Lockheed Martin has won a $3.93 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop high-tech rifle-scope attachment. Designed to improve marksmanship over distances of between three and 600 meters, the Dynamic Image Gunsight Optic (DInGO) system combines a low power laser rangefinder, an embedded ballistics computer and onboard sensors that determine wind and other environmental effects.
Based on the One Shot Advanced Sighting System, DInGO calculates the range, digitally zooms in on the target and automatically transmits crosswind information to a long-range sniper’s scope, modifying the crosshairs to display the bullet’s exact point-of-impact.
Lockheed Martin says the goal is to provide soldiers with accurate targeting while maintaining optical resolution and without the need to change scopes.
“Current scopes are optimized for a single target range, impacting soldiers’ effectiveness and survivability when engaging targets at different distances during a single mission,” said Dan Schultz, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors Ship & Aviation Systems business. “DInGO will solve this problem, significantly increasing soldiers’ ability to rapidly reconfigure optics for use from short to long ranges and improving marksmanship capabilities for all soldiers.”
The nine-month Phase 1 contract will see the DInGO system developed for use on M-4 and M-16 automatic rifles.
Recently Lockheed Martin has also applied the One Shot crosswind measurement technology in a prototype spotter scope. The company says tactical field tests in December 2009 showed that snipers were able to engage targets twice as quickly and increase their probability of a first-round hit by a factor of two at distances beyond 1,000 meters.
Via: Lockheed Martin.
Relatively small errors in range estimation, target speed, uphill/downhill angle, etc. mean a miss.
The reality is combat shooting is not well trained.
In asymmetric war, small arms may account for 80% of enemy casualties. It is a worthwhile investment to outfit the front-line shooters with the best sight, ammo, and gun system possible. I\'d even put an optical sight on the pistol.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28166114 future weapon
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28166129 targets
This guy got not one, but two kills at over 8,120 feet away (quite a feet when you consider that his rifle is only affective up to 4,900 feet) that\'s 2,475 meters for you metrically inclined people! And they didn\'t 3.9 million dollars to do this either! Look, it comes down to training and skill....all the technology in the world won\'t help if you can\'t even hit the side of a barn at 20 feet!
Another item for review, if not already there, is the ability for the soldier to upload/download data from/to his other (external) electronic data storage devices and to recover from a software/firmware crash.