Defense Department unveils self-steering sniper bullet

We’re accustomed to using the term, “magic bullet” to describe any hypothetical—but typically nonexistent—solution to a tough problem. But the magic bullet may be moving from hypothetical to real.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced this week the successful test in February of a 50-caliber sniper round that can steer itself to its target by compensating for weather, wind—even target movement—all of which, DARPA claims, will drastically improve sniper effectiveness.

The Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program combines specially designed ammunition, a real-time optical guidance system and a standard sniper rifle to allow longer shooter standoff distances as well as reductions in target engagement times.

“True to DARPA’s mission, EXACTO has demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target,” Jerome Dunn, DARPA program manager, said in a statement. “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.”

During live-fire testing in February, even novice shooters were able to use the system to hit a moving target. A video posted on the DARPA website shows the guided bullets maneuvering in-flight to achieve hits.

The EXACTO system’s technology is classified. But tech website Gizmag.com reports DARPA’s bullet-steering mechanism appears to be different from a method used by a team at the Sandia National Laboratories in 2012.

“In that case, researchers developed a small-caliber guided bullet prototype capable of steering toward a laser-marked target 2 km (1.2 mi) away,” reported Gizmag.com in a July 15, 2014 article. “This was accomplished by way of an optical sensor on the bullet’s nose that gathers flight path information, while onboard electronics controlled tiny fins on its side to direct it toward the target. No such fins can be seen on the EXACTO round.”

The EXACTO appears to be a “fire and forget” system that does not require a laser, which can be obscured by smoke or haze.

Another classified technological mystery surrounding DARPA’s new magic bullet is how it manages to achieve such accuracy after being shot from a standard sniper weapon with a rifled barrel—one with helical grooves designed to give a bullet spin, thereby improving accuracy.

According to Gizmag.com, in a self-guided projectile such as the EXACTO round, such spinning movement would theoretically prevent the bullet from reliably turning toward the target when in flight, which is why the Sandia Laboratories’ prototype projectile could only be fired from smoothbore arms.

Apparently, DARPA has discovered some “magic bullets” for its own magic bullet.