[AndyNakamura]

Apparently, already being tested by the US military.

http://defensetech.org/2014/01/15/u-s-military-begins-testing-smart-rifles

[Namikaze]

Quote from the article:

The company has already sold about 500 of the rifles, mostly to wealthy safari hunters and elderly hunters, Schauble said.

Are these people that hunt the elderly?  Do you get bonus points if they're in a scooter moving more than 5 kph?

[farothel]

Or if they drive way to slow on the highway on the middle lane while right line is completely free. 

[AJCarrington]

Interesting...thought I saw something on this late last year...really interesting video on YouTube showing how the rifle and tech work. Will do some digging to see if I can find it.

[firebug]

Damn that's badass.  And it even says it can be applied to other firearms already.  And that it can send the info to laptops or smartphones?  I mean...  That's it.  That's a smartgun.

[Ursus Maior]

Yes, it's on. This is thre really interesting part:

“Rifles can communicate with each other,” he said. “We can enable a more information-driven combat in the sense that you can tag targets. You can pass off those targets to someone else with a scope. There’s a whole layer of communication that comes with having a rifle that can designate and track targets.”

The system includes a Linux-powered computer in the scope with sensors that collect imagery and ballistic data such as atmospheric conditions, cant, inclination, even the slight shift of the Earth’s rotation known as the Coriolis effect. Because the computer is wireless-enabled, information can be streamed to a laptop, smart phone or tablet computer for spotting or to share intelligence.

Just calculating firing solutions is nothing new, we've had that in tanks for decades. But a portable FCS that shares it's data with networked systems attached to other weapons and even the mothership APC and rearward echelons, that's "network-centric warfare".

[SlowDeck]

Life will imitate Shadowrun one more time when one of those networks is hacked.

And, yes, it will happen. The U.S. military's network security is well known for being laughable on a good day.

[Ursus Maior]

Amen. And the US forces already have a cyber-security unit. There are quite a couple of nations that lack such units, especially in larger numbers.

[Ursus Maior]

Another VERY cool future tech brought to you by Skunk Works. Yepp, again:

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/article.html?item_id=118

The Skunk Works ARES is a UAV that "is an unmanned VTOL flight module system capable of transporting a variety of payloads. ARES has a unique design that allows it to adapt to multiple missions with interchangeable payloads; including medical evacuation units, cargo pods, a tactical ground vehicle, troops, and armed scout, reconnaissance and strike capabilities."

Need to transport your 4WD, supplies for that isolated outpost or casualities? Just strap'em under the Ares and they're good to go. Or put a mission module (sensors) under it.