I was doing a bit of research, when I happened upon this...
I took a screen cap because I thought it was interesting to note that there are others who draw a distinction between science and technology... I'm not going to make an argument either way at this point, I'm just putting that tidbit out there for others to discuss.
4.12.2005
4.04.2005
Yet Another Weapon Post
Another new weapon system that I stumbled on while writing the last post.
In the course of reading, I saw a weapon called the Multiple Projectile Delivery System mentioned as being a possible armament for the Talon robots discussed in the previous post. The article contained a link which detailed the weapon system. The weapon system has also been dubbed DREAD (I couldn't find any mention of whether or not this is another acronym, or not). If you take the time to read the article and consider it a bit, chances are you'll probably agree that the name fits. From a military standpoint, this has the potential to be a dream wepaon. Extremely low maintanence, huge ammo capacity, no danger of ammo explosion, capable of extremly accurate and devestating fire, and no sound or muzzle flash to expose the operator or vehicle to counterfire. From the perspective of a soldier, this is probably another Pandora's Box. If I were a soldier, I would most certainly not like to be on the recieving end of something like this at all. The prospect of recieving fire that cannot be pinpointed by sound or sight that in all likelihood will be rather lethal is quite frightening to certain. This system, properly utilized could be even more devestating to moral than something like a sniper.
Hopefully, I won't keep stumbling on to stuff like this, so that there will be a bit more variety in future posts...
In the course of reading, I saw a weapon called the Multiple Projectile Delivery System mentioned as being a possible armament for the Talon robots discussed in the previous post. The article contained a link which detailed the weapon system. The weapon system has also been dubbed DREAD (I couldn't find any mention of whether or not this is another acronym, or not). If you take the time to read the article and consider it a bit, chances are you'll probably agree that the name fits. From a military standpoint, this has the potential to be a dream wepaon. Extremely low maintanence, huge ammo capacity, no danger of ammo explosion, capable of extremly accurate and devestating fire, and no sound or muzzle flash to expose the operator or vehicle to counterfire. From the perspective of a soldier, this is probably another Pandora's Box. If I were a soldier, I would most certainly not like to be on the recieving end of something like this at all. The prospect of recieving fire that cannot be pinpointed by sound or sight that in all likelihood will be rather lethal is quite frightening to certain. This system, properly utilized could be even more devestating to moral than something like a sniper.
Hopefully, I won't keep stumbling on to stuff like this, so that there will be a bit more variety in future posts...
A Continuation of the Previous Post
In my previous post, I talked briefly about a new type of gun. If you happened to take a peek at the official website, you probably noticed this little fellow. Well, the robot itself is known as Talon. The actual system is being called SWORDS, which is an annoying military acronym for Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System. The Talon robot has been around for a while as a remote operated vehicle for hazardous duties like bomb disposal. Now it is being adapted for use as a support weapons platform for use in environments such as the current engagement in Iraq.
A few articles to provide more specific details:
Wired.Com
DefenseTech
News.Com
A few articles to provide more specific details:
Wired.Com
DefenseTech
News.Com
Always a Bigger Gun
This isn't American originated technology per se, but if what one of the articles suggests is true, then it's likely to end up being used by the American military in the near future.
One of my friends came to visit me during the weekend, and during the course of supper one evening, he happened to mention a new type of gun that he had read about at some point.
After doing a little bit of digging around, I was able to find a few articles concerning this new style of weapon as well as the company's website. It seems that this gun, dubbed Metal Storm, is operated entirely through electronic rather than mechanical means. The gun itself basically consists of a barrel (or barrels) filled with rounds very similar to caseless rounds and a firing mechanism. The rounds are stacked inside the barrel with propellant sandwiched behind each round. Electricity is used to ignite the propellant for each round almost simultaneously. The effect is that a staggeringly high effective rate of fire can be achieved. Another selling point of the system is that it is easily locked down, so that unauthorized personnel cannot make use of the weapon. It will be interesting to see (and possibly terrifying, if the test-firing videos are any measure) of what becomes of this technology in the future.
CNN Article
Another Article
Metal Storm website
I mentioned caseless ammunition earlier... This provides an explanation of what caseless ammunition is, and it tells the tale of the ill-fated H&K G11, which is an interesting enough story in and of itself
One of my friends came to visit me during the weekend, and during the course of supper one evening, he happened to mention a new type of gun that he had read about at some point.
After doing a little bit of digging around, I was able to find a few articles concerning this new style of weapon as well as the company's website. It seems that this gun, dubbed Metal Storm, is operated entirely through electronic rather than mechanical means. The gun itself basically consists of a barrel (or barrels) filled with rounds very similar to caseless rounds and a firing mechanism. The rounds are stacked inside the barrel with propellant sandwiched behind each round. Electricity is used to ignite the propellant for each round almost simultaneously. The effect is that a staggeringly high effective rate of fire can be achieved. Another selling point of the system is that it is easily locked down, so that unauthorized personnel cannot make use of the weapon. It will be interesting to see (and possibly terrifying, if the test-firing videos are any measure) of what becomes of this technology in the future.
CNN Article
Another Article
Metal Storm website
I mentioned caseless ammunition earlier... This provides an explanation of what caseless ammunition is, and it tells the tale of the ill-fated H&K G11, which is an interesting enough story in and of itself
3.24.2005
A while ago in class, a scheme concocted during WWII to make use of bats as a delievery system for inendiary devices was mentioned. I remember listening to a bit of a show on the History Channel some time this past year concerning the project, but I couldn't recall much, other than the project had been scrapped, due to an embarrasing accident. So, in order to find out more, I did a bit of digging around, and came up with the following links... The first link concerns the project itself. The second link is an interesting little tidbit that makes mention of the project.
The final link appears to be a page owned by a drama group who wrote/ran a play based on the project.
Airforce Magazine Online
Free Republic
Brooklyn Drama Group
The final link appears to be a page owned by a drama group who wrote/ran a play based on the project.
Airforce Magazine Online
Free Republic
Brooklyn Drama Group
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