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Chinese army rifle-wielding drone gets 100% hit rate in 100-metre-range shooting test

Drone using a standard infantry assault rifle shows unprecedented accuracy in live-fire tests with human-sized target

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Of the 20 rounds that struck the target, half landed within an 11cm radius, comparable to a headshot. Photo: Handout
Stephen Chenin Beijing
A new Chinese military special-ops drone has shown unprecedented accuracy in live-fire tests, hitting a human-sized target with every shot while using a standard infantry assault rifle.

The drone fired 20 single rounds while hovering at a height of 10 metres (3.2 feet) and a distance of 100 metres from the human-sized target, a standard 50cm by 50cm (about 20 by 20 inches) chest board.

The drone achieved a 100 per cent hit rate during flight trials, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Gun Launch and Control on December 9.

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The experimental unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was developed by Wuhan Guide Infrared in collaboration with the Chinese military’s Army Special Operations Academy, the study said.

Among the 20 rounds that struck the target, half landed within an 11cm radius, comparable to a headshot. At a shorter range of 50 metres, the system hit the target 19 out of 20 times.

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It was not a flaw in the system, according to the team led by Guide senior engineer Jiang Huajian.

“The missed bullet landed at the edge of the chest target, and the miss was caused by inherent ammunition error,” which meant a bad bullet, Jiang and his colleagues wrote.

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