This will be another sensitive post, but one I feel presents an important issue. It does not condemn or condone any of the actors or agencies, it simply presents the story with a tinge of opinion.
When it comes to military firearms, one of the most legendary is the sniper rifle. A precision device for hitting a target at long range, it requires extensive training and skill. The sniper often has to lay low for hours, even days on end waiting for the right opportunity to strike their target. Sometimes the result, and the shot it took to get there, are unbelievable. On the other hand, as someone who lived in the area where the D.C. sniper went on his rampage, I know that like anything, if they fall into the wrong hands, very bad things can result.
Now, an article over on C|Net discusses the military's interest in a system that could take some of the training out of being a sniper, and make even a mediocre soldier or possibly just an everyday yokel, a masterful sniper. They are currently researching a system made by Tracking Point that attaches to a regular sniper rifle, and can compensate, on its own, for wind, sun, barrel length, distance, and a host of other factors, making it much less difficult - easy, even - to hit the mark. In fact, they can hit a target SEVEN FOOTBALL FIELDS away on their own, and a video on the company's product page claims their system "eliminates multiple sources of error." The sniper would be pulling the trigger, but the system would be doing the shooting.
Note in the video below, that at only 11 seconds in, the narrator says "...enabling anyone to hit long distance targets." It's fascinating tech, but very chilling at the same time. It's supposed to be for hunting, but it doesn't sound like hunting to me.
I'm all for superiority in military conflicts, but my concern is the same as it always is with technologies of this sort. Although it's a very limited application, and the systems can run between $23,000 and $27,000, I worry about this tech falling into bad hands. As mentioned above, they already sell similar kits to hunters.
Of course, military snipers carry out other, important functions and have significant training in many areas. I never thought I'd see the day when they might start losing jobs to technology.
I find this to be extremely alarming. I don't care if they say it is for hunting, the bottom line is it will most likely end up in someone's hands that chooses to harm others. We don't need to make it easier for all of the crazies to shoot up our schools or movie theaters. I find it disgusting honestly that this company would even think this is a good idea. All you here on the news lately is shootings in mass crowds, what would make them think that someone that is unstable wouldn't jump at the chance to use this weapon. I truly hope this gets shut down and doesn't see the light of day!
ReplyDeleteThis is prime example of becoming too dependent on technology. In a constantly changing and hostile environment that war puts people in, the last thing you need is to have something that you rely on for survival to die or malfunction on you. I don’t know of any elite military force that would put this into operation simply because the “sniper” would be completely dependent upon the electronics. And the environments these individuals go into are not electronic friendly and do not allow them to have network access for the system to operate. As for the civilian aspect, this is just rediculous. Using a device such as this takes all of the sport out of hunting. I only see bad things coming from a product like this; those who would purchase and use it would be the wrong people
ReplyDeleteI agree that this takes all the sport out of hunting. That is the last thing that hunters want is to miss out on wild game to people who truly don't know how to shoot a rifle. Where I can see this as a benefit is to those who are living off the land... Mountain Man, The Last Frontier. Places where game is their only food source. This could enable them to shoot from further distances and guarantee the kill shot. It's survival to them, not just a sport.
DeleteThis article is quite interesting and I am honestly surprised that this product is even being marketed. As a daughter, granddaughter, niece, and fiancé to avid hunters, I’m surprised all the hunters don’t boycott this product and get it shut down. Hunting is a sport that requires hard work, dedication, practice, missed shots, and kill shots to gain the full experience. To be completely honest, if I mentioned this do my dad, he’d probably have a derogatory comment to make about anyone who has to rely on this product to take down an animal. The last thing my family of hunters would want, are some unqualified, technology relying, “wanna be” hunters out their stealing all their game.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the military using it, being a sharp shooter, a sniper, in itself is an experience. This takes away what separates those that are good and those that are great. Not everyone is meant to be great at everything, which is why we have specialty fields. This does cross the line of relying on technology a little too much. I personally feel as if it’s comparable to offering an “error-free, exact-cut scalpel” to a doctor. That’s your main tool and foundation for what you do; if you can’t operate it correctly without the aid of technology, then you don’t deserve to have it.
There is always the fear of this technology getting into the wrong hands, however in regards to mass shootings, it’s not typical that these heathens take the time to aim. Accuracy at seven football fields away could be a scary though for individual targets.
