Military technology: Magic bullets
economist.com
Military technology: Magic bullets
1–10 of 93 posts
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#2I guess our economy will never completely bottom out as long as we can export death.
Just wait 'til your local police get these for "domestic terrorism crowd control" (aka protesters) with the shrapnel replaced by "less lethal" rubber bullets while drones fly overhead for more accurate targeting.
Oh it would never happen, right? What if a congressman owns stock in the company?
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#3$25 bullets and $25000 rifles are insanely expensive. And I don't see how better rifles will bring an advantage - most coalition casualties are from mortar fire and improvised explosive traps - rebels have already lost preference for gun standoffs. But I'm sure H&K and Alliant will love to sell lots of these to whatever army is corrupt enough to buy them.
Also... aren't exploding bullets illegal under the Hague convention?
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#4Surely it's just a 1 axis accelerometer and perhaps a lookup table or some basic maths?
The military sure do like to make themselves seem important. Super secret alien assault rifles being attacked by unspecified hackers from unknown locations. Yep, better keep funding new and exciting ways to kill people.
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#5Nitpicking a bit, this is a grenade launcher, not a rifle. Explosive 25mm (or 40mm!) rounds are grenades, not bullets.
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#6$25 bullets and $25000 rifles are insanely expensive. And I don't see how better rifles will bring an advantage - most coalition casualties are from mortar fire and improvised explosive traps - rebels have already lost preference for gun standoffs. But I'm sure H&K and Alliant will love to sell lots of these to whatever army is corrupt enough to buy them. Also... aren't exploding bullets illegal under the Hague conve…
There are lots of "end-runs" around the Hague
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet#Law
and note that domestically governments do not have to obey even the most basic "rules of war" when they set police against their own people
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#7$25 bullets and $25000 rifles are insanely expensive. And I don't see how better rifles will bring an advantage - most coalition casualties are from mortar fire and improvised explosive traps - rebels have already lost preference for gun standoffs. But I'm sure H&K and Alliant will love to sell lots of these to whatever army is corrupt enough to buy them. Also... aren't exploding bullets illegal under the Hague conve…
There are lots of "end-runs" around the Hague http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet#Law and note that domestically governments do not have to obey even the most basic "rules of war" when they set police against their own people
Does Afghanistan even get covered by that stuff since no formal declaration of war has been made according to Hague Convention III?
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#8$25 bullets and $25000 rifles are insanely expensive. And I don't see how better rifles will bring an advantage - most coalition casualties are from mortar fire and improvised explosive traps - rebels have already lost preference for gun standoffs. But I'm sure H&K and Alliant will love to sell lots of these to whatever army is corrupt enough to buy them. Also... aren't exploding bullets illegal under the Hague conve…
"... $25 bullets and $25000 rifles are insanely expensive. And I don't see how better rifles will bring an advantage ..."
Snipers are force multipliers ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_multiplication
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#9Nitpicking a bit, this is a grenade launcher, not a rifle. Explosive 25mm (or 40mm!) rounds are grenades, not bullets.
The article says that the grenade's travel distance is measured by counting its rotations, implying that the barrel is, in fact, rifled. (Maybe that doesn't technically make it a rifle, but it doesn't seem like a terribly inaccurate term.)
Re: Military technology: Magic bullets
#10Surely it's just a 1 axis accelerometer and perhaps a lookup table or some basic maths? The military sure do like to make themselves seem important. Super secret alien assault rifles being attacked by unspecified hackers from unknown locations. Yep, better keep funding new and exciting ways to kill people.
> Surely it's just a 1 axis accelerometer and perhaps a lookup table or some basic maths?
I'm more interested by the mechanism that programs each projectile's detonation distance. That seems like the tricky bit...