Lesson plan

EXACTO

EXACTO, an acronym of "Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance", is a sniper rifle firing smart bullets being developed for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) by Lockheed Martin and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in November 2008. The new .50 BMG gun and improved scope could employ "fire-and-forget" technologies including "fin-stabilized projectiles, spin-stabilized projectiles, internal and/or external aero-actuation control methods, projectile guidance technologies, tamper proofing, small stable power supplies, and advanced sighting, optical resolution and clarity technologies". Its estimated availability at the time was 2015. The DARPA EXACTO program may face competition from Sandia National Laboratories for creating a guided sniper round. The DARPA EXACTO program uses different methods from Sandia's guided round. It relies on remote-guidance tied to the optics, which may be more reliable than Sandia's laser guidance method of painting the target with a laser for their projectile to follow, which can be detected, diffused, or blocked. EXACTO models on existing .50 BMG ammunition and rifles instead of needing new hardware, which the Sandia guided dart would need. Although EXACTO is specifically focused on military applications, Sandia is seeking to make commercial sales of their guided sniper projectile.…

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Article summary

EXACTO, an acronym of "Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance", is a sniper rifle firing smart bullets being developed for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) by Lockheed Martin and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in November 2008. The new .50 BMG gun and improved scope could employ "fire-and-forget" technologies including "fin-stabilized projectiles, spin-stabilized projectiles, internal and/or external aero-actuation control methods, projectile guidance technologies, tamper proofing, small stable power supplies, and advanced sighting, optical resolution and clarity technologies". Its estimated availability at the time was 2015. The DARPA EXACTO program may face competition from Sandia National Laboratories for creating a guided sniper round. The DARPA EXACTO program uses different methods from Sandia's guided round. It relies on remote-guidance tied to the optics, which may be more reliable than Sandia's laser guidance method of painting the target with a laser for their projectile to follow, which can be detected, diffused, or blocked. EXACTO models on existing .50 BMG ammunition and rifles instead of needing new hardware, which the Sandia guided dart would need. Although EXACTO is specifically focused on military applications, Sandia is seeking to make commercial sales of their guided sniper projectile.…

Key claims

  1. release date: 2014 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the release date is "2014". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1331135176

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.