Bridget Towery
This is defiantly an interesting post. I would think that most hunters would be upset by this technology coming out. Hunting is more about the hunt than the kill. Hunters work hard to gain their skills and this technology takes away from that learning process. Whenever some new technology comes out there is always a chance that it can fall into the wrongs hands. I can see where this could come in and help snipers or now “regular” soldiers hit their marks with a lower chance of hitting the wrong person. I think this takes away from the snipers skills as well. They train for years and put in a lot of hard work to perfect their skill as a sniper. I think this is showing that we are starting to rely on technology a little too much.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie Theobald
Wow, I never thought technology this advanced would be invented or even allowed. This Tracking Point seems like an incredible system, but is it something that should really bring to the market for the general public? This is frightening for me to see that this type of technology can be used by anyone. So many firearms already fall into the wrong hands. I agree with the above comments regarding hunters being upset about using this type of firearm for hunting. The hunters I know are very passionate about the skill and the process they have to do to hunt. I don’t this firearm being successful in the general market. However, I do think it is going to benefit the military.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is so advanced and is being used in many, many ways. I think this post is very interesting but also in my opinion completely unnecessary. I don't think technology should be taking away the actual concept of shooting a gun, especially in the military. The snippers are trained to have the title of a sniper and to be able to properly use that gun. In the view of hunters I couldn't see very many people using this system. Isn't the point of hunting to go out, and shoot the gun yourself and hit the target or miss, not have a computer do it for you. There are way too many people that get military guns that fall into their own hands and now this is just another technology that they can potentially use without "using it" because the system will be providing the assistance.
ReplyDelete-Kristen Lalli
I find this amazing but also troubling because if this technology gets into the wrong hands then our nation could possible have another DC sniper incident. Even though this system would help eliminate error, I still believe that proper training is needed because if the technology just by chance goes down then the inexperienced shooter is out of luck. Just shows that technology is really taking over.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert Tarr about becoming to dependent on technology but I also think that we need something like this for our military. Our troops already are out there potentially risking their lives for us so why not have something like this helping us. You still need a sniper to pull the trigger so that will not eliminate them completely. We have to remember that parents need to discipline their children properly in order to stop so much violence. If we could raise better human beings than we wouldn't have to worry about crazy people using these riffles to kill innocent children. I hope I didn't offend anyone, just my point of view.
ReplyDeleteI've read about this in a gun magazine. It is an amazing set of optics but it must be paired with the gun. One cannot simply just buy the optic and slap it onto any bolt action and expect to fire long distances. Their rifles are extremely custom custom built with tighter tolerances and specific twist rates, which I would assume they would want you to use a specific bullet weight and charge. Although it can factor in most calculations and make it easier to figure out the hold over, it cannot be consistent with out the shooter doing their part. The shooter must always load the bipod consistently, pull the trigger / have the gun rest consistently. If the shooter shoots often enough and keeps a consistent log of environments, and distances they have shot it would be easy to quickly adjust. In regard to the wrong hands. It may be possible that someone bad may get their hands on this system but usually price deters most bad guys in getting one. One thing I would hope is that with that price of a setup would probably have some security measures to prevent usage of the optic.
ReplyDeleteThis type of advanced technology is pretty interesting. It eliminates human error. The wifi capability is integrated making it virtually accessible to place anywhere in all types of terrain. I think this is great for the military to use, but I don't think that it would be beneficial for hunters. This would defiantly kill the animals you are targeting faster, but the thrill of hunting would be taken out of it. I never thought they could make a rifle that was that precise and automated. I'm going to send this to some military friends and ask them for their opinions on this.
ReplyDeleteNatalia Brooks
I am a gun owner myself so I support our right to have them. For this to be used for hunting would be no fun at all. Hunting is a sport. A part of hunting is the hunt and making the shot. If the rifle does that for you than no skill is needed. That just sounds boring. Now for the military, it is extremely important that they be as accurate as they can. For a rifle like this to be able to ensure that they hit their target is great. However, I don't think that it should be solely what they rely on. I do still believe that a trained sniper needs to be able to shoot multiple weapons without this technology. The intense training should still be required. It never fails that as we continue to grow with modern technology there is always someone out there that will get their hands on this and use it for something wrong and bad.
ReplyDelete