DARPA's New Sniper Rifle Offers a Perfect Shot Across 12 Football Fields

"Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes," American revolutionaries supposedly yelled at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Legend has it that the rebels were trying to conserve ammunition, given the inaccuracy of their 18th century guns. But things have come a long way since 1775. With DARPA's new "One Shot" sniper system [PDF], scheduled to be in soldier's hands by the fall of 2011, the U.S. military will give snipers the ability to take out an enemy at a distance of .7 miles in winds around 10 to 20 miles per hour. Military brass hopes the system will give snipers a perfect shot at least six times out of ten. The One Shot system still wouldn't come close to matching the record for shooting accuracy: In November of last year, British Army sniper Corporal Craig Harrison made two shots at a distance of 1.53 miles in Helmand ...