DARPA's Homing Bomb

By John

Shachtman has such a great eye for this stuff:

Precision mortars and artillery shells have the potential to change the battlefield just as much as satellite- and laser-guided bombs did -- maybe more. Those munitions are deep into testing. So Darpa, naturally, wants to take the next step, by developing a hand-held, steerable, flying mini-bomb that an infantryman can use to blow up just about anyone in a two kilometer range.

The project is called Close Combat Lethal Recon, or CCLR. And Darpa was kind enough to put together a handy promotional vid, to show us how it works. (Don't let the off-tempo, forced-cheery, robo-voiced narration creep you out too bad.)

So now the bad guys can look forward to our boys whupping their ass with a PSP.

May 11, 2007 07:48 AM Tech

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Comments

This sounds like what the Mobile Infantry carried in Starship Troopers, the book not the horrible movie.

Doug (old Army Corporal) · May 11, 2007 07:56 AM

Sweet Jebus that's cool.

LC Scotty · May 12, 2007 06:54 AM

Maybe we just start with replacing the 5.56 with something that kills the enemy. Like a 6.8.

ken · May 12, 2007 01:02 PM

With the new battery technology and miniturazation of transmit/recieve/propulsion components it is possible to manufacture these devices to carry a lethal payload of ~ 1 lb, more depending on wing area, with flight times in excess of 10 min. The noise profile of the electric motor/prop is small enough to where it would not be noticed.
Go out to a nearby RC airfeild and observer any of the electric RTF planes and ask yourself how hard would it be to add a camera and a small payload for a one way trip.

Gmac · May 14, 2007 01:25 PM