But sure, if you are wondering how folks out in Yemen or Gaza managed to retaliate against their oppressors for so long, this is a textbook example of how and why. What’s being proposed is collection of technology we’ve had since at least the 1960s that’s slowly made its way into civilian circulation.
Also…
Khojayev’s just-launched prototype has no effectiveness track record
I mean, we’re seeing what “just-launched prototypes with no effective track record” have accomplished on the Ukraine-Russia front-lines and it’s a decidedly mixed bag.
I think a harder question to answer is “Who would be interested in putting one of these into practical use?” And that gets to the real value-add of a Stinger MANPAD. Namely, the humans willing and practiced enough to use it.
Also - and again, this cannot be overstated - the model above has no explosives installed. Idk how confident I’d be around one of these things if it was actually armed.
You don’t need explosives. It has a spot in the front for a camera. One of the new microcontrollers with AI accelerators can do face recognition extremely quickly. It would be possible to use it as an assassination tool.
Even if you changed nothing about the design, the speed and mass of the thing hitting a person in the face could kill.
As the bps space YouTube channel has shown, reliability is paramount in any launch, especially a guided launch.
That and people duck when shit flies at them, unless it’s supersonic, which again, as bps space has shown, control of a supersonic flight is extremely difficult to get right.
This is a guy who landed a hobby rocket like a tesla booster.
But at $100 a pop, you could have backups. (or payloads)
You can deploy a lot of $96 semi-effective hardware and improve it vs something that might be thousands or even tens or hundreds of thousands to deploy.
Not my area of expertise, so please tell me if the idea is complete garbage. With that being said: Theoretically, could the LiPo Battery that’s already in there anyway be turned into an explosive payload by intentionally overheating and puncturing it on impact?
Not my area of expertise, so please tell me if the idea is complete garbage.
Turning a laptop battery into a weapon is a non-trivial endeavor. The absurdity of TSA was more their attempt to police based on weak science than the real danger of an airplane full of lithium battery powered devices.
Not really an answer to you, just writing it here in case anyone else interested is still reading along:
I looked up some numbers and apart from the practical challenges of making a battery “go boom” in a controlled way it seems like the energy density to even make this a hypothetical option just isn’t there. Even the best LiPo batteries don’t quite reach 1 MJ/kg while gunpowder has ~3 MJ/kg, and numbers only go up from there for more modern chemical explosives.
Notably absent… the explosives.
But sure, if you are wondering how folks out in Yemen or Gaza managed to retaliate against their oppressors for so long, this is a textbook example of how and why. What’s being proposed is collection of technology we’ve had since at least the 1960s that’s slowly made its way into civilian circulation.
Also…
I mean, we’re seeing what “just-launched prototypes with no effective track record” have accomplished on the Ukraine-Russia front-lines and it’s a decidedly mixed bag.
I think a harder question to answer is “Who would be interested in putting one of these into practical use?” And that gets to the real value-add of a Stinger MANPAD. Namely, the humans willing and practiced enough to use it.
Also - and again, this cannot be overstated - the model above has no explosives installed. Idk how confident I’d be around one of these things if it was actually armed.
It’s not a MANPAD really.
The sensor package has no IR sensor (or radar unit) and no way to proximity fuse.
It has GPS, accelerometer and barometric pressure. It’s more like a rocket powered artillery shell than an anti-air weapon.
Or, given the lack of payload, it’s more like a high speed burrito delivery device.
See, now you’ve got my interest.
future Taco Bell vs future Del Taco during dinner rush:
aww i wanted Taco Time
You don’t need explosives. It has a spot in the front for a camera. One of the new microcontrollers with AI accelerators can do face recognition extremely quickly. It would be possible to use it as an assassination tool.
Even if you changed nothing about the design, the speed and mass of the thing hitting a person in the face could kill.
As the bps space YouTube channel has shown, reliability is paramount in any launch, especially a guided launch.
That and people duck when shit flies at them, unless it’s supersonic, which again, as bps space has shown, control of a supersonic flight is extremely difficult to get right.
This is a guy who landed a hobby rocket like a tesla booster.
But at $100 a pop, you could have backups. (or payloads)
:-/
I think
Is a more accurate assessment.
Why kill only one when you can do a whole blast and get a multi-kill?
You can deploy a lot of $96 semi-effective hardware and improve it vs something that might be thousands or even tens or hundreds of thousands to deploy.
:-/
I mean, time will tell. To date, this particular iteration of technology has a 0% success rate in doing anything but farming clicks.
It also has a 0% failure rate in live strikes on targets.
Not according to Wayne Gretzky
https://xkcd.com/651/
Not my area of expertise, so please tell me if the idea is complete garbage. With that being said: Theoretically, could the LiPo Battery that’s already in there anyway be turned into an explosive payload by intentionally overheating and puncturing it on impact?
Turning a laptop battery into a weapon is a non-trivial endeavor. The absurdity of TSA was more their attempt to police based on weak science than the real danger of an airplane full of lithium battery powered devices.
Not really an answer to you, just writing it here in case anyone else interested is still reading along:
I looked up some numbers and apart from the practical challenges of making a battery “go boom” in a controlled way it seems like the energy density to even make this a hypothetical option just isn’t there. Even the best LiPo batteries don’t quite reach 1 MJ/kg while gunpowder has ~3 MJ/kg, and numbers only go up from there for more modern chemical explosives.