mathers@titan.trl.oz.au (Steven Mathers) (04/10/90)
From: mathers@titan.trl.oz.au (Steven Mathers) I'm interested in weapons that are being developed or that might be developed, for use in the future. Military research is probably the highest paid and most intensive research being conducted today. (I'm guessing, correct me if I'm wrong.) By the way, if anyone is interested, here is a summary of what depleted uranium ammunition is apparently about: 1) it is much heavier than lead, and thereofre has armor piercing qualities. 2) it has a tendancy to ignite whatever it passes thru. As for the topic of future weapons, I am particularly interested in personal arms, or 'conventional warfare', and also orbital or space warfare. Dont restrict yourself to the near future, be outlandish as you like. Im sure this topic will be of interest to lots of people. eg: handheld lasers/guass guns? new missile weapons? Cyberpunk type monofiliament wire for chopping people up? etc.. etc... Stefo.
ccplumb@lion.waterloo.edu (Colin Plumb) (04/14/90)
From: ccplumb@lion.waterloo.edu (Colin Plumb) Well, I recall reading in a very low-grade information source (I think it was Popular Science) that the U.S. army was playing with railguns as tank guns. Solid shells (anything fancier gets squashed by the firing acceleration) with twice the muzzle velocity (and thus 4 times the kinetic energy) are hard to defend against; tricks don't work very well against brute force. Anyway, it was at least 2 years ago and the article mentioned that there was going to be a shoot-off between various manufacturers in about a year. Does anyone know if anything came of it? -- -Colin [mod.note: Perhaps it's my focus on WWII, but it took me several minutes to realize that the "railguns" referred to were not large railway cannon. Although the image of an 11" gun on a tank *was* intriguing... 8-) - Bill ]
kelly@uts.amdahl.com (Kelly Goen) (04/14/90)
From: kelly@uts.amdahl.com (Kelly Goen) In article <15373@cbnews.ATT.COM> mathers@titan.trl.oz.au (Steven Mathers) writes: > > >From: mathers@titan.trl.oz.au (Steven Mathers) > >I'm interested in weapons that are being developed or that might be >developed, for use in the future. Military research is probably the >highest paid and most intensive research being conducted today. (I'm >guessing, correct me if I'm wrong.) > >By the way, if anyone is interested, here is a summary of what depleted >uranium ammunition is apparently about: > >1) it is much heavier than lead, and thereofre has armor piercing >qualities. >2) it has a tendancy to ignite whatever it passes thru. > >As for the topic of future weapons, I am particularly interested in >personal arms, or 'conventional warfare', and also orbital or space >warfare. Dont restrict yourself to the near future, be outlandish as >you like. Im sure this topic will be of interest to lots of people. Some of this technology is rapidly approaching R+D stages... THe concept put forward by vernor Vinge in(Peace War" being one example... > Target Seeking Bullets.... The technology exists today... would drastically reduce the logistics needed to support a unit in the field due to greatly increased hit probabilities (Brillant Bullets... ) Range and Target Identification functions integrated via microprocessor into the optics of the scope with MC assisted light amplification and resolution would greatly increase nightfighting capabilities over present primitive IR Diode Laser and Helmet mounted Goggles... Hey what about a mailing list.... cheers kelly