Anti sniper device to be used in IRAQ and Afganistan
 

Jesus last time I heard about this it needed to be hauled on a vehicle wowza.
Im curious to see how it deals with sound "echo's" which was the problem with the first device.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...er-device.html

British and American forces fighting the guerilla insurgence in Iraq and Afghanistan could soon be protected by an anti-sniper device that can pinpoint the position of the shooter within a fraction of a second.
The palm-sized device designed by Qinetiq, the British defence firm that was once the government research laboratories, is pinned to the uniform and uses acoustic technology to calculate the exact position of the rifle fire.

Then a electronic voice passes on the "bearing and range" to the soldier allowing him to jump to safety and return fire.

The machine has already been purchased by the Americans for deployment in the New Year and the British are looking at a vehicle mounted version.

After roadside bombs, snipers have been the biggest cause of the 301 British fatalities in both wars, and army chiefs are convinced the device could save dozens of lives.

"It is all about saving guys' lives," said Don Steinman, one of the leaders of the project at Qinetiq North America who developed the device called EARS for Early Attack Reaction System.

"Knowing immediately where the shots come from means that it eliminates the confusion and allows soldiers to find cover and return fire.

"It helps to make combat scenarios, especially in urban areas, a lot less confusing. Everybody immediately knows what side of the vehicle or building to jump behind when taking fire."

The device, which costs around £2,500, works by isolating the crack of the sniper rifle thanks to four microphones, a GPS system and a powerful microprocessor.

It takes less than a tenth of a second and provides the results in audio and visual formats. It can even send a grid reference via radio to supporting artillery and aircraft.

The system, which weighs less than 6oz, is so sensitive it can tell the difference between outgoing friendly fire and incoming enemy fire and can distinguish a sniper even in a gun battle.

It also works when the soldier is travelling at up to 50 mph on a vehicle.

The device has already been road tested in Iraq and Afghanistan to claims of great success.

"The soldiers gave us feedback and we acted on it," said Mr Steinman. "The result is a powerful, rugged, and lightweight gunshot localization system that helps the individual warfighter rapidly respond to dangerous situations."

Although the range and accuracy of the device is kept secret for operational reasons Mr Steinman said they were well beyond the capabilities of a sniper.

hmm, so the dead soldiers hit is not a good indication to the soldiers next to him? Or is this info being transmitted to the yahoo in charge which then gets filtered down to the men after the fact? Obviously, I am not sold on it just yet.

They are talking about a sniper shooting, which means one shot from a distance. If you've ever just heard one shot out of nowhere it's nearly impossible for the human ear to pinpoint where it came from. What this device is allowing them to do is after that first shot is fired being able to locate within a few feet or less where the sniper is within seconds of that first shot. Without this system you have to wait for more shots, and start to narrow it down. In places where it's easy to hide and sound reverberates and echos it's next to impossible to find a sniper without help such as this device. This isn't going to prevent that first shot, but it will help them locate the shooter before he's gotten off more then one shot from safety.

FYI....Their "snipers" couldn't hit a damn thing last time I was there. So you could likely prevent any casualties after they fired the first random shot that misses by 20 meters or more.

LOL...... good point.

sounds pretty sweet to me, i sure hope it works in field