A new rifle scope makes snipers even deadlier

The US weapon giant Lockheed Martin has just won a tender for a contract approximately 4 million dollar worth, with the US Department of Defense agency DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency), to develop a highly technological laser beam rifle scope for high precision rifles.

The laser rifle scope, called Dingo (Dynamic Image Gunsight Optic) contains a small ballistics computer, teamed up with a laser pointer and an array of sensors which are used to measure the effect of wind and other environmental factors and obstacles on the shot trajectory.

Dingo calculates the trajectory using the information it receives from the sensors and the pointer, thus giving soldiers a tool to hit targets at long distance, with a great level of resolution and, most of all, without having to change the scope each time that they have to shoot at different ranges.

In fact, the current pointing devices are optimized only for a certain range of distances, therefore when you are on a mission and have to shoot targets located at different distances, you would have to change the scope at every shot or every distance change, increasing the risk. Dingo solves this problem by eliminating this risk, improving operation speed and minimizing the time between one shot and the next, with obvious consequences on performance and mission effectiveness.

In fact, the first run of tests, carried out in December 2009, has shown that the snipers were able to double their shooting speed, and also to double the odds of hitting long distance targets (at over 1000 meters) with the first attempt.
In the first application phase, Dingo will be mounted on M-4 and M-16 rifles, and once the tests are completed and it starts it work, it may soon become the standard of reference for high precision shooting systems.