If you saw the 2014 film American Sniper (or read the book on which it is based, telling the story of Chris Kyle) much time was spent showing the preparation military snipers go through to acquire moving targets, especially in unfavorable conditions such as high winds and dusty terrain. There is good reason for this preparedness: any shot that doesn’t hit a target risks the safety of troops by exposing their presence and location.
DARPA’s Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) seeks to revolutionize rifle accuracy and range by developing a guided small-caliber bullet--the EXACTO 50- caliber round-- and accompanying optical sighting technology. Its objective is to combine a maneuverable bullet and a real-time guidance system to track and deliver the projectile to the target, allowing the bullet to change path during flight to compensate for any unexpected factors that may drive it off course.
Technology recently developed in Phase II of the smart bullet’s development focused on the design, integration and demonstration of aero-actuation controls, power sources, optical guidance systems and sensors. The program has now included a system-level, live-fire test, which the agency recently discussed, showing how smart bullets maneuver in mid-air to hit moving targets. During the test an experienced shooter using the technology demonstration system repeatedly hit moving and evading targets. Additionally, a novice shooter using the system for the first time hit a moving target.
The agency says the live-fire demonstration used a standard rifle and showed that EXACTO is able to hit moving and evading targets with extreme accuracy at sniper ranges unachievable with traditional rounds. Fitting EXACTO’s guidance capabilities into a small .50-caliber size is considered to be a major breakthrough and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers of ammunition.
