Posted on 10/18/2010 9:29:49 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Sniper teams remain the most lethal force on the battlefield and have been credited with many successful engagements. As effective as sniper teams are however, their accuracy is fundamentally limited by random variables such as changing winds, muzzle velocity dispersions and round-to-round variations. The DARPA EXtreme ACcuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program aims to maximize the effectiveness of sniper teams while improving their safety.
Through EXACTO, DARPA is developing a guided round capability in a .50 caliber platform. It is currently intended to provide snipers the capability to engage targets moving at much greater speeds, in tougher environmental conditions such as in high winds and at far longer ranges than currently possible. A guided sniper round would greatly increase accuracy by allowing compensation for environmental effects and target motion while dramatically reducing the engagement timeline.
“Between Iraq and Afghanistan, the need for trained snipers has increased dramatically”, says DARPA program manager Lyndall Beamer. “It’s time we look at how to maximize the utility of these assets and give them the best tools we can.” Along with increased speed and accuracy, EXACTO will improve sniper safety by opening a wide range of viable hide locations for sniper teams. The program aims to achieve all this while maintaining the current two man shooter/observer sniper team and minimizing changes to existing concepts of operations
Beamer eh?I wonder if he is anything to Todd Beamer?
This program will have a multiplier effect on the strategic use of sniper teams. Those men have very heavy burdens to bear, and their credentials have to be impeccable.
May the White Feathers continue to be victorious!
The best sniper “bullet” shouldn’t even be a moving projectile affected by range trajectory or winds.
Laser rifles.
Line of sight, instant kill factor, and totally silent.
Spend a couple of billion and make it man-portable, has a kill range only restricted by its optics.
I predicted 20 years ago that guided sniper systems would make their way to the battlefield.
“What we need are safer guns and safer bullets,” Joycelyn Elders, cabinet member during Bill Clinton’s presidency.
When will this technology move into the civilian world? This would really help me squirrel hunting.
It would be a great stocking stuffer
I just watched that flick last night...LOL
Now they can microwave you if you just want to protest in the street so you may as well stay home.
I remember feeling how helpless the towel heads must feel to throw themselves into battle with what we have arrayed against them. Just watch some video's and see them not even know they are being watched from miles away and a strike is called in from 30,000 ft from an AC 130 gunship. The first inkling that something is wrong is your buddy's liver hits you in the face. I guess all war is that way it just seems more efficient now. Now an idiot draftee can point a .50 cal your general direction and hit your brain pan from a mile away. The bullet may have to make a 90 degree turn to get there, but the bullet is smarter than the draftee.
when do you think they will be available for handguns?!
Cheer up. Pretty soon slingshots will be all the US can afford.
Never. It will always be an expensive system.
There’s a bible verse that might cover this:
Revelation 13:4
Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”
You echo my thoughts.
I feel citizens should be given more than a fighting chance against their own military. That was the purpose of the Second Amendment, and it worked pretty well up until about the 1940's when tanks and air platforms were perfected. Still, even then, rifles and pistols were no joke.
However: How do you balance the need for citizens to have access to the full array of military hardware (the purpose of the Second Amendment), against the need to prevent a crazed citizen (or a Muslim -- same thing, really) from using said military hardware to effect great damage in the name of either Allah or the Little Green Leprechauns That Haunt Me In My Dreams And Live In My Closets (same thing, really)?
Your comments bring to mind the importance of Oath Keepers and the 2nd Amendment. There will only be a small number of people who can issue the ‘Kill’ command. Us, the people and our 2nd Amendment will always keep these people walking on their tip toes wondering if their last command wasn’t suicidal.
Back when Clinton and Reno were up to their tricks, Reno asked a military force, ( I think Delta Force), if they would fire on American citizens to confiscate their guns if ordered to. It was about 9 to 1 would refuse. Everyone seemed to relax knowing that they wouldn't fire on us under orders, but I was concerned about the 10% that would.
I was hoping I wasn’t being as obtuse as I usually am :)
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