Dart-like bullet could hit laser targets more than a mile off

‘We have a very promising technology to guide small projectiles that could be fully developed inexpensively and rapidly,’ said Sandia’s Red Jones.

Sandia’s design for the 4in (10cm)-long bullet is said to include an optical sensor in the nose to detect a laser beam on a target. The sensor sends information to guidance and control electronics that use an algorithm in an 8-bit central processing unit to command electromagnetic actuators. These actuators then steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.

Most bullets are shot from rifles with rifling cut into the barrel, which causes them to spin in order to fly straight. Jones said that, to enable a bullet to turn in flight towards a target and to simplify the design, the spin had to be removed.

The bullet flies straight thanks to its aerodynamically stable design, which consists of a centre of gravity that sits forward in the projectile and tiny fins that enable it to fly without spin, just as a dart does, he explained.