G. Adams said: I think if you want to be ready for potential revolution you should be training in small explosives to begin with, and this is an occaision where they would come in handy. You could also use mortars to deal with the operators of this weapon. I say:
Well, actually I don't think you understand how the weapon works. The weapon sits at the center of a circle of defense. The circle of defense is created by the coverage of the radar that operates the weapon.
Take for example the Phalanx weapons system which up until recently, was on every Surface War ship in the U.S. Navy.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/weaps/mk-15.htm
The Phalanx is a non-descriminate defense mechanism, that is also controlled by Radar. When it is activated, ANYTHING that flies within its operating range without permission that is bigger than a basketball, is reduced to "particles of debris" about the size of a basketball. The Phalanx is a vulcan type, gatling cannon. It sprays 20mm DU or Tungsten tipped or SABOT projectiles at approximately 3500 to 4500 Rounds Per Minute.
This new Metal Storm weapon, is much the same in the sense that it sits at the CENTER of the area of coverage, making it THE hardest target to hit within that zone of coverage. Now, for a moment, imagine a small heavy armored vehicle, about 20 feet in length, 7 to 10 feet wide, equipped with two pods, one pod containing the Metal Storm gun package, the other pod containing the Anti-Bullet Defense Array. Both pods are self operated, with manual over-ride capability. This system could be capable of destroying hundreds of targets per minute, possibly in to the thousands under ideal situations. The Metal Storm weapon system can engage both fixed, and incoming targets simultaneously. This is the nexus of technology and warfare, and man is almost non-dependent in the situation once the system is operable. This would be just
one vehicle in a
FLEET of vehicles.
To me, short of an EMP weapon, or super high velocity weapon, this vehicle would have no conceivable weakness except during reloading, refueling, or machine or operator malfunction.
Speaking of EMP weapons...... word has it that the many of the Phalanx weapons systems in the Nacy are being replaced by a new short-mid range EMP weapon of some type. Details are still foggy, but this new EMP weapon is about the equivalent jump from the Phalanx in technology and capability as the technological comparison between the old AGP 4x 16 bit graphics card compared to the new PCI-Express 512 bit graphics cards. Night and Day improvement on all levels of measure.
G Adams said: Another thought, how well will this deal with heavy fire? I can't imagine the radar loving 10 000 round going off around it. I say:
Well, I know these weapons are purpose built, so they are probably well adapted to any enviroment we will be able to throw at them. Look at the changes made since we first made the mistake of deploying "Cold War" purpose built equipment into Desert enviroments. We learned that each enviroment poses significant stressors on the equipment, that have to be accounted for in design, since retrofit once in the field is un-reasonable, costly and an incredible burden atop the burden of warfare. With this in mind, most new weapons of war are created with this in mind, and I believe the technology and practicality of the new weapons systems will be unlike any we have ever seen before.
Real weapons, actually being built by contract now, more resemble science-fiction weapons than any other conventional weapon we have seen before. If this system continues un-impeded, by 2010 our Armies will look more Starship Troopers than grunts, and they will rely more on technology than ever before, further removing the decision making, judgement and compassion that Generals consider the biggest weakness in the human link to warfare.
I think that the future is becoming pretty clear, and I don't like much of it at all. The thing is, people need to see what is coming, before they understand how serious and grave it is that the course is changed.
I hope some people, are now opening their eyes, and keeping in mind how detrimental an "Oliver North" incident with weapons of this type, could be the end of the world as we know it. :eek: