In the cross hairs: technologists take aim at enemy snipers.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: BATTLEFIELD GEAR - Cover story

ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- "IT HAS BECOME A WAR OF SNIPERS," Lt. Gen. James F. Amos, commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, told a room full of technologists.

While in no way downplaying the impact of improvised explosive devices on the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, enemy sharpshooters are costing lives, he said at a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency conference.

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"Two years ago, the enemy snipers weren't very good. Today they're very very good," Amos said. "They have brought pros in. They've been trained."

The so-called sniper war has played out during the past four and half years in Iraq out of the public's consciousness. Roadside bombs have taken the most lives and generated the most headlines--1,460 as of Aug. 19, according to the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index. But gunshot fatalities are a close second at 1,160.

Sniper tactics, however, do not belong to the enemy alone. The United States has its own highly skilled teams that are trained to stalk, hide and "terminate" high-value targets.

While countering snipers has not received the funding and attention of the IED threat, several programs are in various stages of development that researchers hope will make U.S. sniper teams more deadly, and ,allow other troops to both locate enemy gunmen, and possibly find them before they squeeze the trigger.

The Boomerang shooter detection system, built by BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., reached Iraq in early 2004 and has been installed on tactical and armored vehicles. After a shot is fired, a computer generated voice tells soldiers the direction and distance of the bullet's point of origin.

A third generation Boomerang system is in the late stages of development, and will be lighter, easier to install, compatible with IED jammers and have fewer components, said company spokeswoman Joyce Kuzmin. There will also be improvements to performance, but she could not provide further details.

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BBN is among a handful of companies offering sensors that instantly locate the origin of a gunshot, Two Israeli firms, Elbit Systems and Rafael Armament Development Authority are marketing similar systems. Radiance Technologies of Huntsville, Ala., is selling the WeaponWatch system that detects where the bullet came from and the type of weapon fired, including larger weapons such as mortars and shoulder-fired missiles.

Law enforcement agencies are currently using such technologies. By...