The U.S. Army Wants 'Stealth Bullets'

Image: U.S. Army

Michael Peck, National Interest: The U.S. Military Wants the Ultimate Weapons: 'Stealth' Bullets

Noise-canceling headphones have become a familiar sight. Fastened over the ears of music lovers and airliner passengers, they use sound waves to cancel out the roar of outside noises such as jet engines.

Now the Pentagon wants to use that same technology to develop a quieter rifle bullet that will prevent the enemy from determining the location of the U.S. soldier who fired it.

The Department of Defense research project, titled “Active Noise Control for Small Caliber Ammunition,” aims to apply advances in noise cancellation to the battlefield. The solicitation notes that while noise suppressors fitted to a rifle can dampen the bang of a weapon being fired, “bullets traveling near or greater than the speed of sound generate a ballistic crack or sonic boom. This is the sound which is generated outside of the weapon and cannot be addressed by a simple weapon suppressor.” A round from a 5.56- or 7.62-millimeter rifle generates about 164 decibels for someone standing three feet away from the weapon (a vacuum cleaner generates about seventy decibels).

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WNU Editor:  Apparently some technical issues still need to be resolved.