German chancellor’s drone “attack” shows the threat of weaponized UAVs

Post by hexscrews » Thu, Sep 19, 2013, 1:20 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #47

gojomo wrote: post #29

The blog Marginal Revolution considered the question a few months ago: "What is the political equilibrium when insect-sized drone assassins are available?" http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/06/wha... Adapting my comment from there: One possibility is that in the future, high-status (and thus also high-office) can only be safely held by pseudonymous cryptographic identities that can’t be linked to…

I see some Enders Game references in there. You may very well be right about your future vision, I'd love to be a fly on a wall somewhere in 2100.

You might be able to do that, If Brain-Machine interfaces become advanced enough.

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Sep 19, 2013, 11:14 PM UTC

stephengillie wrote: post #9

HarryHirsch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone (T.E. Lawrence?) said that beginners overestimate the amount of explosives needed to accomplish any given task. That said, a standard-issue hand grenade weighs something like 450 g, of which 150 g is explosives. The shrapnel travels out to 15 m. I think the verdict is that with 30 g of payload an assassin needs to aim really well.

So most of the destructive power of grenades comes from the shrapnel? (I'm remembering a photo of a grenade cut in half.) What would that 150g of explosives do without the shrapnel shell? How much shrapnel would a 285g quadcopter generate? What would be the effect of an external explosion on the lithium battery?

C4 in a carbon-fiber tube with an open end plugged with wax and ball bearings would make a hell of a political statement.

Even shotgun shells, if you prefer your weaponization pre-fab.

Re: German chancellor’s drone “attack” shows the threat of weaponized UAVs

Re: German chancellor’s drone “attack” shows the threat of weaponized UAVs