Pentagon creates self-steering bullet

DARPA

DARPA


The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced the development and successful testing of a self-steering bullet.

The Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program announced the completion in February and states the bullet was created to help increase hits for long-distance shots.

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An experienced shooter used the specially designed bullet to repeatedly hit moving and accelerating targets, while a novice shooter landed a target on the first shot using the technology.

The bullet is able to track targets through a real-time guidance system that allows the ammunition to compensate for things like wind, weather, and target movement.

DARPA's program manager, Jerome Dunn, states:

"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."

The program says that the testing of the bullet is the most successful round of live-firing testing to date.