Sunday, April 19, 2009

Sniper


Snipers are often legendary in their own right, and you can tell that it is a popular role for glory hunters in the virtual world as gamers take pride in their "sniping ability" over a computer with the mouse and keyboard being their equipment of choice to take down digitized avatars of opponents from afar. Well, the real world works on a totally different scale, and the US Army hopes to lay the smack down in future wars with their Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System (ARSS). This system is actually a .338-caliber rifle mounted to the bottom of a Vigilante unmanned helicopter, where a modified Xbox 360 game contoller will then be used to target your subject, letting you do the dirty job without having to step foot outside of the barracks. Eerie.

10 comments:

  1. alright it's already easier to kill someone with a gun, being a sniper actually takes skill then walking up and firing. lets not take the skill out of it so it is easy for someone to be shot a mile away.

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  2. I disagree Kyle, yes being a sniper is a great skill and we should always train our soliders to be so great but if we can save a soliders life and have a helicopter and a computer and a gun do the work safely for us that is a win. We will always need humans to run and operate theses things so we will never have comptuers run our lives.

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  3. I agree with Ross, this is an interesting idea, and could possibly help in saving a soldiers life. It is a win win situations. It would be better having people set up and operate this than having people risk their lives.

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  4. Guys forget what you know about "snipers."
    Most of it is glorified from movies and action shows.
    The majority of my family is in the service and I've quite a few friends and acquaintances working as Forward Air Controllers.
    Snipers tend to work in pairs.
    On top of that, a mechanized "sniper" would take away the psychological warfare aspect marksmen provide in tactical situations.

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  5. The problem i see with this is that this thing can be hard to conseal. PArt of the art is the ability to not be detected. But if this saves a soldiers life, then it is worth it and the is a mighty good benefit

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  6. War in the future, could be almost entirely computer operated, what are they going to be shooting at besides other machines? On a positive note, maybe all the video games kids of this generation will pay off if they're using Xbox360 controllers to shoot down the enemy - than I recommend my little brother as the number one sniper.

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  7. I agree that it will take the skill of being a sniper away from a solider. Most people who are in the Army are there to serve their country and fulfil their dreams and passions. That also comes with putting their life at risk- but it would be nice to have a way for them to do their job and save their life.

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  8. Also, you have to think about how easy it will be for the bad guys when trying to kill the good guys here too.

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  9. this wil find its waty into the bad guys hands sooner or later then what
    its great in theory but in the real world....

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  10. I can see issues with this when it comes to misuse. If a soldier kills an innocent bystander, is it his fault, or an equipment malfunction? Its too much grey area. I do like how we can save soldier's lives by using this type of equipment, but it desensitizes people even more than they have been.

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