Michael's Dispatches

Intriguing.
Of course, the 'general in his office' making the shoot/don't shoot call will also now be directly responsible, too. My guess? In most cases it'll be someone a LOT closer to the action (and much further down the food chain) that will be making the shot calls - Leaving the flag-rank officers still in a position of deniability.

All that said, I find the capabilities of this system fascinating - It may be possible to upgrade normal marksmen to effective 'designated marksman' levels capabilities. And wouldn't *that* be a nasty surprise for our enemies..?

Wonderful. It wasn't bad enough having targeting and attack decisions made in Washington during the Vietnam War. Now a sniper has to have Washington's permission to take the shot? Lord, deliver us...

This is interesting on a couple of fronts. If the General in The Pentegon is going to direct the shot and order the sniper to fire then surly he must take a higher % of the blame when it goes wrong. With the current system those who pull the trigger have the final say in carrying out the order as they are more mission orientated for the immediate area whereas someone who is remote may have a greater overall texture of what is going on strategically. To expect a young sniper to say no at the crucial moment is pushing it a bit so more likly he will fire and then when it is discovered he was wrong to fire the blame will fall to him.

IF we are going down the long screwdriver route then legal and the AG Dept need to set up a memorandum of understanding that sniper is under orders and those giving the orders are acountable in a court- including the court of human rights in the Hauge.

Interesting, enshrined in German Law is that any soldier may disobey an order if it is against the rules of war. Seems they did learn something following the defences of "I was only obeying orders".

Of course you could just turn the darn Wi-Fi Off!

It'll be hackable. KISS

What happnes when they top hunting AQ and turn this crap on us?

If the "General" has the ability to deactivate the trigger, I can predict that capability will get our people killed.
There is nothing worse than needing permission to shoot 2 seconds ago! :-x

Urgent request to activate trigger!
Sorry buddy, :-* your "handler" is in the head! :cry:

Is that what we pay O-7-9 for?
It takes how many handsoffs now to get a MEDEVAC or close air support now?

Complete BS!

You can bet the ChiComs are testing their version as we speak.

And just think, the current POTUS will be able to take credit for it all!

Ring lazer gyros were $250,000 in 1985, now you can find mini gyros in $60 RC helicopters. In 10 years the targeting capability of average rifleman's systems will make ACOGs look like low tech, low budget equipment. The targeting systems will cost more than the rifle system. I don't believe the government will be able to keep this technology out of civilian hands. All it takes is money.

All this high tech crap is incredibly dangerous because mans wisdom has not kept up with his knowledge. If our wisdom increase came before the knowledge we would still be using swords and clubs

I found the first vid put out by the President of TackPoint that explains the unit operation:

[b]TrackingPoint Demonstration[/b]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvbyAcYjzlc[/url]

8)

I agree with USAF(Ret) and MR. Picking targets from 3000 miles away resulted in a lot of B-52 bomb runs on empty paddies. And 2 seconds late is the certain result for tactical decisions made by people who aren't there AND have a limited angle of vision.

Intriguing, but the bottom line is the shooter must still possess the fundamental knowledge and skills to be an effective marksman using iron sights combined with basic elevation and windage calculations. Otherwise, in the event of technological failure, you're left with a "marksman" wielding a composite & metal "club". Kind of like the cashier at your local retail store who can't figure out how much change you are owed in lieu of the register readout.