Self-guiding bullet can now hit a moving target
- By Kevin McCaney
- Apr 29, 2015
Pentagon researchers have taken another step forward in development of a self-guiding bullet, reporting that shooters—even a novice shooter—were able to hit a moving target from long distances.
The Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program, run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is looking to increase the accuracy of difficult, long-distance shots with bullets that can change direction in flight and seek out their targets.
Last year, DARPA and developer Teledyne Scientific & Imaging demonstrated the ability to hit a target that was offset from where the rifle was aimed. In the recent live-fire tests conducted in February, shown in the video above, researchers showed they could hit targets that were moving, even accelerating.
The shots were fired from a standard rifle at sniper ranges using .50-caliber bullets. In the tests, an experienced shooter hit moving and evading targets repeatedly, DARPA said. And for the first time, a novice shooter hit a moving target.
“EXACTO has demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target,” Jerome Dunn, DARPA program manager, said in a release. “Fitting EXACTO’s guidance capabilities into a small .50-caliber size is a major breakthrough and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers.”
Kevin McCaney is a former editor of Defense Systems and GCN.