Small Arms Stabilization

Special Operations Forces (SOF) Operators must be able to shoot with prone accuracy when shooting off-hand and on the move. One way to accomplish this is to use inertial position sensors to control actuators which stabilize the weapon in ways in which the user is unable. Gyro stabilization has been in use for more than seventy years. Early applications included inertial navigation and lead compensation for anti-aircraft guns. More modern applications include ship and tank-mounted weapons, as well as systems that hold weapons which are usually man-operated. One aspect common to all of these systems is an absolute position command. A user selects a target or a direction, and then the system holds the weapon in the proper orientation. This effort seeks to merely correct for the shaking of the weapon that is not controllable by the user. In this manner, a compact, self-contained unit may be constructed in a form factor that is useful on a tactical rifle.