Bullets That Slowly Self-Destruct Make a Surprising Amount of Sense

A self - destructing bullet is n’t the most intuitive affair : normally , you use projectiles to destroy target area , not the other style around . But the great unwashed make mistakes , slug can move for miles , and civilian casualties ( or well-disposed attack ! ) are lamentable realities .

In an sweat to counter this , the Army ’s Armament Research , Development and Engineering Center ( ARDEC ) has patented ego - destroy bullets . The rocket would be fill up with a flammable stuff that would ignite when the bullet train is fired . As it combust , it would react with another material inside the bullet , which would make the hummer to lose shape and become “ aerodynamically unstable”—in other words , fall to the ground . By commute the composing of textile , it would be well-off to tune the fastball to lose its shape at specific distance .

It ’s far from a sodding resolution — for one thing , the patent was file in 2013 , and the task has since lost funding . It would also be a hard sell for soldier , who typically like their bullets to be precise and not bend over long distance . But as a solution for constabulary in build up - up expanse ( or anyone worried about colatteral wrong ) , it ’s an innovational estimate that goes a small way towards resolve an old age - old trouble with guns .

William Duplessie