Smart Sniper Bullet

[joe7987]

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4fBT6b/www.mobilemag.com/2012/02/01/smart-bullet-for-snipers-has-self-guiding-technology/

 

[JohnS.]

Herra dope.

 

[vjf915]

Traditional bullets have grooves that make them spin when they leave the barrel to make it more accurate.

Umm, no. The barrel itself has grooves, known as "rifling", which makes the bullet spin. Bullets are smooth, until fired, where the jacket of the bullet is imprinted with the rifling because it's made of a softer metal.

History lesson over. Now...I read about this a couple weeks ago. Can't say I think it will be adopted anytime soon, I think these bullets have a $4,000 each price tag. The price of ammo combined with the price of the new rifles, laser guidance system, and training that go along with it all.....probably won't happen soon.

 

[joe7987]

^^It may be compatible with lasers already in use.

I expect that training will be minimal. It should be fairly similar to currently used laser guidance systems.. one person to paint, one person to fire.

Does it require new rifles, or has the bullet been designed to fit the current rifle?

Regardless, snipers are a very small part of the military, and $4,000 for a high-profile kill is chump change for the military.

Consider the cost of firing a javelin. The weapon itself is $125,000. A single missile is $40,000. So by the time you fire your first missile, you've hit $165,000.

I highly doubt snipers are going to use these bullets for the common kill. These bullets would be much more useful, and probably more likely to be used when trying to take out a high-ranking officer. He's going to be out in the open. You've got one shot. Don't. f**k. it. up. A laser guided bullet would be perfect in this case. Just worry about getting within range of the target, and having a clear line of sight. The bullet can take care of the rest.

 

[vjf915]

Does it require new rifles, or has the bullet been designed to fit the current rifle?

Current rifles have rifling or grooves in the barrels, causing the bullet to spin. This bullet is designed to NOT spin. At the very least, you're looking at re-barreling a lot of rifles, which isn't cheap either.

Regardless, snipers are a very small part of the military, and $4,000 for a high-profile kill is chump change for the military.

This is something I would agree with, except for this:

The company’s patent for the smart bullet says that simulations showed an unguided bullet under real-world conditions could miss a target more than half a mile away (1,000 meters away) by 9.8 yards (9 meters) while a guided bullet would get within 8 inches (0.2 meters).

Within 8 inches is not accurate enough to be used for high profile kills. With a head shot, 8 inches away from the center of the head could actually MISS the target completely. With a chest shot, you're still talking about potentially missing vital organs, and only seriously injuring the person. That unguided bullet that would miss by 9.8 yards is only missing that far if the shooter does not account for effects such as drop and wind. If those effects are accounted for, and adjustments are made, that shooter will put the bullet where it needs to go.

The other thing that the article doesn't address is moving targets. Yea laser guided missiles can hit targets with ease. It's pretty easy to paint a building, that's standing still, with a laser and let the missile rip. The building isn't going anywhere, and if the missile is off by even a couple feet, it will STILL hit and destroy the target. It's probably not as easy to paint a small, moving target....and even if it is, the bullet isn't accurate enough.