British forces use Boomerang III sniper detecting machine

British army has started to employ the famous sniper snooper device Boomerang III for the security of its soldiers in Afghanistan. The machine will help soldiers recognize the direction of shooting from the militants in the war front. The technology was originally developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for US Army during the Iraq War in 2003. It was later honed by the UK Defense Science and Technology Laboratory for use by British forces in combat against Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

Boomerang III

Boomerang III mounts seven sensitive microphones that can detect the source of shooting from all sides. The machine comprises of an electronic display that will show the direction of the shooting militants to the solider. The entire process of Boomerang III requires only a few seconds. The device can detect the supersonic shock waves and update the soldier in a matter of seconds.

Apart from direction, Boomerang III is capable of recognizing the distance and elevation from where the shot is fired. The machine is programmed in a way that it will ignore the shots and other sounds from its user’s end. It will only identify what is aimed at the soldiers from distant locations.

In short, the job will be almost trouble-free for a soldier, who is stationed in a hilly area in Afghanistan. The Taliban militants often used to hide in the mountainous areas and shoot the foreign forces leaving no clue on their hiding. The US forces have also been using Boomerang III in their war fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

During Iraq War, the then US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld requested DARPA to build a new technology to snoop firing from the militants. Until then, the US Army had been using a French-made PILAR anti-sniper device that costs a massive $65,000 per unit. The move of US Defense Department helped realized the competitive Boomerang III from DARPA.

Via: BBC