The Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System (ARSS) was an experimental robotic weapons system that was in development by the U.S. Army since 2005, [1] but no information about the status of the system has been made public since 2010.
The ARSS consisted of a remotely operated sniper rifle attached to an unmanned autonomous helicopter. [2] It was intended for use in urban combat or for several other missions requiring snipers. [3] Flight tests were scheduled to begin in Summer 2009. [1]
The rifle, a semiautomatic RND Manufacturing Edge 2000 firing the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge, was mounted on a stabilized platform, which was attached to the underside of a Vigilante 502 UAV. [2] The helicopter was to be flown by an autopilot while a human controller aims and fires the rifle, which may fire up to ten well-aimed shots per minute. [2] The rifle platform, called the Precision Weapons Platform (PWP), was designed by Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory and was equipped with a situational awareness camera and a two-level zoom scope. [4]
The system as a whole was being developed under the Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate in the course of its Aerial Delivery of Effects from Lightweight Aircraft (ADELA) program. [4] [5] It used much commercial off–the–shelf hardware to reduce cost and development time. For instance, the system was controlled using an Xbox 360 video game controller. [2]
Other weapons considered for use with the ARSS included the M249 or M240 machine guns, the AA-12 shotgun or non-lethal weapons. The ARSS hardware could also be installed on fixed-wing UAVs or ground combat robots. [2] The Lockheed Martin One Shot sniper system was being considered for addition to ARSS. [6]