LibriumArcana.Games

TheRegister wrote:A major weapons manufacturer has exhibited a so-called "Black Box" which could be fitted to small arms - for instance rifles or submachine guns - and record details of every shot fired, potentially including location, target and even user identity.

The Black Box has been developed by Belgian-headquartered company FN Herstal, a famous name in the gun world. The new gizmo goes on show tomorrow at the MILIPOL securo-expo in Paris.

The idea is that the Black Box electronics would be installed internally in a void space such as the pistol grip of an assault rifle. (It "fits in any weapon type", apparently.) The gadget would run on a non-replaceable battery lasting ten years or 100,000 shots - covering the weapon handily between major overhauls.

The initial uses of the Black Box would, according to FN, be in logistics and maintenance. The in-gun shot counter would keep track of how many rounds were being fired, updating a future soldier's digital comm/puter system - Land Warrior or some similar rig - as it went, using some form of wearable networking.

Not only would the soldier then know automatically how many shots he had fired without the need to keep count or look at his magazines and pouches, but so would his team leader - and higher commanders would be warned in advance if their people seemed likely to run out of ammo.

From the armourer's point of view, a permanent record of how many rounds a gun has had put through it would be invaluable - and even more so, the knowledge of how rapidly they had been fired. Various parts of a weapon degrade much more rapidly when a gun is being fired fast, owing to the high temperatures reached. The Black Box would also keep a record of stoppages as well as successful shots, which would help in identifying faults.

So far, so uncontroversial. But FN seem to hint at other uses to which the gizmo might be put - indeed the choice of name offers a broad hint that investigations following a shooting or a firefight might make use of the records held in weapons used. Monitoring might go further than this, with the company saying:

The FN Black Box can also communicate useful information to the chain of command during a mission. It contains the identification number of the weapon and, thus, can indirectly identify the soldier. When coupled to a GPS, it can transmit its identification and localization data to the upper level of the command through the communication equipment of the soldier.

Most current and planned digital-soldier rigs already include GPS, in some cases enhanced by the use of other navigation aids. It seems that with the addition of Black Box, commanders may know not just how many shots their troops fire and when, but where they were as they did so - perhaps in real time. The scheme is somewhat reminiscent of the idea, sometimes suggested for US police, of automatic gun cameras intended to record the target of every shot fired for use in subsequent investigations.

Fans of Judge Dredd will recall that his personal sidearm, the Lawgiver pistol, had capabilities akin to this in some versions - perhaps going as far as the tagging of every round fired with the user's DNA signature. (Though in the movie, even this level of record-keeping didn't suffice to protect an innocent Dredd from being busted by his fellow judges for a crime he hadn't committed.)

FN don't mention DNA bullet-tagging specifically, but they do say that the Black Box is intended to form just part of their planned "Armatronicsâ„¢" kit, "a fully integrated system of electronic solutions mounted on or inside a weapon. Additional enhancements for increased functionality to the system are on the horizon as new technologies are explored."

The introduction of such systems might be used as much to keep tabs on cops or troops as to help them out with logistics and maintenance. And Black Box guvmint gunbutt spy modules required in every licensed weapon, doubtless remotely accessible by federal busybodies, would seem like a vaguely plausible bogeyman to disturb the sleep of many a righteous, free, gun-toting American.

Even more chillingly for those who see personal weapons as a guarantee of freedom from government oppression, FN speak of the Black Box as a "weapon manager", hinting that feds, military superiors etc. might even be able to disable a gun remotely.

White Haven wrote:While I can see the usefulness of realtime data like that, I'd be concerned about network security if it's being transmitted wirelessly. Otherwise you run the risk of giving an opposing force with proper IT support the same data you're trying to feed to force commanders.

White Haven wrote:On the law enforcement side, Internal Affairs departments the world over would breakdance naked under the full moon for this kind of capability. Time and location stamps on every shot fired from every police weapon? That'd go a LONG way towards exonerating the innocent and punishing the guilty in questionable shootings, especially in conjunction with properly timestamped surveillance camera footage. 'Alright, the shot that killed the vic was fired four seconds before his own weapon was fired. He's clear.'

Batman wrote:Wireless security is going to be a problem in ANY environment. Given the vast extent to which modern militaries use wireless communication already I don't see where this would be a noticeable increase in security risks. That's what encryption is for.
As for police use, downloading the data for after action reports would probably suffice. They just need to know if and when an officer shot, they don't need to know it realtime.

Batman wrote:And the fear about remotely disabling a gun is humbug. You CAN add a GPS locator, clock, tranmitter and shot counter as an add-on package as long as there's room to put it somewhere in or on the gun. Allowing the package to DISABLE the gun is a lot more invasive than that.

How WOULD such a black box prevent the gun from firing?

frigidmagi wrote:I'm willing to bet troops on the front will not care for this. You watch the bean counters will come after any unit that "unnecessarily expends ammo."

Odds are ways to gimp these boxes are gonna be found real quick.

frigidmagi wrote:

How WOULD such a black box prevent the gun from firing?

Who said anything about that?

Even more chillingly for those who see personal weapons as a guarantee of freedom from government oppression, FN speak of the Black Box as a "weapon manager", hinting that feds, military superiors etc. might even be able to disable a gun remotely..

Don't they already anyway? When you issue a soldier three full magazines and he returns from the field with all of them dry it doesn't take an electronic gizmo to figure out he spent them...

Most infantry weapons don't particularly mind water. Electronics invariably DO

From the article in the OP.

frigidmagi wrote:

Don't they already anyway? When you issue a soldier three full magazines and he returns from the field with all of them dry it doesn't take an electronic gizmo to figure out he spent them...

Hard to get on his case when he can claim he spent them over a long period of time during a combat operation. However if it tracks every firing. *ahem*
"You were in a firefight for 15 minutes, projections clearly show you should have only used 2 magazines of 60 rounds during that time, however you used 3.5 magazines of 105 rounds..." and so forth.

You laugh but I've seen enough to suggest some idiot on a crusade getting that set up.

Most infantry weapons don't particularly mind water. Electronics invariably DO

Gotta strip the casing first I bet, but that shouldn't be a problem. Awful the things that happen in combat. Just awful.

From the article in the OP.

Ah fair enough. I would be utterly against that. I don't want some remote figure deciding when and where I can fire my rifle. I can see the counter argument, but it's not moving enough.

If they do it my civilian firearms, I will disable it or die trying. If they do it to Marine firearms I will fight them every step of the way and get rid of every politico who votes for it. If they do it to cops I will hound them in the streets until it is changed!
Power goes to the man on the spot not some jackass on a desk!

frigidmagi wrote: Gotta strip the casing first I bet, but that shouldn't be a problem. Awful the things that happen in combat. Just awful.

Cynical Cat wrote:I can see some use to this. For soldiers, not so much. How is this damn thing going to be powered? What is its battery life? How much is all this extra shit going to weight?

For SWAT teams, on the other hand, I could see this.

OP wrote:The idea is that the Black Box electronics would be installed internally in a void space such as the pistol grip of an assault rifle. (It "fits in any weapon type", apparently.) The gadget would run on a non-replaceable battery lasting ten years or 100,000 shots - covering the weapon handily between major overhauls.