U.S. Military's New Smart Bullets Hit Moving Targets With Deadly Accuracy

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The United States military has perfected a smart bullet that behaves like a precision-guided missile.

The Department of Defense released a video showing 'self-steering' bullets that can change their course to hit a moving target.

The smart bullet project is called EXACTO, developed by researchers at the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The video shows the trajectory of a self-steering bullet fired by a trained sharpshooter at a moving target, and then and an untrained sniper, shooting the same moving target.

Both shooters, trained and untrained, hit the moving targets with perfect accuracy.

The science behind EXACTO is a military secret, but there's speculation that they have small fins on the side that can be tracked by lasers.

According to DARPA, the precision-guided bullet will help military snipers hit moving targets in unfavorable conditions, such as high winds and dusty terrain and avoid collateral damage.

"True to DARPA's mission, EXACTO has demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target," said Jerome Dunn, DARPA program manager. "This live-fire demonstration from a standard rifle showed that EXACTO is able to hit moving and evading targets with extreme accuracy at sniper ranges unachievable with traditional rounds. Fitting EXACTO's guidance capabilities into a small .50-caliber size is a major breakthrough and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers."