Alright, we spend plenty of time obsessing over, comparing, and analyzing every last bolt and surface on our rigs. Poring over the details of the here and now, as it were.
I got to thinking much bigger picture last night though about what the future holds for the sport/discipline, and thought it would be an interesting and enlightening exercise to predict what the major advancements in precision riflery would be- not in the next decade, I'm talking the next 50-100 years.
This thread probably won't be for everyone, but for those who've got a mind for science (or at least science fiction
), let's hear it.
I'll get the ball rolling...
The first *major* advancement I'd see would be moving to non kinetic-based rifles. In other words, energy. Lasers are getting smaller and smaller and they're now fielding active laser defense systems on humvee-sized vehicles. Within 30 years we could potentially see man-portable energy weapons.
Assuming we're still using the current optical/scope paradigm, this would do away with any considerations of wind, elevation, and range estimation. The fundamentals would all apply, but it would be akin to shooting at 50 yards, all of the time. The only factor to consider would be beam dispersion or weakening, either at distance or through certain media (fog, etc.)
The other related advancement I could see would be automatic tracking of targets. In other words, redirecting the aperture of such an energy system automatically, regardless of shooter point of aim (to some degree). This would truly turn it into a point and click affair.
Another farther-fetched idea would be micromunitions that require no line of sight, and used the same communication infrastructure that we currently employ between UAVs, helis, etc. If every rifleman could launch essentially a self-propelled munition that could zero in on any tracked target across the battlefield, it would change the face of warfare dramatically.
So.. what would be your predictions for the next century of rifle development?
I got to thinking much bigger picture last night though about what the future holds for the sport/discipline, and thought it would be an interesting and enlightening exercise to predict what the major advancements in precision riflery would be- not in the next decade, I'm talking the next 50-100 years.
This thread probably won't be for everyone, but for those who've got a mind for science (or at least science fiction
I'll get the ball rolling...
The first *major* advancement I'd see would be moving to non kinetic-based rifles. In other words, energy. Lasers are getting smaller and smaller and they're now fielding active laser defense systems on humvee-sized vehicles. Within 30 years we could potentially see man-portable energy weapons.
Assuming we're still using the current optical/scope paradigm, this would do away with any considerations of wind, elevation, and range estimation. The fundamentals would all apply, but it would be akin to shooting at 50 yards, all of the time. The only factor to consider would be beam dispersion or weakening, either at distance or through certain media (fog, etc.)
The other related advancement I could see would be automatic tracking of targets. In other words, redirecting the aperture of such an energy system automatically, regardless of shooter point of aim (to some degree). This would truly turn it into a point and click affair.
Another farther-fetched idea would be micromunitions that require no line of sight, and used the same communication infrastructure that we currently employ between UAVs, helis, etc. If every rifleman could launch essentially a self-propelled munition that could zero in on any tracked target across the battlefield, it would change the face of warfare dramatically.
So.. what would be your predictions for the next century of rifle development?
