Saturday, May 02, 2015

Exacto


Tech never sleeps, especially if you want a "self steering" 50 Cal bullet enabling crappy shooters to be an American Sniper without the need to have the skill set needed to do the job.

Well, this is terrifying. As if the U.S. Department of Defense’s research into robotic pack animals wasn’t scary enough, it’s been revealed that a series of tests in February have made unnerving progress with ‘self-steering’ bullets.

The team behind the project, known as EXACTO and developed by America's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has released a video showing the smart bullets in action, successfully changing their course in order to hit a moving target. It’s thought that they work by using small fins on the sides of the bullet to guide it to the target, which is tracked by lasers, although DARPA are being understandably quiet about its exact inner workings.

The military often has to face unfavorable conditions—such as harsh weather, wind, and moving targets—that reduce the accuracy of soldiers, and it would normally be the preserve of specially trained snipers to hit difficult targets. However, the video shows how the weapon can be used, not just by trained sharpshooters, but by absolute novices—with no drop in accuracy. The smart bullets don’t just increase a squaddies accuracy either, it can also increase their range.

This is EXACTLY what the police need in their arsenal when this tech becomes commonplace and made available courtesy Homeland Security's surplus military hardware program, AKA Program 1033, something the cops in Baltimore and Ferguson might want to get when this weaponry hits the marketplace around 2018 or so.

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