Don’t bother running from this sniper bullet

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) revealed this week that its Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO), a .50 caliber, self-steering sniper bullet, can repeatedly home-in on and hit a moving, even accelerating, target. What’s more, the fire-and-forget round doesn’t require an expert or experience marksman. The test video below shows that even someone who has never fired a sniper rifle can hit the mark.

While similar in concept to a self-guiding bullet developed by Sandia Labs, DARPA’s seemingly fin-less slug and the mechanics behind its in-flight adjustments remain largely classified. However, DARPA says the system includes a real-time optical guidance system to track and direct the specially designed ammunition to its target while compensating for weather, wind, target movement and other factors that can impede successful hits.

The military R&D agency says EXACTO program was developed to improve the range and accuracy of sniper systems and enhance troop safety by allowing greater shooter standoff range.
www.darpa.mil