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US Military Testing ‘Computer-Guided Smart Rifles’

by Fahad Saleem

It looks like the US military wants to get serious with it’s shooting, by testing out some special rifles called “smart” rifles. How are these rifles smart you ask? Simple, they come equipped with a Linux computer in the scope and contain many sensors that can easily figure out environmental factors such as the steepness or rise of the ground, or how the weather is. TrackingPoint, the company who built these rifles, announced that the military purchased six of these special guns. Their price is quite hefty, ranging from $10,000 to $27,000 each. How it works is that the user of the gun will have to lock in a target, and the computer inside the rifle will show them the exact and precise way to position the rifle before they press the trigger.

Sounds cool doesn’t it? So how does this “smart” rifle exactly help the US military. Well, a trained marksman can easily pull off the high precision shots that this rifle can perform. But trained marksmen are very rare, and costly too. Not everyone is a trained marksman. This rifle can supposedly turn ordinary soldiers into trained marksmen. This is why the US military purchased only 6 of them. They’re testing them first, and if they really perform well and turn ordinary soldiers into high-precision shooters, expect the US military to invest into them.

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We’ve already seen technology implemented into military weapons, for example the laser-equipped snipers. These have become very popular with the military because of their pin-point accuracy. Maybe theses “smart” rifles will become as popular too. An ordinary soldier could take out targets in one shot from far distances. Of course this is not good for the trained marksmen. This rifle could potentially eliminate the need for them.

The military is always looking to upgrade it’s weapons. Whether it’s trying to make them more powerful or more efficient, the weapon industry is always expanding. While this computer-guided rifle may be an advantageous product on one side, it also brings it’s cons too. If this gun falls into the wrong hands, we could experience ordinary criminals shooting down people with ease. Let’s hope something as unfortunate as that never happens and that it’s used for a good cause.

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