[gallo]

Although technically not a weapon, one of my favorite weapons devices was the FADAC. My Department of the Army civilian instructor assured me that FADAC did not mean "Fat Assed Department of the Army Civilian." In fact, it meant Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer. WAAAAY back when I used this thing, it was a marvel. The FADAC was fed by radar units whose positions were known. These radars detected enemy mortar and artillery rounds within seconds of firing. The FADAC calculated the coordinates of the mortars/guns before the rounds hit. These were translated into gun settings (i.e., artillery azimuth, elevation, and charge) and return fire could be on the way in less than a minute. The FADAC was one of the reasons that the Cong used to preposition mortar bases. Occasionally they would creep in to those positions, mount the mortars, dial in predetermined settings, pop off three quick rounds, grab the mortar (leaving the base), and run like hell. What came next was about 12 rounds of quick and delay.