Currently, soldiers rely on grenade launchers and air strikes to take out enemies hiding in bunkers and other urban shelters. But a high-tech bullet that could potentially stop dead in its tracks at a pre-controlled and pre-selected distance could be on the battlefield as early as 2012, with trials underway sooner.
According to a report in New Scientist, the futuristic bullets would be fired from the newly designed 'XM25 rifle' and are described as 'radio-controlled', allowing them to be sent towards an enemy who is hiding behind an area where conventional ammunitions can't accurately reach.
The weapon has the ability to revolutionise ground warfare, because it virtually rewrites the rules of bullet behaviour and the pinpoint distance accuracy with which regular soldiers (and not just specially trained Snipers) can take out enemy insurgents.
The 25mm sized bullets send a radio-frequency to the microchip inside the bullet (which would cost around $25 each), and by using the earths magnetic field that signals to a magnetic transducer in the bullet, works out the individual rotations of the ammunition, calculating exactly how far the bullet has to travel and when to detonate.
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| The XM25 rifle can fire deadly accurate radio-controlled, microchip embedded bullets. Source: US Army |
The new high-tech bullets can be sent to blow up within a couple of metres inside the bunker area, making it very difficult for the enemy to evade the explosive charge of the bullets detonation within the bunker structure.
With the increasing demands of urban warfare, the US military are constantly looking for more technologically advanced ways to take out the enemy with minimal civilian casualties. War zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and hot spots in Africa are some of the more common urban battle theatres that are more likely to need a high-tech bullet.
Thankfully, in the Star Trek tradition, the report also states that these bullets could be set to 'stun' rather than deliver lethal payloads at the enemy.