Snipers in Afghanistan Use iPhone to Kill Taliban

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Snipers in Afghanistan Use iPhone to Kill Taliban



Think smartphones are just a fad? You might want to consult with military snipers in Afghanistan who use a $19 iPhone app to help their bullets hit home.

When you think about it, sniping is actually a hell of a lot more complicated than it is in, say, Team Fortress 2, where it's essentially "point crosshairs and shoot." In real life, there are tons of factors that can affect where exactly your bullet ends up once it leaves the barrel of the gun: ballistics, wind velocity - even something like the rotation of the Earth itself. That's part of the reason that military sharpshooters get special training, of course... but to make it even easier on snipers currently at work battling terrorists in Afghanistan, there's an iPhone app for that sort of thing.

BulletFlight, a program for the iPod Touch and iPhone, helps work out the ballistics of any given shot, taking into account the wind and rotation of the Earth - and even predicting the wounds that the target will suffer if the bullet finds its mark. Though given the power of most modern sniper rifles, I'd be very surprised if the program didn't just default to "acute case of death."

The program was reportedly developed from videogame software and repurposed for practical use, which is a departure from the "traditional" idea of technological advancement: The military invents something, and it finds its way down to public use. "But, increasingly, modern consumer gadgets are so powerful and so highly competitive that they're often ahead of the game - and much cheaper to buy in and adapt," said Stuart McDougall of BAE, who is working on "3D graphics technology from the PS2" to help advance upcoming military engineering. (They do know that we're now on the PS Triple, right?)

BulletFlight, is one of many apps officially endorsed by the US military for use in Iraq and Afghanistan - others include "maps, survival books and tactics guides." It does make one wonder, though ... this sounds like an incredibly convenient program to have, and I can understand why snipers and sharpshooters would want to take advantage of it. But if it's so useful, why wouldn't the military just requisition a portable stripped-down device that's built to just run this program instead of requiring all their sharpshooters to buy iPhones? Eh, politics.

BulletFlight can be downloaded by anybody for just $19, though if you aren't actually in the military be prepared to get some very strange looks. And please stay out of line of sight of me at all times.

(Via The Mirror [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/12/27/soldiers-in-afghanistan-using-19-iphone-app-to-kill-taliban-fighters-115875-21924689/])

(Image [http://community.cbs47.tv/blogs/files/5005/4202730/iphone%20gun.jpg])

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Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
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This is pretty old news isn't it Funk?

Still cool though, Apple is helping in the war on terror. What do you think of THAT Microsoft? Eh?
 

dalek sec

Leader of the Cult of Skaro
Jul 20, 2008
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Very interesting, I'm waiting for them to make an App so you can call in airstrikes on a location.
 

Woodsey

New member
Aug 9, 2009
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"The program was reportedly developed from videogame software".

Here we go.
 

IrrelevantTangent

New member
Oct 4, 2008
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Killing the Taliban- there's an app for that!

Sounds like this BulletFlight's something right out of a videogame. I imagine it'll be very useful for the army, so long as a significant number of them end up using it.
 

wordsmith

TF2 Group Admin
May 1, 2008
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Sevre90210 said:
This is pretty old news isn't it Funk?

Still cool though, Apple is helping in the war on terror. What do you think of THAT Microsoft? Eh?
I dunno if it's for real, but one of the "Join The Army" adverts over here features a guy flying a UAV. WITH AN XBOX 360 CONTROLLER
 

Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
4,886
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wordsmith said:
Sevre90210 said:
This is pretty old news isn't it Funk?

Still cool though, Apple is helping in the war on terror. What do you think of THAT Microsoft? Eh?
I dunno if it's for real, but one of the "Join The Army" adverts over here features a guy flying a UAV. WITH AN XBOX 360 CONTROLLER
I've seen that! It's propaganda to the max. Alright Microsoft is helping this war. But it hasn't got a kill count as high as Apple.
 

Monshroud

Evil Overlord
Jul 29, 2009
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Sharpshooters also play Bejeweled 2 while they are waiting for their targets to pop their heads out.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Sniping's a good job, mate. It's challenging work, out-of-doors... and I guarantee you'll not go hungry, 'cause at the end of the day, as long as there are two people left on the planet, someone is going to want someone dead.
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
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wordsmith said:
Sevre90210 said:
This is pretty old news isn't it Funk?

Still cool though, Apple is helping in the war on terror. What do you think of THAT Microsoft? Eh?
I dunno if it's for real, but one of the "Join The Army" adverts over here features a guy flying a UAV. WITH AN XBOX 360 CONTROLLER
I'm fairly sure they actually do use 360 controllers to fly the UAVs.
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

New member
Sep 6, 2009
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The slathering mob of Apple fanbois outnumber the US military. If Steve Jobs tells the US military to buy his iPhone, then they will buy his iPhone lest they suffer a fate too terrible to even imagine.
 

Asehujiko

New member
Feb 25, 2008
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Sevre90210 said:
This is pretty old news isn't it Funk?

Still cool though, Apple is helping in the war on terror. What do you think of THAT Microsoft? Eh?
Third party developers that apple originally tried to get rid of are fighting in the war on terror and apple is stealing all their glory.
 

Sporky111

Digital Wizard
Dec 17, 2008
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The_Oracle said:
Killing the Taliban- there's an app for that!
Dammit! You beat me to it.

I was thinking this is a great idea, the iPhone definitely has the power for this, and the accelerometer would be quite helpful for determining angle of shot.

And Funk, I loved the stab at military tech. "A departure from: military develops tech and modifies it for public use." Genius.
 

Lullabye

New member
Oct 23, 2008
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MurderousToaster said:
What ISN'T there an App for?
I've yet to find one that tells me what women are thinking. PLease, oh please let there be one....

OT: I find this absolutly baffling. I hadn't heard so this ios news to me, a iPhone app thats actually useful to the MILITARY? damn....
 

Deofuta

New member
Nov 10, 2009
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Sounds awesome, but it kind I can already imagine it being used by a phsycopath sniper on the mainland.
 

Pielikey

New member
Jul 31, 2009
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Go figure, I remember watching a show on Snipers about a week or so ago, and they were using a Windows Mobile phone for this kind of thing.