Pentagon wants $13M to create unmanned flying gun
DARPA wants to make an automated airborne gun that can hit targets in the sky or on land
The Pentagon is attempting to secure millions of dollars for an unmanned flying gun that can hit airborne and ground-based targets, according to a report from automotive tech news company The Drive.
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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, is the government agency responsible for the futuristic proposal that is requesting $13.27 million in funding for its 2021 fiscal year budget. The ambitious project is named “Gunslinger."
The Pentagon is seen in this aerial view in Washington, in this March 27, 2008 file photo.
"[The] Gunslinger program will develop and demonstrate technologies to enable an air-launched tactical range missile system capable of multi-mission support," an entry in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency budget proposal stated. "This system will utilize the high maneuverability of a missile system coupled with a gun system capable of scalable effects and engagement of multiple targets."
As a confidential project that intends to aid national security, the military has not provided information on how large the Gunslinger will be nor the types of guns or ammunition it may carry.
"These mission sets addressed will include counter-insurgency (COIN) operations, close air support (CAS) and air-to-air engagements," the budget documents said.
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If successful in securing funding, the money would go to "trade studies, to include propulsion, munitions, sensors, GPS and communication," according to The Drive’s report.
DARPA is known for seeking advanced technologies for furthering the U.S. military's global security goals. It is also the government agency credited for the network that eventually became the Internet the world uses today.
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Gunslinger isn’t the only brow-raising project the secretive agency is working on. In August, DARPA posted a request for assistance in identifying a “university-owned or commercially managed” underground lair on Twitter.
Last month, details of research looking into ways for insect brains to control robots were uncovered, according to a Fox News report.
A separate report from earlier this month revealed that DARPA awarded a $316,000 grant to a team from the University of Buffalo, which is studying the brain waves and eye movements of gamers. This research is said to help the government agency control the actions of military robots.