Posted 8/24/2009 3:20 am
Yep; the proximity fuze was top secret. The technology involved developing a cat whisker transmitter that could survive the 1000g acceleration of firing
They did not use them against the Germans to any large degree either, they worried that duds would fall into their hands.
They used the fuck out of them in the Pacific. Those Kamikaze films showcase proximity fuses. Pretty sweet when a 5 inch gun can knock out a Zero with one round.
Posted 8/24/2009 3:28 am
Ever want to destroy a T-72 tank traveling in a convoy 5 miles away? We have an App for that
Among the survivors of FCS’s collapse is the billion-dollar Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System — the so-called “Missile in a Box.” This impressive bit of tech passed an important test at the White Sands test range in New Mexico this week, when one of its 100-pound missiles flew five miles and destroyed a T-72 tank traveling in a convoy of several other vehicles.
Posted 8/24/2009 3:29 am
Oops.....the cat whisker was only the reciever. They actually developed a vacuum tube transmitter that could survive a 1000g firing...very impressive
Pluck Little Hamas Freedom Fighters used 1950's era anti-tank mines to utterly destroy the IDF two summers ago. Technology does not real get you much in the real world.
i thought they had little midgets hiding in the warhead with two rocks, as the red light goes off inside, he starts to smack these rocks together for a spark:
Where did I say it was "new technology", stupid? Oh, I didn't. Looks like you get yet another "F" in reading for comprehension, just like you did all through school. In your case, the "F" is for "Fucking retard". Thank you for playing, moron. Good day.
Posted 8/24/2009 4:05 am
when we loaded bombs on aircraft for Desert Storm they were all Korean War era on orders that we have to use the old stuff first. Just comes to show you how massive our stockpiles are.
You mean how big our stockpiles were. That is all gone now. Used on fucking terrorists. There was almost a shortage for awhile because Clinton sold off alot of the MK84 stockpile to the Germans to be recycled. We had to buy it back.
I'm glad so much of that ordnance was used in anger on someone.
The shells the Chinese PLA use cost about 3,500RMB - which is roughly $500. I've often wondered why it is that everything we buy for our military seems to cost 10 times as much as the Chinese seem to be able to make it for...
Posted 8/24/2009 4:20 am
They don't cost ten times as much, he made that number up. As others have said they have stockpiles of shells that are decades old.
Maybe 1% was used "on" terrorists - the other 99% was used on people that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - creating more "terrorists" in the process.
Posted 8/24/2009 4:22 am
the actual shell is not that expensive, its all in the fuse, the part that screws in on the nose. Depending on how sophisticated you want it could run $50k..
Posted 8/24/2009 4:24 am
most bombs and shells are manufactured in backwater states like Alabama and Mississippi and you wouldn't believe how they are made. Its a good thing TNT is pretty insensitive...
I think these Chinese ones had some kind of proximity fuse - in any event, they were exploding before they hit the ground - I'm also not sure how accurate the price was, since it was a throw-away comment about how 3500 RMB = the same price as 1000 large bottles of Qiandao beer.
Posted 8/24/2009 4:36 am
normally the shell is sold separately from the fuse. proximity fuses tend to be pricey because electronic circuitry needs to be able handle 1000s of G's and you want include anti countermeasures features..
