Tracking Point

Project White Feather was a US Special Operations Command (SOCOM)-sponsored effort to improve sniper weapon fire control technology to help extend effective range and increase first round hit probability. As envisioned, the fire control improvements were to provide the shooter a real-time, ballistically corrected aim point with input from a laser crosswind detector, laser range finder, inertial sensors that measure weapon motion, as well as other sensors.

The Weapons & Materials Research Directorate of the Army Research Laboratory published a white paper entitled Sniper Weapon Fire Control Error Budget Analysis (ARL-TR-2065) about these tests. One interesting revelation was weapon pointing (aiming) error analysis, or the ability of a shooter to hold his or her aim on target.

According to their tests, the standard deviation of aiming error for the best, formally-trained operational snipers was three times worse than tested High Power and Long Range competition shooters sufficiently skilled to compete successfully in national level match competition at Camp Perry and the like. In fact, the worst competition shooters tested were as good or better than the best snipers in basic holding and shooting fundamentals.

This is simply raw marksmanship fundamentals, and doesn’t take into account shot error due to range, wind or environment estimations, all the things that can spoil an otherwise well pointed shot. Testing also revealed that on 1000 yard humanoid silhouette targets operational snipers have first shot success probability of only 3%. These SOCOM-sponsored tests were not intended to denigrate snipers, only to point out that hitting at long range is difficult and fraught with many variables.

Better training reduces error, as the competitive shooters prove, but this requires time and effort. A sniper or other shooter not personally motivated to take up organized competition on a regular, on-going basis will remain the biggest source of error in any shot. Precision Guided Firearms "Smart bombs" have been known to even casual, non-military observers for several decades now. Precision 338 Lapua Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum (pictured) Surgeon Rifles.

Each unit is packaged in a custom Pelican case and includes 200 rounds of ammo and needed accessories. Guided Munitions, as they’re more correctly called, typically work by allowing for corrections of the projectile after launch. With so many variables influencing a projectile, the means to make adjustments during flight greatly increases hit probability. Guidance can be accomplished by radio, infrared homing (heat seeking), laser, satellite (GPS) or other means.

A working solution for small arms is to better guide the rifle, not the projectile. Ballistic problems can be solved instantly with a computer smaller than the processor in your cell phone and sensors can automate the input of variables, feeding updated information real time.

Distance to target, weapon attitude (slope angle and cant), ambient temperature and barometric pressure can all be detected and compensated for within an algorithm, given that the projectile’s muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient and spin drift are known. While there isn’t yet a working solution, laser detection of wind speed

The trigger arms the system while the target is continuously tracked and a solenoid releases the sear when the rifle is pointed properly. Other applications can run training simulators. and direction along the gun-target line has shown some potential. The last remaining problem is the person holding and actuating the trigger. Despite a perfectly predicted ballistic solution, any shooting error will still spoil the shot.

Even if the sights indicate exact point of impact, the shooter must hold them on target and release the shot without disruption. It takes years for a dedicated competitor to achieve this, one reason Camp Perry competitors are 300% better at holding and eliminating aiming error than operation snipers according to SOCOM’s tests. With most people not as good as trained snipers and not motivated enough to take up competitive shooting, the problem remains daunting. A PGF also has to remove this problem.

Enter Tracking Point While hunting in Tanzania, John Mc Hale came across a Thomson’s gazelle, a wary species about the size of a small coyote. After a stalk, he was able to get about 300 yards from a nice male. Even with tripod-type shooting sticks and a good rifle with a six power scope, the shot proved too difficult and he missed several attempts. Disappointed, he realized he couldn’t stay steady enough while pressing the trigger perfectly.

Sure, more effective training and practice would solve this, but Mc Hale, having along career in network computing technology including work on the TOW missile and M1 Abrams tank, began to think how he could use existing technology to tackle the problem. He started research and Tracking Point was born.

Tracking Point is an Austin, Texasbased applied technology company that recently created the first Precision Guided Firearm, along range shooting system that puts computer controlled "lock and launch" technology akin to the Heads Up Display of a jet fighter inside a rifle. Mc Hale assembled a multi-discinplinary team to bring this off.

Jason Schauble brings in firearms, ammunition and operational expertise having previously run Remington Defense, served as a senior civilian operations officer for Marine Special Operations Command and having a decorated military career (Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart recipient) as a combat leader with Marine Force Recon.

Chief Technology Officer John Lupher, with engineering degrees from Texas A&Mand Stanford University and twenty years experience developing industrial, consumer and military products, directs research and development. The company currently employs 44 people, with 30 engineers having backgrounds in optics, software, electronics, and machining.

Tracking Point calls their PGF the Xact System, which incorporates a custom rifle, precision conventional ammunition, networked tracking scope with heads up display, and a guided trigger into a closed loop system.

