Future US military - A must read

I came across this article in the latest New Scientist, it should definately be read.
A sample :

U.S. military planners are pursuing dozens of space-based technology efforts. New assets in the works include satellites that can see through camouflage, space-based radar that can monitor the movements of troops and vehicles, more powerful communications satellites to give soldiers cellphone-like connections, and orbiting sensors that can track ballistic missiles. The hardware on the Pentagon's wish list includes items that have offensive as well as defensive potential�such as a military spaceplane, a space-based laser, and a reentry vehicle that could drop bombs of virtually any size. Here's a preview of what may be in orbit in the coming years.

The rest here :

www.popsci.com...

What do u think ?

Yep, that's really cool. Pretty soon everyone in the world will be able to communicate with each other if their governments let them

-Brandon

All this does is take the fun out of war.

Running, shooting, blowing crap up with hand grenades, dodging bullets, flanking maneouvers, strafing fire, cover fire, calling in air support, retreating, getting grid coordinates for artillery strikes, scouting, paratrooping, seek and destroy missions, covert ops, tank columns, prisoner exchanges, interrogation, foxholes, defilades, claymore mine set-up, booby traps, yelling "INCOMING!', general charge commands, shellshock, crazy homeless veterans, and so on and so on.

Now, just blast them from the Ionosphere with our S2004 Tactical Satellite! Shoot a couple missiles from a thousand miles away.

This won't be like the old days, where you had to shoot an enemy you can see.

Kind of desensitizes death.

Note: I'm being totally sarcastic. We do actually need more technologically advanced weapons, so we can kill faster and cleaner!!!

Wait, I'm doing it again.................

The future is a cold and scary place indeed. In fact today is a scary and cold place indeed, look a the number of nuke in orbit and on ground bases. HMMMM how many times could we blow up this planet....100 times, 1000 time, millions of times, I don't think I even want to know!!!! GOD HELP US!!!

that is so cool. this way the US military can take on anythreat and see if the baddies are gearing up for an attack. like we can watch as the north koreans or chinese gear up for an invasion of south korea, or tiawan.

nice you should read the air force's sapce weapons proposal it goes into detail about the new sapce based weapons my favorite "rods from god"

[edit on 24-6-2004 by WestPoint23]

Ever action has a reaction so countries will follow and develop countermeasures.If you spoke to a soldier from the second world war about the weapons of today he would crap his pants just as much as a soldier of today facing those types of weapons.The world is a dangerous place but there is no point in someone destroying the planet until there has been eternal life and another place to inhabit.Crap now l`m talking crap.

ah who cares you only live once you might as well go out in a bang and in style and take everyone alse with you

Originally posted by WestPoint23
nice you should read the air force's sapce weapons proposal it goes into detail about the new sapce based weapons my favorite "rods from god"

Yaaaah! You can't help but love that concept. It doesn't even use a warhead--no explosives of any kind whatsoever! Just a big hunk o' metal screaming down from above with enough kinetic energy to mop the whole camp. Note that I use the term "screaming" figuratively; as this thing came down, there wouldn't be any sound, or indication of incoming fire at all. If you were 3 hills over, you'd hear the boom after it hit...but then it'd be a bit late...

Originally posted by Q

Yaaaah! You can't help but love that concept. It doesn't even use a warhead--no explosives of any kind whatsoever! Just a big hunk o' metal screaming down from above with enough kinetic energy to mop the whole camp.

Note that I use the term "screaming" figuratively; as this thing came down, there wouldn't be any sound, or indication of incoming fire at all. If you were 3 hills over, you'd hear the boom after it hit...but then it'd be a bit late...

hell they should do like with stuka dive bombers in ww2, some kind of thing to catch wind so it does whistle, that would scare troops miles around into giving up without a fight.

If you spoke to a soldier from the second world war about the weapons of today he would crap his pants just as much as a soldier of today facing those types of weapons

Well, if you spoke of the conditions the Germans and Russians faced on the Eastern Front... our modern soldier would crap his pants.

Godflesh

The example was made in pretense.Most modern soldiers would agree that all conflicts have the abillity to make you crap your pants.

heh the Rods from god concept adds a new meaning to stick a fork in me i'm done! lol I do not think this will replace all tactics that we still use today. It is simply an extra option for the military command to consider beforehand.

really you do not need any noise if I am the enemy and I see huge metal rods coming down and there are no aircraft in the area I wouldn't want to wait and find out what they are especially if they can plow into the ground like that

Originally posted by mikew21
The future is a cold and scary place indeed. In fact today is a scary and cold place indeed, look a the number of nuke in orbit and on ground bases. HMMMM how many times could we blow up this planet....100 times, 1000 time, millions of times, I don't think I even want to know!!!! GOD HELP US!!!

Ummmm, isn't there a non-proliferation treaty somewhere that says no nukes in space?


Oh, using the www.lpl.arizona.edu... website, I attempted to find theoretical results of how hard a Rod of God would hit.

A 20ft X 1ft tungsten cylinder would have a volume of 15.7 cubic feet or .444 m3.
Density of tungsten is about 19250 kg/m3, giving a mass of 26709 kg

I converted my numbers to represent a sphere, since spheres are all this website apparently recognizes. A sphere with a diameter of .95m should have very similar mass and volume. Aerodynamics will be off, if I remember correctly, the cylinder should have a faster terminal velocity than a sphere, but I never was very good at figuring exact terminal velocity. Minimum velocity should be like 11km/s (or 36000 f/s) for something entering earth's atmosphere, or so I've read (in meteor stuff, and I believe specifically Rod of God stuff, I'm coming somewhat off the cuff here, but using some old notes, too).

Using the meteor thingy, I simulated a tungsten meteor of relative mass and volume hitting a concrete bunker at a 90 degree angle. Conventional concrete has a density of around 2400 kg/m3.
It should hit with a force of 5.18 x 10^11 Joules, or 0.12 x 10^-3 MegaTons TNT, leaving a crater over 120m (400ft) in diameter.

Try the website out to see various theoretical effects of the shockwave at varying ranges. Again, this is a theoretical program, which only recognizes spheroids. It still gives you a better idea than saying "It'd hurt really badly."

Also, pls let me know if my numbers are off.

Good stuff,

--J1m

all that math is hurting my head as long as it makes big craters i dont eant to know the science behind it also since when has the US followed a treaty they dont care about any treaty.







West Point
Out

[edit on 27-6-2004 by WestPoint23]

I must say the "Rod of God " idear has to be one of the best ive heard of in a fare while.Who on earth sits around thinking up this stuff and where do i apply for a job there.

I would like to know if it is a replacment for the mini nukes they are planing to use on those deep bunkers. If it is i say drop the rod its better then glowing in the dark from a nukes fallout anyday.

Originally posted by dwh0
I must say the "Rod of God " idear has to be one of the best ive heard of in a fare while.Who on earth sits around thinking up this stuff and where do i apply for a job there.

They think it up in a "think tank." If you want a job, this is where I would start:

DoD

Its amazing to me how a fledgling republic a little over 200 years old can evolve in such a short time into, what some people now call a 'hyperpower'. These weapons are amazing, especially the tungsten rods. I wonder what the us will come up with in the next 200 years, given that, hopefully, the us is still around.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
all that math is hurting my head as long as it makes big craters i dont eant to know the science behind it

also since when has the US followed a treaty they dont care about any treaty.

I know what you mean, but yeah, it makes big craters.

Eh, the US will follow a treaty until they decide it's no longer beneficial. I say once we have the nukes in place, in space, we'll pull outta the treaty.

--J1m