The Armatix iP1 is a pistol created by former H&K designer Ernst Mauch that was released – or almost released – in the US in late 2013… It is a .22LR caliber semiauto pistol that incorporates an RFID-connected authentication link between a watch and this pistol, so that the pistol can only be fired (in theory) when the authorized user is wearing the watch. Hence, it is a “smart gun”.
Red / Green light serves as an indicator of if the pistol is operable.
Mechanically, it is a simple blowback pistol that uses an electromagnet to deactivate a firing pin block type of safety. When the watch has properly activated the pistol, the electromagnet is energized and the pistol will fire. If it is not so authorized, the firing pin block remains in place and the pistol will simply go “click” ineffectually. There are, of course, several caveats, loopholes, and exploitable vulnerabilities in this system.
When the pistol came on the market, it caused a significant reaction… as a law on the books in New Jersey mandates that 30 months after a “smart gun” is determined to be commercially available anywhere in the US, all non-“smart” pistols become illegal to sell in that state. The Armatix was expected to trigger this law, and by extension effectively ban all handguns in New Jersey… The state Attorney General determined in late 2014 that the iP1 did not meet the technical requirements of the law, but by this time the pistol was well and truly sunk… the pistol never saw significant commercial sale, and the only ones in the US appear to be those initially brought in for marketing and demonstration.
Ian’s video: [22:31] https://youtu.be/Vn08yZAC2V0?si=
Thanks for sharing! Never knew this was a real thing outside of movies.
I can only imagine the scenario: you’re in a life or death situation, you get a single moment to draw the weapon, you aim and pull the trigger in the precious seconds you have before the target responds…
But all you hear is *click* because your watch died, was damaged in a scuffle, was ripped/throw off, or simply not within the sensors reach.
To solve for this, the “Pro” model will have FaceID mounted in the barrel.
No smartwatch required, if you want to unlock and fire, simply point the gun at your face.
I remember this thing. I was living in New Jersey when it happened and yeah it was a big to-do… For like five minutes. Once they realized how completely goddamn broken the technology was nobody ever mentioned it again and now here we are.
Under heavy fire: “please attempt to reboot your pairing device to fire weapon”
