pierson@cimnet.enet.dec.com (ITS THE IDES OF MARCH. WATCH YOUR BACK. 14-Mar-1991 1819) (03/18/91)
From: "ITS THE IDES OF MARCH. WATCH YOUR BACK. 14-Mar-1991 1819" <pierson@cimnet.enet.dec.com> Kirsten C. Jacobus writes, in part: >What would be good literature for information on small arms from 1930 to >present? Look for "Small Arms of the World" I haven't browsed one recently, but this will have much info. There are probably others. ==== John A. Weeks made excellent points, as have others, that MANY (all?) new a/c have problems. Look at the early history of the P51 (the details of which, i confess, escape me 8)>>) It wasn't a winner out-of-the-box. A clue, misleading, a bit: P51_D_, Me/Bf-109_G_, P38 _L_, the "final" variant of the B17 escapes me, but it wasn't _A_. Indeed, some of the variants, were mission specific mods, but lots of them were debug stages. ======= John Ramsden writes, in part: >...something vaguely similar shown a couple of years ago on TV in the UK. >It was a device which descended by parachute over an area supposedly >containing tanks, and as it approached the ground it would start >drifting sideways and precessing at the same time, like a gyrating >sycamore seed. This motion maximized the coverage of a camera or some >sort of ground-scanning detector on the underside of the device. >As soon as the characteristic shape of a tank hove into view the >device would launch a missile of some description aimed at the turret >which, according to the documentary, was a weak spot. Sounds like the show on DSC (cable) (could have been A&E) on smart weapons. it was a UK production. Several variants of this were discussed. I don't recall the parachute, but otherwise the description is apt. Idea was to punch a hole in the (thinner) top deck. Generally "smarter" than a cluster bomb, as a seeker, of sorts is included. (one wonders how difficult it would be to "spoof" some of these seekers...) ======== cassman@athena.mit.edu writes, in part: ... >Anti-tank mines: >These seem to be the most clever of the mines. One type of anti-tank >smart mines actually senses the change in the earth's magnetic field >caused by large, moving metallic objects (i.e. tanks). ... The historian in me has to add that magnetic fuzes were in use in WWII for sea mines and torpedoes. Still are. The details of how "smart" (nasty) a mine can get are entertaining. (skip first N targets, get the next but only if large, and with certain acoustic signature...). During WWII there were some neat mechanical gadgets in the mooring cables: these allowed a sweep cable to pass "thru" the morring cable, without snagging. thanks dave pierson |the facts, as accurately as i can manage, Digital Equipment Corporation |the opinions, my own. 01752 pierson@cimnet.enet.dec.com