The Xact System not only calculates and updates a ballistic solution for each shot 54 times a second, the system controls the trigger and only fires when the sights are properly aligned on the target predesignated ("tagged") by the shooter, thus eliminating errors in aim, trigger control, environmental inputs and range miscalculation regardless of shooter skill level or expertise.

At the heart of Tracking Point’s system is a ballistic computer modeled with the specific ammunition provided with the Xact System, arriving from the factory zeroed and ready to use. A Barrel Reference System detects the optic’s relationship to the bore and adjusts for any alignment shift between the barrel and the scope. Because microscopic changes between the barrel/optic relationship can be measured by the BRS, the zero is automatically readjusted as needed.

The system keeps count of shots fired and adjusts for how muzzle velocity will be affected due to barrel wear. To use, the unit is turned on, the view zoomed and focused. Depending on model, Xact Systems have a native optical zoom of 30x to 35x. The sequence to engage is tag, track, shoot, called TTX (Tag, Track, Xact) by the company. When a target is located, the shooter "tags" it by covering it with

A blue aiming reticle indicates the system is not armed. ) When the aiming reticle intersects the tag, the system releases the sear and fires the shot. the reticle and holding down the tag button next to the trigger guard. The tag, indicating the point of impact, is shown by ared dot. This tag can be removed by pressing the button again. Once the tag is on the right place, the trigger is held down, arming the system.

At any point, the shooter manually inputs the effective wind speed, the only environmental factor not compensated for. The ballistic computer adjusts for range, temperature, barometric pressure, spin drift, cant, inclination and wind input. An aiming reticle appears based on the ballistic solution needed to align the bore and obtain a hit. While holding the trigger down, the shooter tracks the aiming reticle onto the tag dot painting the target.

Movement of the target and rifle, as well as distance and environmental factors are continuously monitored and the ballistic solution is updated 54 times per second. When the aiming reticle intersects the tag dot on target, and if the trigger is still being held down, the system actuates the sear and fires the shot. Tracking Point refers to shot delivery part as "Xact" because it happens when the system detects proper alignment.

Xact Systems are networked and capable of streaming video from and into the optic from an external device. The Shot View app streams video from the optic’s heads up display to a smartphone or tablet, allowing guides to mentor clients and shooters to share a first person view of a shot, in real time or recorded to video. A shot sequence from tag until ten seconds after the shot is taken can be recorded as video or still pictures, saved and shared. Tracking Point has three Xact- System PGFs available.

All are built with custom 0.5 MOA Surgeon rifles, Krieger cut rifled barrels and include 200 rounds of Barnes Bullets Xact- Shot ammo and an Apple i Pad Mini with software loaded fit in a custom Pelican case with cleaning rod and accessories. The XS1 is a .338 Lapua Magnum with 27" barrel, AAC muzzle brake, 6- 35X zoom firing 300 grain bullets and rated up to a minimum 1,200 yards.

The XS2 is a .300 Winchester Magnum with 22" barrel, AAC muzzle brake, 6-30X zoom firing 220 grain bullets and rated up to precision up to 1,000 yards minimum. The XS3, also a 300 Win Magnum, is a Mc Millan A5 with adjustable cheek piece and 22" barrel, 6-30X zoom firing 190 grain Barnes LRX and rated to 750 yards. Prices are $19,995.00, $17,500.00 and $14,995.00 for XS1, XS2 and XS3, respectively. In Practice A rifle that zeroes, adjusts sights, and fires itself? What sorcery this be?

No sorcery here, just a very creative application and careful integration of many existing technologies. Software computing ballistics has been with us for years and available on palm sized devices for over a decade. Cell phones can crunch these numbers. The problem is accounting for all the possible variables. Even the most basic ballistics program requires input regarding sight height, muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient and the like. Reasonable guesses or slight variation gets you close, but not exact.

There are also variations within the ammunition, shot-to-shot variations in muzzle velocity and within the rifle itself. Does your pet load shoot the exact same velocity in your rifle as it did when you tested it 200 rounds ago? Jason Schauble calls this the problem of nickels and dimes, where small errors start to add up. Tracking Point reduces much of this by making their Xact System PGFs closed systems and sold complete, with rifle, sight, software, tracking system and ammunition as an integrated package.

Surgeon Rifles, with a guaranteed 0.5 MOA accuracy standard or better thanks to its modern manufacturing processes, are the sole supplier of the rifle component in a Tracking Point PGF. Barnes Bullets custom loads a specified cartridge for each system and does so with a standard deviation

of ten feet per second or less. The optic and tracking system is permanently attached to its PGF and not available separately. These PGFs are based on Surgeon Rifles and will, obviously, safely and accurately shoot any appropriate cartridge it’s chambered for. However, Tracking Point has spent considerable time and expense taking Doppler radar measurements of their chosen load and has modeled this in its ballistics software.

