Stay safe !
Posted on 09/08/2004 4:27:29 PM PDT by muleskinner
They've been playing with tactical counter-fire systems for a long time, and I imagine they are pretty refined at this point (which would also explain why it only took 9 months to develop). This probably won't be an area effect "probability of kill" weapon, but precision intercept kill. RPGs are essentially ballistic weapons like mortars, artillery, etc which makes their trajectory highly predictable to a computer. Plus RPGs move very slowly; we have direct counter-fire systems that function beautifully against weapons moving many, many times that fast. It would be a trivial exercise to launch projectiles both at the RPG itself and the point of origin while the weapon was in-flight by comparison.
The major complexity is really the mechanical systems -- the torque required to swing a weapon super-fast is significant. You need a self-stabilizing automated system that is capable of moving very fast and very precisely under adverse conditions. The computer can decide on a set of firing solutions in a millisecond, but you still have to deliver the counter-fire using those solutions in a timely manner by physically moving the counter-fire weapon. Not a problem (we have developed comparable systems that operate within such specs), but most of the real engineering challenge is found there. The ability of the US to physically engineer and fabricate such systems to the necessary specs has long been one of our strong points in weapon systems engineering. I expect that this will work as advertised.
They successfully tested very similar sniper counter-fire systems almost ten years ago; upon the detection of the inbound bullet, the system (presumably mounted on a truck or hummer) would return a machinegun burst to the point of origin with a maximum delay of somewhere around 1 second from the time the bullet left the barrel. There were practical problems with that particular system as I recall, but working proofs of concept has been around for some time. Its about time they deployed some form of this technology.
What would really be cool would be a radio frequency weapon that, tuned to the frequency of the explosive specific to XXXX manufactured RPG's, would cause them to simultaneously explode within a certain radius.
I bet there are places in Iraq and Palestinian infested areas that would just vaporize if you broadcast something like that...
The armor thread is Stryker chairborne.
Probably woefully inaccurate pinglist wise by now...
Just updated my copy of treadhead list.
Are you taking care of Striker Chairborne and fampl? If you are, I think maybe the Striker family of vehicles might get this system if it pans out.
I had coffee yesterday morning with some men from our church and a few others. One of them related a story of one of the warriors killed last weekend in a tank. I will not go into the personal details out of respect, but will tell the details of the incident. The tank was stopped, the crew was scanning to the front when a rag head with an RPG jumped onto the rear deck and fired the RPG through an open hatch into the turret. Not a pleasant outcome for the crew. The warrior we discussed was ID'd through DNA - my prayers are out to all concerned.
I will probably post a new thread concerning the conference I attended on Thursday. Right now I am trying to get four women ready to head to Cincinnati. That is sort of like pushing a log chain.
Stay safe !
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