January 5, 2004: Techno-Sciences Inc wins new US Army SBIR Phase I award to develop gun barrel stabilization technology for the next generation small arms weapon systems.

Reducing or eliminating shooter induced disturbances, especially in combat situations, can have a substantial impact on the accuracy of fire, especially in combat situations. Under this effort, an INertially STAbilized Rifle (INSTAR) system prototype employing active stabilization will be developed and tested. A major focus of this effort is the development of novel low creep, highly rugged, precision actuators. Of relevance to this work will be issues relating to actuator displacement, force, bandwidth, packaging, mass, powering, and control. The Techno-Sciences’ research team will use its considerable expertise, which is based on previous INSTAR development and other smart structures work, to address these issues.