would the projectile guide itself? Any way I would have thought that a hand held directed energy weapon would be closer to realization? If this is so wouldn’t it be likely to have pin point accuracy over very large distances. Making the need for a gas sniper weapon redundant even one that has the ability to alter it’s trajectory in flight. But then what the hell do i know. Mudshark waits to be straightened out

The Barrett Payload Rifle is a derivative of the Barrett M82 .50in rifle family, and proves the feasibility that a man-portable system can fire a large (25mm OCSW ammo) round. If one looks forward to some of the concepts for Objective Force Warrior (the US "Soldier of Tomorrow",), one concept shows a KE "bullet" barrel (stacked rounds like in the MetalStorm) mounted above 4 15mm tubes supposed to be capable of firing programmable ammo (ever seen the movie "Drudge Dredd", with Sylvester Stallone?). Give it 20 years from now, and some type of micro-miniaturised seeking round of about 10mm could happen (but I wouldn't be suprised if lab boys aren't pushing for closer to 10 years away...)

far, far, very very far. if you want a guided sniper bullet, try a stinger. it's a little big, but it works.

A 2,000 lb bomb is a nice anti-personnel weapon, too. However, one of the lessons of precision warfare is that a weapon can be too big. If the target is one 75 kilo mass amongst a group of other collateral masses, you can't use the 2,000 lb bomb, or the Stinger (which, OBTW, is not an anti-personnel weapon since it would be completely unguided against a person). That's where snipers come in. Doctors of warfare. Brain surgeons mostly. Favorite operation is the encepholectomy. A weapon that makes snipers more effective increases the discomfort level amongst the bad guys.

I think the law of diminishing returns applies here. Snipers are currently able to hit their target at distances of over 1 mile. A Canadian sniper in Afghanistan recently made several shots that were over 2100m meters, including a world-record 2430 meter shot. What would be the point of further increasing the accuracy of the bullet?

...Not necessarily an increase in the accuracy, as opposed to an increase in range WITH the accuracy. I did read about the Canadians' 1&1/2 mile shot, and in the future it may be more favorable for such long range shots to be the preferred choice. I also saw that TV war tech show about the "conceptual" British anti-tank rifle armed team using guided bullets: the effect there was to put a high velocity, guided explosive microshell into a very vulnerable specific point (the weaker hull/turret junction) at long range. A future concept such as this could prove very useful: antipersonnel taking 2-3 mile kills, and antimateriel rifles eliminating vehicles the same way: an engine block being cracked at that range can turn an asset like a tank into an immoble liability, or the tank's optical sighting systems and any unfortunate heads poking out hatches could be plinked off. A man portable, extreme range heavy rifle with very lethal ammo could create an entirely new aspect in tactics (just as spec forces have done with the .50 rifles).

the existing .50 cal rifles are pretty much at the edge of what you can reasonably expect a sniper team to shlep around. and reasonably how often are you going to acquire targets at over 1500 meters anyway.

There are the new Cheytac .40 calibre bullets which are supposed to be much more efficient at carrying energy to range. also supposed to be less vulnerable to wind drift etc. this would let you deliver accurate heavy rounds from a rifle maybe 2/3rds the weight of a 50.

so true, a good sniper doesn't need guided bullet, on other hand, who's gotta build a bullet packed with micro-electronics?

..."who's gotta build a bullet packed with micro-electronics"... Like I mentioned earlier: there was little argument that sniping needed anything more than 7.62-sized bullets for several decades, but when some American decided to develop a long range rifle firing 12.7mm ammo, everyone jumped on the boat of longer-range sniping. Should someone develop a guided microshell/bullet, don't be surprised if the weapon doesn't eventually replace or at least supplement the big 50s. In World War 2, it was serious work to develop an effective proximity fuze and pack it into a 76mm shell. Now programmable fuzes are being incorporated into 20mm ammunution (as in the OICW). It wouldn't take a giant leap from our current technology to develop a miniature guided rocket from anti-personnel use. If someone develops it, guaranteed someone else will find a very effective role for it. And if a sniper team from 5 km away can eliminate an unfriendly dictator or warlord, chances are the people in the target zone will never even hear a weapon fired from that distance away..