Self-Guided Bullets

Precision guided ammunition has it roots going all the way back to World War II. The Germans were first to develop steerable munitions, using radio control or wire guidance. The U.S. tested TV-guided,semi-active radar-guided, and infrared-guided weapons. In 1962, the US Army began research into laser guidance systems and laser-guided weapons did not become commonplace until the advent of the microchip. They made their practical debut in Vietnam in 1972. The first large-scale use of smart weapons came in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. Some of these "smart" weapons over the years have included bombs, missiles and rockets.

We all know about guided Tomahawk missiles and drones but now smart bullets are about ready for action as in the future U.S. military snipers might not have to worry about missing. Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico has nearly completed a self-guided bullet that aims to kill every time.

Each self-guided bullet is around 4 inches in length. At the tip is an optical sensor, that can detect a laser beam being shone on a far-off target. Actuators inside the bullet get intel from the bullet’s sensor, and then “steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.” The bullet can self-correct its navigational path 30 times a second, all while flying more than twice the speed of sound.

Even with an ace marksman, researchers found that a typical unguided bullet  operating in real world conditions that might include crosswinds or changes in air density would miss a target that was a half-mile away. A guided bullet, however, could get within eight inches of that same target. While the current testing has focused on gun-lased targets, lasing could also be accomplished from one or more unmanned aerial vehicles.  Using  pre-flight range-finding information, a bullet's targeting algorithms could correct around a lased obstacle (say a tree), and be strung around to the next lased target. a researcher speaking to the BBC said that improved ground munitions would be extremely useful to troops, allowing them them not just to hit the bad guys better, but to avoid civilians. If you can be sure your bullet will go exactly where you’re aiming it, you can take the shot and not worry about a pocket of turbulent air nudging your bullet into the house next door.

Smart weapons will only keep evolving and the applications they are used for will keep growing as The Sandia engineers now hope to take the patented design and create a second-generation prototype, by collaborating with partners in the private sector. These four-inch bullets would likely be very expensive and require special hardware to fire, so they’ll be a specialty item for some time most likely.