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Sol Invictus
08-31-2009, 04:03 AM
Kurt Kleiner
NewScientist.com
June 04 2009

http://i32.tinypic.com/zilsth.jpg

A RIFLE capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target could let soldiers fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

The US army has developed the XM25 rifle to give its troops an alternative to calling in artillery fire or air strikes when an enemy has taken cover and can't be targeted by direct fire. "This is the first leap-ahead technology for troops that we've been able to develop and deploy," says Douglas Tamilio, the army's project manager for new weapons for soldiers. "This gives them another tool in their kitbag."

The rifle's gunsight uses a laser rangefinder to calculate the exact distance to the obstruction. The soldier can then add or subtract up to 3 metres from that distance to enable the bullets to clear the barrier and explode above or beside the target (see diagram).

As the 25-millimetre round is fired, the gunsight sends a radio signal to a chip inside the bullet, telling it the precise distance to the target. A spiral groove inside the barrel makes the bullet rotate as it travels, and as it also contains a magnetic transducer, this rotation through the Earth's magnetic field generates an alternating current. A patent granted to the bullet's maker, Alliant Techsystems, reveals that the chip uses fluctuations in this current to count each revolution and, as it knows the distance covered in one spin, it can calculate how far it has travelled.

Read Full Article (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227116.900-radiocontrolled-bullets-leave-no-place-to-hide.html)

Jäger
08-31-2009, 09:02 AM
A RIFLE capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target could let soldiers fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.
http://pics.gunbroker.com/GB/135329000/135329106/pix3984753187.jpg
1914 rifle grenade.

Good to see the US catching up :).

Murphy
08-31-2009, 10:47 AM
Can you just interffere with radio signals to disable the threat?

Regards,
Eóin.

Skandi
08-31-2009, 06:29 PM
I see problems. Biggest one being wind. the bullet is counting how many turns it has made and in still air would know what speed it was doing. However if it is fired into a headwind or tailwind or if there is a tiny bit more or less powder in the case then this speed will not be exact and therefore the distance per turn will not work out. I don't know how much difference this would make, but I suspect that over a 500m you would lose about 1-5m could be worse if there was a combination of factors involved.