EXACTO: DARPA’s Steerable Bullet Passes Moving Target Tests
DARPA has announced that its Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program passed a milestone test in late February, proving that the steerable bullets are able to not only avoid obstacles, but also hit moving targets.
As Gizmodo reports, researchers at DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) have been working over the last few years to develop a new type of guided ammunition that can change its path mid-flight, ensuring that it will always be able to strike its intended target. Though it is unclear precisely how the system functions, the.50 caliber bullets utilize fins that can be altered during flight to change the round’s trajectory. The bullets are combined with a real time guidance system, which tracks a target, making the ammunition effective enough to swerve around impediments and still strike a moving target, according to DARPA.
Jerome Dunn, DARPA program manager, noted the stunning capabilities of the EXACTO system, acknowledging that its goals were once thought to be unattainable.
“True to DARPA’s mission, EXACTO has demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target. This live-fire demonstration from a standard rifle 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 a major breakthrough and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers.”
DARPA EXACTO Bullet live fire demo shows repeatable performance http://t.co/wCNO2cSHO5 pic.twitter.com/ocC83rB98y
— SlashGear (@slashgear) April 28, 2015
As part of the announcement of their successful test, DARPA released a video of a trained sniper utilizing the EXACTO rounds to strike a target, which begins moving after the shot has been taken. As the Verge reports, the system’s effectiveness is also demonstrated in the hands of an untrained marksman, however, which has given some observers reason to pause.
“The Department claims that it’ll ‘improve sniper effectiveness and enhance troop safety by allowing greater shooter standoff range and reduction in target engagement timelines.’ We just hope it stays firmly in the battlefield, given how effective it is in the hands of the untrained.”
The EXACTO rounds were first revealed in a video released by DARPA last year, as the Inquisitr previously reported. While that clip demonstrated the bullet’s ability to veer off course to strike a target, the newly released video shows that the rounds are capable of compensating for a target’s acceleration, tracking an object instead of simply re-routing around obstacles.
While DARPA asserts that its engineers will continue to hone the accuracy of the bullets, there is no official word on when EXACTO rounds will make their way into the hands of snipers.
[Image: DARPA via Engadget]
