Self-steering Bullet Researched

Hi ATS.

normally i don't post in this forum, even more rarely i make a thread.
this is my first in this forum.

i'm as antiwar and weapon as it gets.
i just feel the money could be spend in a lot of other (more benificial) ways.

nonetheless i stumbled across this article.

just wanted to share this with the people that do like their guns

here goes:

An LED attached to a prototype bullet shows its flightpath during a night-time field test

A self-guiding bullet that can steer itself towards its target is being developed for use by the US military.

The bullet uses tiny fins to correct the course of its flight allowing it to hit laser-illuminated targets. It is designed to be capable of hitting objects at distances of about 2km (1.24 miles).

Work on a prototype suggests that accuracy is best at longer ranges. A think tank says the tech is well-suited to snipers, but worries about it being marketed to the public.

rest of the article makes for an interesting read as well

In my opinion this is actually great news.

Maybe with these, there will be less friendly fire incidents one day in the near future.

reply to post by kn0wh0w


I had heard rumors of this but this is the first I have actually read on it. Like the laser guided smart bombs almost.

While I am all for the second amendment, this probably should be kept from the public's access for obvious reasons, but should be a great tool for the military.
Although...if we are just hearing about it now...they have prolly had it for years already!!!

DEAR GOD! I can't but giggle at this in a Barrette 50 cal... Can you imagine a IR mounted ultra thin laser on your scope... All you have to do is keep the cross on the target and forget about distance, wind, MOA... That is just insane... A sniper can be deployed without spotter... target acquisition and be done quick and no setup time...

lol...360 no scope is coming next...

Originally posted by DAZ21
In my opinion this is actually great news.

Maybe with these, there will be less friendly fire incidents one day in the near future.

edit on 31-1-2012 by DAZ21 because: (no reason given)

Or...maybe someone can purchase the bullet on the black market and use to to kill the president by aiming at a spot about 6 feet above and to the left. A very faint laser wouldn't be clear in daylight, but the bullet would find its mark.

And let's say the government decides some official in another country is causing too much trouble? One self-guiding bullet and the government has committed a federal crime.

No...I'm a fan of advanced technology, but some things need to be buried and forgotten. There are just too many ways weaponry like this can be abused.

reply to post by _R4t_

lol...360 no scope is coming next...

i'm going to call haxx on you

I think there is a term for this kind of upgrade in technology if only one side has it...while the other side is using dumb lead and steel out of AK-47's.

God Mode.

There are moments I am mighty proud of what America is capable of developing and supplying it's forces. Now, when do we get a civilian version?

Originally posted by Starchild23

Originally posted by DAZ21
In my opinion this is actually great news.

Maybe with these, there will be less friendly fire incidents one day in the near future.

edit on 31-1-2012 by DAZ21 because: (no reason given)

Or...maybe someone can purchase the bullet on the black market and use to to kill the president by aiming at a spot about 6 feet above and to the left. A very faint laser wouldn't be clear in daylight, but the bullet would find its mark.

And let's say the government decides some official in another country is causing too much trouble? One self-guiding bullet and the government has committed a federal crime.

No...I'm a fan of advanced technology, but some things need to be buried and forgotten. There are just too many ways weaponry like this can be abused.

Haha not you again.

Yea what you say is quite true. But I'm sure they will also create a defence against the laser targeting system. Which will probably always be enforced around people like the president.

reply to post by Starchild23


Someone is always gonna build a "bigger stick." It's just human nature......

There are already assorted anti laser targeting systems around, like this Russian anti laser targeting

Shtora (Russian: Штора, "curtain") is an electro-optical active protection system or suite for tanks, designed to disrupt the laser target designation and rangefinders of incoming anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The system is mounted on the Russian T-80 and T-90 series tanks, the Ukrainian T-84 and the Serbian M-84AS.

I'm sure the American's, British (and probably 50 other countries) will have similar systems plus probably a whole other assortment of anti-laser technology. Technical superiority (in any field) rarely last's long, someone somewhere will usually invent some way to combat it. Don't forget laser's were first developed in the 1950s (although laser theory was first developed by Einstein in 1917!) so the military has had at least 60 years to develop laser/anti-laser technology.

We have sniper lasers that can kill a human at far more distance than two kilometers.

Bullets are becoming an anachronism.

Kind of like the javelin. Nice to throw in the Olympic games, but long past it's obsolesence date for winning wars.

reply to post by tonycliffs

I love the idea of sniper lasers. It sounds possible enough if sufficient power can be supplied. It's kinda of hard on snipers tho, if you think about it. It'd work once...but it could never be used in regular battlefield use, day in and day out. It'd be free shots until someone figured out a laser had been used...but any half way advanced nation would have things to pinpoint future shots.

Now a guided bullet like the old Tom Selleck movie "Runaway" could certainly be useful. Snipers could use that in just the opposite way and make it appear they are shooting from a different direction, perhaps. That would really be useful. I love the gizmos they're coming up with these days...but over reliance on the toys makes me real nervous. Toys break. AK-47's? not so much.... It's a real bad day if ours break and theirs don't.

why think small, Patriot 3 anyone? Rods from god think of new, anti- everything weapon, launched from say, Waterborn rail gun
with a drone overhead with burst micro laser designater, timed to flash a few thousandth of second before impact, gps guided as well as laser wouldn't be much I'm sure. No one is safe.


Phlanax systems loaded with this and wide area laser. wow so much fun, so many possibilities.

Swarm of drones

aren't these little toys drones too?

Nothing new here, it's been buzzed with in sci-fi films many years previous.

This would be great for assasinations. However use in the everyday soldier and police officer no.

sounds like this item would cost a pretty penny. Like several thousand dollars a round pretty penny

The money it would cost to build a gun to launch the projectile and house the computer equipment as well as the small computer in the round itself