Furthermore, the specific effects of wear with this ammunition over the course of a barrel’s life in this rifle is also modeled. Changing an internal variable changes the results, even if slightly, and this compounds in a stack up of error. With all these variables internal to the rifle-ammo combination controlled, external variables must be accounted for. Temperature and barometric sensors are not new and can feed this information in.

For the past several years, consumer electronics such as mobile phones and digital cameras have included tilt sensors and accelerometers, detecting roll, pitch and proper acceleration. This feeds cant, slope angle and rifle movement in as well. Laser range finders are also commonly available and home video game systems often include object movement detection, allowing players to play games without a controller. Much of the needed technology to make this work already existed in the consumer market space.

Tracking Point put the pieces together. So, does it work? What is a PGF useful for? Does it make marksmanship obsolete? After touring their facility, Jason Schauble took me to Best of the West Shooting Sports range in Liberty Hill, just outside Austin. After a quick demo, I plopped down behind an XS1 and had ago. We went through a series of dry shots to let me learn the controls. On the optic’s top, starting from the front is a focus knob and zoom rocker, going from 6x to 35x.

Focused in, the image was very clear at any magnification. Knowing I had to estimate my own wind, I backed off the focus like a spotting scope in an attempt to read mirage. I could see some, but the image appeared slightly pixelated. The optic is actually presenting a digital image to the shooter’s eye. I mentioned this to Jason and he noted the company is already working on a High Definition version.

This is similar to how military units, such as thermal sights, work and means that night vision capability can readily be included. The TTX sequence was easy to learn. Unlike a fired shot, if the tag point is wrong, just push the button again and redo it. When the tag is right, hold down the trigger and move the reticle to the tag point. The system doesn’t fire unless the trigger is depressed and the reticle intersects the tag point. Using an i Pad, Jason could see what I saw in the optic and teach me what to do.

Best of the West has steel targets at 250, 500, 750 and 1000 yards. Within minutes of learning the TTX sequence and playing with the system dry, I entered in wind correction and went live, resulting in a first round hit on all targets shot at each of the four distances. Mind you, this is with a rifle I had never fired and didn’t zero or have data for. All the sight dope is built in. Feeling froggy, I had a tilt from standing with an XS3. Jason mentioned that Daniel Horner of the AMU had done this during his visit.

After getting my tag right, I armed the system and had a first round hit at a 250 yard target with a factory zeroed rifle and no sight data with a rifle I had never fired before from standing. The Verdict While my hands-on experience wasn’t conclusive, I can say the system works as advertised. Tracking- Point has done extensive testing and the question isn’t if their Xact System PGFs work. They do. This is a release of new technology and anew type of small arm equipment, the Precision Guided Firearm.

American Gunsmithing Association

The shooter is still part of the equation. Familiarization is possible within minutes, but it takes practice to efficiently and quickly tag and track. A sloppy, wobbling hold will make tagging difficult or impossible and the shooter will have to track back to an established tag. The barrel still has to point at the target to get a hit and the shooter has to put it there.

PGFs don’t make the rifle more accurate or powerful, but make it easier for a shooter, especially one of less skill, to exploit that capability and to not let a shot go unless it really is on target with all the ballistic variables factored in. The potential for military use is huge. Rather than fight military bureaucracy, Tracking Point decided to release this to the open market. Military contracts are easier to arrange with COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) equipment.

The US Army spends six figures to install Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000 systems for training. Because Xact System PGFs are networkable and the optical image is a digital projection, an app running on a tablet or laptop can run training exercises and simulations, making it a self contained training system. There is no need to zero or record data, so live fire can focus on other training.

Consider the M110 (basically, a SR-25 with conventional scope and accessories) costs the Department of Defense over $10,000 and a PGF doesn’t look so expensive. This may appeal to professional hunters guiding clients. The sad truth is many people able and willing to spend five figures on a guided hunt won’t bother learning to shoot well enough to have a successful hunt. Poor marksmanship skills area common complaint among PHs about their clients.

Having a rifle on hand means clients don’t have to bring one and the guide is confident of the zero. Novice hunters being guided can tag game as often as needed until a good shot is set up. PHs can monitor selected shot placement and record the whole thing as a video for a client to enjoy later. Smart technology is nowa reality in small arms. Precision Guided Firearms don’t replace rifles, they are an entirely new equipment class.

As time goes on, the price point may drop enough that this will be practical in more mundane rifles. The goal of all shooting equipment is to make hitting the target easier. Just as rifled barrels and optical sights helped, technology continues to march. AG