First let me breifly apoligize for my long haiatus, and let me assure you www.heavyangel.com will be updated in the near future. I've been incredibly busy with work of late.

Anyways, I was doing some research into optics for a new toy I'm considering purchasing (many of you know i'm a gun nut) and came across this:

http://www.elcansportingoptics.com/intro.htm

Now REALLY look at the feature set that unit offers. If one were to add a rangefinder, it would basically have most of the features we associate with a smartlink with the notable exception of a goggle or cybernetic interface.

Honestly, I'm rather surprised it took this long for something like this to come to fruition given the relatively inexpensive nature of digital camera components. Precision rifle optics tend to be pretty expensive, and as soon as you move into the class that are capable of ballistic compensation (compensating for the arc of the projectile) the prices skyrocket.

Im particularly interested in this unit as a training tool for new shooters. One of the hardest things to teach a shooter is trigger control and followthrough, and being able to see a recording of a few seconds before and after the shot would allow me to better diagnose and correct these errors.

Just thought I'd share!

Yup, that's a smartgun.

How many years early?

Still missing autoaim (as in, physically moving your hands), but that's close.

It also seems to be missing Friend/Foe identification and most of the weapon control features. (Fire mode selection, clip ejection, ammo count, etc.)

To me, this looks more like it's just a camera that can be mounted on your gun than a real weapon interface.

It can be programmed with ballistics information to automatically adjust your aim. That's a pretty long step towards smartlinks.

It's more of a tool than an active aid, but I can see how it would be useful.

I sent Elcan an email recommending the development of a companion spotters scope using a similar layout, but that would have a PIP (picture in picture) window showing the shooters veiw, as well as an integrated laser rangefinder. If the two could be linked via the USB interface, it would be a downright scary system in terms of accuracy.

God if you could integrate a low-power pule doppler RADAR array to read the air currents between the shooter and the target, it'd be spooky accurate.