems, while at the same time reducing the weight of weapons carried by warfighters by 35 percent, and lowering ammunition weight by more than 40 percent.

This has been demonstrated by the development of two unique lightweight rounds, polymer-cased telescoped ammunition and caseless telescoped ammunition. “Only the weight of the cartridge case is reduced, or totally eliminated in our caseless design,” explained Paul Shipley, LSAT program manager with AAI. “The same bullet is fired at the same velocity using the same propellant weight as the standard M855, so the accuracy and lethality remain the same. Our development focus has been the 5.56 mm M855, so that we can do a direct one-for-one firing comparison versus the M249/M855. We have conducted design studies for 6.5 mm, 7.62 mm, 0.338 cal, 0.50 cal. CT cartridges. All showed a weight reduction of 35-40 percent versus the standard cartridges while maintaining performance.” Reductions of up 50 percent can be achieved with the caseless bullet. The truly remarkable caseless design features a solid propellant body that burns completely when the round is fired. In essence the case is the propellant and therefore there isn’t any shell casing to eject.

The caseless design not only significantly reduces weight, but the lack of cases left behind has unique implications for covert operations. To date, AAI has built four light machine guns and has test-fired more than 12,000 rounds of cased telescoped ammunition. But the developing technology is much broader than just a new light machine gun. It is applicable to a broad range of calibers and platforms to include a carbine that also fires the lightweight cased telescoped ammunition, which would be of particular interest to special forces. Plus, said Shipley, lessons learned in LSAT have practical implications for all types of arms. “We’ve done work on high temperature/ high strength materials, lubricious coatings, reduced flash propellant, and a 40-round magazine, all of which have potential applications in conventional weapons.”

“Smart bullets” have long been a science fiction staple, and a realworld objective of DoD.

A prototype smart bullet system, the XM25, has been deployed successfully in Afghanistan. More like a “smart grenade” actually, the Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, the weapon’s full name, uses laser-guided technology to fire a 25 mm “bullet” over the head of an enemy target, which calculates the precise point during flight to explode in mid-air above the target, raining down shrapnel. Troops who have used the five prototype XM25s in several engagements against the Taliban have nicknamed them “punishers.”

The XM25 is scheduled to begin low-rate initial production in late 2013. The plan is to buy 12,500 weapons, one for each infantry squad or special forces team.

Tomorrow and Beyond

The Punisher may be the beginning of “smart bullet” technology but it is only the tip of the iceberg.
Back in 2009, I had the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with then project manager Lyndall Beamer, about DARPA’s Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program. At the time, Beamer described the goal of the EXACTO program.

“The basic concept of the EXACTO program is to remove the effect on accuracy of target motion and random variances in the environment through use of a guided bullet.” Now almost two years later, the program has a new manager, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph K. Hitt, but its goals remain the same.

Hitt was unavailable for comment. However, it is known that the program recently completed its first phase by achieving a successful proof of concept with a high fidelity hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation. Phase II will build and test a complete system, including the required optical sighting equipment and guided .50 caliber projectiles.

In October, Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, a division of Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Teledyne Technologies, received a $25.45 million “Phase II” contract from DARPA in the EXACTO program. Under the contract, Teledyne needs to deliver a working prototype of a .50 caliber round that can be guided and adjust itself for windage by fall 2012.

Lockheed Martin, already a Phase I contractor as reported in 2009, will be incorporating its “One Shot” advanced gunsight technology, already in use by SOF, to deliver the Phase II sighting requirement. So the program is moving forward. No doubt we are on the brink of a game-changing evolution in ammo technology. As always, when it comes to the best technology used by the world’s greatest warriors, U.S. special forces will be the tip of the spear. ♦

Yeah but the fear factor induced on your enemy when yer co-terrorist in mayhem starts squirtin body fluids from a hole he wasn’t born with is the key IMO and experience. A real WTF Allah moment per se, regardless of terminal ballistics. Yes I want a clean kill at distance. But 99% of the time a snipers opportunity shot is based on inducing fear in the enemy, a multiplication of force etc .... assassinations imposed on orders are few and these days a UCAV Predator at 20k MSL with hellfires or as Pilot Dave knows a fast mover like his Phantom with CBU’s is the best way for a sure kill of an “important” target.

I don’t want to kill the SOB 1800+ meters away. I want to hurt him, impose on his friends and family to bear the cost of his wounds, care and feeding and the visual and audio imput of him screaming like a stuck pig and dying slow from infection etc ....

The guy ya “”” have to kill “”” is the one that can bring the application of deadly force within effective range at the moment. Example the Muj with the 12 ga shotgun is no real threat at 200 meters like the man at 7 meters with his AKSU.

But in a PC world even that concept if flawed....because now “we” have to foot the bill for said Muj’s leaking torso.

I like simple tools that have less complexity in combat. Less likely Murphy will show up.

I will take a plain brown wrapper M40A1 Bolt gun with good ammo , optics and a solid secure rest with a small security team any day over this new and improved stuff.

Just my opinion of course.....nothing more that a SWAG on my part !!!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.