Knight's Armament Bullet Flight

 

Submitted by Eric Daniel

I saw a blurb on this over at Defense Tech, and though it was worth making mention of it here. 

Bullet Flight is a BDC (bullet drop calculator) application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch.  Bullet Flight allows you to input projectile characteristics and store these parameters as discrete profiles for specific weapons and bullets (for example, you can save data as, M24-M118LR, M24-M118, M24-M80, etc.)

Based on the profile you select you enter a number of variables, including target range, air temp, air pressure, shooter/target angle, altitude, wind speed and direction.  Once all your numbers are in, the program calculates your windage and elevation corrections and displays these corrections for you as “clicks”; you don’t need to do the MOA/range math in your head to figure out what you input, the program just tells you up or down so many clicks, and you’re set.

On its face, I thought this sounded like a pretty cool tool – for the spotter.  While there’s no denying that this looks like to be a pretty useful tool (I’ll tell you up front now, I’ve not used this app, but comparing the attention to detail involved with it to what I used to do boresighting an M1A1 tank, it looks like they’ve thought of everything), looking at how KAC has it mounted (on the LH side of an M110 receiver) it looks like a sensory distracter.  The shooter should be focused on the target, not the iPod (I had similar issues when urban fire truck manufacturers started offering text generating heads up displays for the Engineers (drivers) to provide them with additional information on the fire they’re going to.  Additional information is great, but it needs to go to the engine Captain (sitting in the passenger seat) who can relay pertinent information to the driver, so that he can focus on driving.)

Beyond being a sensory distracter for the shooter, I’d be concerned about the device staying attached to the rifle; while it’s mounted on a throw arm rail mount for rapid attachment, the mount itself is hinged so that the iPod can flip in and out for the shooter to read the data, but will it stay “in” all the time, or will it flip out to snag on terrain, helicopter/humvee doors, and the like? Again, this isn’t a big deal if you keep the device in your pocket.

Also, is the unit NVG compatible?  It would suck if some sniper hidden on a hillside blew his cover by lighting up the back forty with his iPod just to get a firing solution.  Something else to ponder is the fact that the iPod Touch runs on an internal battery charge (6-36 hour continuous operation life span) so you either have to plug it into a USB compatible computer, wall unit, or solar charger to keep it running for any length of time.

Finally, there is the cost.  At $11.99, the application itself is the cheapest component in the entire system.  The iPod Touch starts at $229, the Otterbox armored box for the Touch is $49.95 (note, the app will run on either the iPhone or the iPod Touch, but Otterbox only provides a sealed environment armored case for the gen 1 and 2 iPod Touches) so out the door, this program is going to cost you almost $300 (not including battery charger source or the qd throw arm rail, I wasn’t able to find it listed on either the KAC or Otterbox websites.)

All told, at the end of the day you have what appears to be a pretty slick tool for sniper teams in the field, but it comes with a price tag and possibly some tactical limitations as well.

Check out the KAC Bullet Flight app. here.

Comments

[SSG K]

I'm not a sniper, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

When I read this on defensetech the first time, I thought it was a joke. I've seen dozens of jokes pertaining to attaching unusual items to a rail system. Everything from drink holders to 11 different kinds of optics at once.

This looks like more a distraction than anything else. I agree with just about everything Eric mentioned - battery life, back lighting, etc. I assume that this would not get attached to the rifle into your actually in position, so snagging on stuff during a movement wouldn't matter. Also, I would imagine that it only needs to be turned on for short periods of time.

I see no real good reason to mount this directly to the weapon. It's small and light, but even a little weight can throw of accuracy. The shooter would have to train with this thing attached all the time in order to be able to compensate for it.

Also, there is just one more thing to go wrong. I'm a big fan of tools that make life easier, and I'm not afraid of technology. I carry a GPS AND my compass. Usually, adding a piece of tech is just that - adding. It does not replace what you already have, it enhances it. Snipers travel light. Adding gear isn't always the best idea, especially if there is already a proven method of doing something.

All that being said - I love gadgets. I'm sure this has a place somewhere - just not attached directly to the weapon.

[bobsyruncle]

It looks and sounds like a good idea. An elevation and windage calculator to spare the spotter's braincells. But putting the software on an ipod touch seems to be the biggest flaw (aside from mounting it to the rifle.) It would perhaps be a better idea to use a programable graphing calculator (like the ti-83s, $99, used in highschools everywhere) Another cost cutting measure could be to produce a calculator just for this sort of thing, similar to Sporty's electronic E6B flight computer, $65, http://www.sportys.com/e6b/ but designed specifically for calculating windage and elevation adjustments. The greatest benefit, aside from cost and no light signature from the lcd screen, would be the phenomenal battery life (in comparison to that of an ipod touch.) All things considered this smells a bit like another scheme to sell more apple mp3 players.

[Sarge]

Are you kidding me? with all the bang-whiz in the modern army, it's a wonder they can even find their six without a GPS and laser designator! I have done sniper missions, and I think this will never deploy. If it uses any fuel other than rats, it's not going with me. Soldiers do not run on batteries.

[Eric Daniel]

Bob,

I'd thought about the graphing calculator as well, but then, you'd either have to already know what the equation was to graph the curve for your bullet's trajectory, (or have a fixed equation you could plug variables into) or you'd have to establish discrete points (so that you're basically referencing a database.) This is in addition to the other obvious issues, those being the calculator isn't waterproof, is still a light source at night, and it isn't armored against abuse.

All in all, I think the iPod app is an interesting idea, and it certainly offers an impressive amount of tactical information, I just don't agree with putting it on the weapon itself. Now, it Apple could come up with a military version of the iPod, i.e. NVG compatible, rugged, built in solar charger, weighing less than 5 lbs, etc. that would be a step in the right direction.

[Ron]

The Software works as advertised. The problem is that Ipods aren't built rugged enough for military deployment. As a result, I would confine this application to civilian long range target/varmint shooting until it can be installed on military grade hardware.

[corey]

the software is great, but I can't find the mount for civilian issue?