Imagine a sniper who is able to change the course of the bullet fired in mid-air before it hits its target – that’s what Pentagon is working on, dumping nearly $22 million to Darpa to find out. Dubbed EXACTO (EXtreme ACcuracy Tasked Ordnance), this project will “provide a dramatic new capability to the U.S. military” if it is successful. Guess snipers no longer need to be at the top of their game in order to hit the target, and experience won’t count as much anymore with such technology. It still makes me wonder just how fast the reflexes of the sniper must be to fire a bullet and quickly navigate it before it reaches the target – after all, you don’t have that many milliseconds to react. According to Darpa, the EXACTO should contain a “next-gen scope, a guidance system that provides information to direct the projectile,” an “actively-controlled .50 caliber projectile that uses this information for real time directional flight control,” and a rifle.
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