I was speculating on the alleged new US weapon system. It got me conjugating...

Say you wanted to shoot someone at great distance. With a bullet, not a missile or a rocket or a shell. Say you had a vehicle-mounted system with super-duper sights, stabilization, lidars and short wavelength radars.

How far out could you gobsmack someone? What sort of round would you want to use? What would such a system broadly look like? Has anyone tried to build such a thing? Are they allowed for deer hunting?

Yes, I am having a slow day.

Google for "WSG2000" (hkpro.com re-published an article about it iirc) to find a discussion (quite old, but modern) about the optimal bullet/cartridge for long-range sniping.

A somehow guided projectile would be feasible, and that would make a much larger calibre preferable (14.5-15.5mm probably, 20-25mm hasn't got enough MV).

I wouldn't choose a classic "sniper" approach for a vehicle-mounted system, though.


Btw, I am quite sure that Woodward didn't refer to a weapon system.

No, no I am sure not.(Well, not that I know for sure.)

A guided bullet is on edge of cheating in my mind. But it is a sort of intellectual exercise.

If you think of 120mm fin as a "bullet"...

Laser-Guided Bullets: Pentagon Pursuit

Laser guided bullets fired from something like this:

I have heard that the RWS on the Stryker when fitted with the .50 cal can be used as an impressive sniping weapon due to it's zoom capability and optics. I am not certain how much of this is true however.

Laser guided bullets? Why do the sniper's get all of the cool toys? I doubt this will ever be practical however. Yet if I am wrong I imagine such a weapon would fire some sort of guided flechette round rather than a more conventional design.

Vehicle-based sniper weapons? Simple

I like this one, better range, more bang....

Why bother leaving the country at all?

There's also a private project of a small UAV using a rifle for sniping.

Do you have any more information on this project? I wonder what type of accuracy is possible from a UAV?

It was in the danger room blog and elsewhere some months ago.


edit: http://www.sagetechcorp.com/Main%20Menu/Pr...iper%20v001.pdf

Yes, the IWS2000 is a smoothbore rifle firing saboted flechettes. At 15.2mm they're also larger than .50, so if they can fit the electronics into a .50 bullet they should be able to do it for the bigger round.

Isn't that a contradiction?

You got me

I wonder what your supposed to call that thing then?

Musket?

There are also rifled shotguns, but the UK government considers them to be rifles, go figure!

I suppose just "gun" since that's what you call smoothbore tank guns ... it's not much smaller either.