The Science of War

[Toucan]

While browsing the internet tonight I came across this website, http://www.army-technology.com/
This site is a very interesting read, it is full of information and technical specifications on almost every modern weapon of war that exists. One of things I thought some around WB might find especially interesting is the information on the US Land Warrior Integrated Soldier System. (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/land_warrior/)
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/land_warrior/images/LandWarrior_1s.jpg (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/land_warrior/) http://www.army-technology.com/projects/himars/images/HIMARS_10s.jpg (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/himars/) http://www.army-technology.com/projects/apache/images/apache1111s.jpg (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/apache/) http://www.army-technology.com/projects/abrams/images/abram111s.jpg (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/abrams/)

[Ktan]

I have heard on a few occasions that the military have things about 7 years (some even say 25 years) before the public know. Is this true or just conspiracy theorist hearsay?

I do find it quite amusing how people think Railguns are uber futuristic when they had them in the Cold War.

I actually have a friend who built a small coil/gauss gun. It wasn't strong at all, but it worked.

Some of the things I've heard that they plan to do wtih nano-technology are frightening as well. Think bullet proof, invisible and augmented soldiers. It sounds a bit far-fetched, but they've been working on this for years. I'm sceptical myself about how it will have people jumping over high wall, etc. but I know invisibility is possible, to a degree. :s

I shall read more into this later.

[PrestonBurke]

I have heard on a few occasions that the military have things about 7 years (some even say 25 years) before the public know. Is this true or just conspiracy theorist hearsay?

I do find it quite amusing how people think Railguns are uber futuristic when they had them in the Cold War.

I actually have a friend who built a small coil/gauss gun. It wasn't strong at all, but it worked.

Some of the things I've heard that they plan to do wtih nano-technology are frightening as well. Think bullet proof, invisible and augmented soldiers. It sounds a bit far-fetched, but they've been working on this for years. I'm sceptical myself about how it will have people jumping over high wall, etc. but I know invisibility is possible, to a degree. :s

I shall read more into this later.

Two Words: Deus Ex

I really hope they dont go for Augmented soilders, by the time we have the Nano-Tech technology, there shouldnt be any more wars going on.

Rail Guns? What that? I only heard of that from Half-Life and it could shoot through walls.

[Spartan-II]

Railguns use alternating magnetic fields to shoot rounds, instead of a normal chemical charge. (Gunpowder in a shell casing) It still shoots bullets, but much faster and with magnets.

[100thlurker]

A rail gun is a system that uses two magnets to accelerate and propel a projectile at high speeds. It is currently being pursued as a anti-armored vehicle unit.

Edit: Spartan filled in for me :/. Anyways, they show some nice stuff.

[Ktan]

Indeed, Spartan and Lurker are pretty much on the money. The only reason they aren't man sized is becuae a man sized rail guns, current technology allowing, would only be as powerful as a chemical equivilant.

One example of a rail/coil gun is the Terran Gauss rifle out of StarCraft.

Necron Gauss weapons, however, are not related.

[100thlurker]

Indeed, Spartan and Lurker are pretty much on the money. The only reason they aren't man sized is becuae a man sized rail guns, current technology allowing, would only be as powerful as a chemical equivilant.

One example of a rail/coil gun is the Terran Gauss rifle out of StarCraft.

Necron Gauss weapons, however, are not related.

And on a cost to cost basis, that limited power costs hell of a lot more than a firearm, unless the system is enlarged. So untill technology improves, rail-guns will mainly be focused on their anti-vehicle possibilities, as you could put more rounds, and the metal-to-metal impact would be produce more damage than a flesh-to-metal impact.

[Ktan]

Sorry, I forgot the cost thing :D

I think they use a special uranium isotope so yes, much better suited to anti-tank.

I love the idea of that whole 'Star Wars' defence system. I'm also intruiged by the development of laser weapons. If we ever have to go into space in any number, they seem like the most sensible type of weapon to use for self-defence.

[Spartan-II]

Also, the magnetic coils burn out very frequently, leading to high maintenance costs and unreliable service.

[kongurous]

Have any of you ever heard of the Metal Storm thing? It's a company that is testing a kind of firing mechanism where the only moving part is the bullet. What happens is, when you pull the trigger, it powers a battery, and the battery sends an electric signal to the barrel, which ignites the bullet and causes it to fire. Because of this, they can essentially put in bullets behind each other. Because of no moving parts, there is no jamming. The only thing that could hamper firing is if the signal doesn't ignite the bullet. The system is so versatile that you can mount it anywhere if you have an empty tube. The system is so effective, it can pump out a million rounds a minute.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5112822092179864759&q=metal+storm Related video.

[AresOfOlympus]

I remember testing something like that out in like 99 or 00 in the Marines. It was new but to my knowledge it has not been deployed yet. Alot of that I heard about when I was still in. They were working on caseless rifles, camera mounted scopes, body armor that could actually stop an AK round, some type of body armor that uses hundreds of small cameras and something about nano tech that allows you to become "invisible" by projecting the image in front of you behind you.

So ya its been in the works for a while but cost I think will keep it out of practical use. Just like the stryker. We were told it would be in use in like 02 or 03 but budget constraints caused a stir in congress and the program was almost cancelled.

I do remember seeing the GPS thing we tested it out against the active duty Marines (we kicked their arse btw and caused the training to be ended early when we pissed of the dutch marines and they wanted to fight us) in an urban warfare training facility in California. The squad leaders had a little chest mounted thing that looked to me like a lap top that was showing him where all his troops were and where we were and stuff like that. Lots of high tech stuff that they were "experimenting" with.

It was fun they told us to do whatever we could because they wanted it as real as possible. They sent in this expensive remote controlled ATV mounted camera that saw all spectrums of light in the mock town to scout us before they tried to take us over. We were told it was a 1.5 mil piece of equipment. Well when we saw it coming through town, we flipped it:D . Man that was fun, sprayed them with fire extinguishers set up booby traps. We toasted a whole platoon of British royal Marines, "the experts" in urban warfare training, when they all crowed into one building when they couldn't overtake us. We called in "artillery" and blew the whole little building up:D .

But as I said to my knowledge I haven't seen most to any of it actually used yet. Then again I've been out since late 2000.

[PrestonBurke]

Lol nice Ares.