The Military's Awesome, Self-Guided Bullet Just Took Another Big Step

Moving target? No problem.

That is, no problem for DARPA's EXACTO — Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance — self-steering bullet.

This week, the military's research arm announced its successful live-fire tests that took place in February. The tests were completed by a shooter with experience using the system as well as novice, both demonstrated an ability to hit moving targets.

Image source: DARPA

"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."

Check out video of the test:

We saw some of the earlier tests of the EXACTO bullet last year. According to the project website, the technology is now in phase II of its development with the next phase including more live-fire tests and tweaks to the technology to improve performance.

(H/T: Gizmodo)

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Front page image via Shutterstock.