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The Self Aiming Rifle: The Future Of Warfare?
American company TrackingPoint has developing the technology for a self-aiming rifle.
Inspired by the same tracking and lock-on technology found in fighter jets, the rifles allegedly offer eight times more accuracy than those of an elite marksman.
In 2014 the US Army purchased six of the smart rifles for testing.
The company, created by lifelong National Rifle Association members in 2011, even offered 10 free rifles to those willing to fight Daesh or al-Qaeda militants late last year.
TrackingPoint claims that:
“As soon as you perfectly intersect your designation point, the guided trigger is released and you finish your trigger pull, launching a perfect shot. The fire control system won’t let misaim, jerk, or jitter affect your shot.”
The TrackingPoint XS1 rifle allows users to wear smart-goggles which stream a computer enhanced down-the-barrel view of the target.
The company also claims that the rifle can hit targets moving up to 20mph.
It's even found emulated in the recent video game 'Tom Clancy's The Division'.
Critics, however, have questioned the ethics of using such a rifle and voiced concerns that rifles may be remotely hacked to disable the weapon or even change its target.
Wired magazine reported that hackers can gain access to self-aiming rifles through WIFI. This in part has prevented TrackingPoint releasing the source code for the weapons, which would allow others to improve on the technology but also make the rifles themselves more vulnerable to being exploited.
TrackingPoint also came into financial troubles in 2015, according to The Verge news network, and announced it would stop selling the rifles. The company relaunched the same year, however.
The technology has migrated to the M800 DMR and M600 SR rifles still available to purchase on their website.
DARPA’s EXACTO project (which features self-aiming bullets) and the media attention surrounding TrackingPoint is a hint into the military potential and thirst for self-aiming technology in rifles.
But fears surrounding the security and safety of the technology have hampered its progress, and are arguably why the rifles aren’t commonly found on the battlefield today.
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