Magic Bullet

choi

Military technology | Magic Bullets; Smart ammunition is about to make things a lot more dangerous for guerrillas fighting regular troops. Economist, Jan 14, 2012  
http://www.economist.com/node/21542716

Quote:

"In the XM25 it is a small computer inside the bullet that monitors details of the projectile’s flight. * * * Each rifle bullet is programmed, before it is fired, by a second computer in the rifle itself. * * * When the round is fired, the internal computer counts the number of rotations it makes, to calculate the distance flown. * * * When the computer calculates that the round has flown the requisite distance, it issues the instruction to detonate.

The XM25 "appears to work well. It is accurate at ranges of up to 500 metres. That is almost as far as America’s main assault rifle, the M-16, can shoot conventional bullets with accuracy. More pertinently, it is nearly double the range of the AK-47

Note:
(a) Carl von Clausewitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz
(1780-1831; His most notable work, Vom Kriege (On War), was unfinished at his death)
(b)
(i) Our History. ATK, undated.
http://www.atk.com/CorporateOverview/corpover_history.asp
("ATK was launched as an independent company in 1990, when Honeywell spun off its defense businesses to shareholders. The former Honeywell businesses had supplied defense products and systems to the U.S. and its allies for 50 years")
(ii) XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System. ATK, May 2009.
http://www.atk.com/capabilities_space/documents/sw_iw_xm25.pdf
(iii) defilade (vt, n; probably from de- + -filade (as in enfilade); First Known Use 1828):
"to arrange (fortifications) so as to protect the lines from frontal or enfilading fire and the interior from fire from above or behind"
www.m-w.com
(iv) enfilade (n;

(c)
(i) Heckler & Koch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_&_Koch
(founded by engineers Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel in 1949[2] from the remnants of the Mauser company; private; Headquarters Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany)
(ii) Mauser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauser
(The Mauser brothers--Peter Paul Mauser, often referred to as Paul Mauser, and Wilhelm--founded the company in 1874 at birthplace, Oberndorf am Neckar)
)iii)
The German surname Mauser means "mouse catcher"--from Middle High German mus ‘mouse.’
(iv) The German preposition "am" means "at the" in English. Thus Oberndorf am Neckar nmeans Oberndork at the Neckar river/valley.

(d)
(i) Henry Shrapnel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Shrapnel
(1761-1842; British)
(ii) Shrapnel shell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrapnel_shell

Quote:

"His [Henry Shrapnel's] shell was a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with a mixture of balls and powder, with a crude time fuse. If the fuse was set correctly then the shell would break open, either in front or above the intended target, releasing its contents (of musket balls). * * * The explosive charge in the shell was to be just enough to break the casing rather than scatter the shot in all directions.

"Initial designs suffered from the potentially catastrophic problem that friction between the shot and black powder during the high acceleration down the gun bore could sometimes cause premature ignition of the powder. Various solutions were tried, with limited if any success. However, in 1852 Colonel Boxer proposed using a diaphragm to separate the bullets from the bursting charge, this proved successful and was adopted the following year.

Note: The "bursting charge" (or "buster charge" in the sketch of two shells--at the top right ) in quotation 2 is blackpowder, at the back of a Shrapnel shell.

(e) S&T Daewoo K11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26T_Daewoo_K11
(Two conventional 20mm shells either detonate immediately on impact or on a timed fuse after impact. A third type of shell is controlled by the weapon's integrated electronics to explode a few meters from the target, yielding an air burst effect capable of killing targets within a 6m area and seriously wounding those within a 8m area)

(f) caliber
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliber