Pentagon Fast-Tracks Mortar Defense System

[jbour13]

Maybe too big of a weapons system for this thread. If so, I apologize ahead of time.

I don't know who else has seen this but it seems kinda goofy to me. It's similar to the Phalanx systems on ships.

For one they report that it'll shoot uranium shells at a high rate of speed. Great,...but even if it shoots depleted uranium shells to destroy the inbound munition those same shells it kicks out have to land somewhere. The ship systems can get away with it because they are ships,...ON WATER!

Am I missing something, last time I checked depleted uranium isn't the most fun thing to be exposed to. Whether it's in the form of a munition or an expended round. We are all warned to look out for black dust around destroyed armored vehicles to avoid exposure.

Granted the AN/TPQ-36 Fire Finder Radar is quick enough to acquire and plot the impact point of the round(s), I still have a problem dealing with 20mm radioactive rain.

Here's the link:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151712,00.html

Any additional thoughts on this?

I think this will be outdated within a few years.

A lot of work is being put into using lasers. The problem is getting them strong enough while still small enough. Real strong lasers today are chemically driven, thus take up lots of space. Another problem is making mirrors strong enough to focus the beam.

Fix that, and you have a system that would be able to zap incoming mortars, missiles against airliners, or ICBMs.

One idea has been to put a chemical laser on a 747. It sounded serious, but I don't know what came out of it.

Not too long ago Intel invented a way to create lasers from silicon circuits, something which might not only help computing but also here. Perhaps a chip out of diamond would help, which is also on the horizon, albeit a few years out from advanced prototypes (I'm not sure, haven't heard much lately). The value of these two points would be that the laser would be smaller, faster and easier to control, and very heat resistant.

Chemically made diamonds exist already, 100% pure. Japan has announced a few milestones in creating chips of diamond.

Don't know much about the effects of depleted uranium, I've heard from a biased nuclear scientist that it doesn't radiate much.

[Archangel]

Saw this on Fox News the other day. Looks like a good idea until you start considering collateral damage (both from the mortar round & the rounds that missed the target).

[Air.177]

Originally Posted by Martin

Don't know much about the effects of depleted uranium, I've heard from a biased nuclear scientist that it doesn't radiate much.

Doesn't Radiate.........much

LMAO

Originally Posted by Air.177

Doesn't Radiate.........much

LMAO

Yeah, a bit biased.

[jbour13]

Originally Posted by Air.177

Doesn't Radiate.........much

LMAO

I'd have a problem if momma had a web footed baby as a result of my exposure. I don't know that I have seen any of the described black powdery substance outside any armored vehicles.

I came from Kuwait to BIAP and saw a handful of vehicles that appeared to be caught out in the open just off the road and subsequently had some munitions put through them. I'm not a tanker so I can't say what rounds serve the purpose of killing a BMP but there were also some T-55's and other tanks that had been given some of the same American courtesy.

[lksteve]

sounds like someone decided to take the GAU-8 out of an A10, hook it to a computer and try to shoot small projectiles out of the sky...i suspect it could also be used to kill mosquitoes...

depleted uranium is not nice stuff...it seems there were some health issues among friendly troops due to exposure to that stuff on the battlefield (the Iraqis definately had health issues due to 'exposure' to A10 strikes)...

given the success(?) of the Patriot, i suspect there are those who are searching for a silver bullet...i have a hard time believing that shooting a burst of several hundred rounds at a 60mm mortar in flight is going to be all that effective...

of course, it will not be constructed in the congressional district where i live...

[jbour13]

This could be another venture by DoD to justify spending and maybe squirrel away some more money. Who knows, I thought that in all the wisdom that DARPA has under their belts they didn't think of the rounds missing their intended target and ending up perforating some friendlies downrange. I'm ashamed to see the media didn't catch on to some of the things I posted. Not meaning the media should watch my posts, but that nobody drew this conclusion like I did. Maybe I'm a bit of a space cadet and think too much.

[lksteve]

Originally Posted by jbour13

This could be another venture by DoD to justify spending and maybe squirrel away some more money.

i agree...all they need to do, is mount it to the chassis for the Sgt. York and we'd have a winner...

[Spartan359]

In regards to US Navy ships using delpeted uranium rounds they have started to replace the 20mm round with a 20mm tungsten based round. Due to "Health concerns". I'm stationed onboard a carrier as I write this and have seen the new rounds.

[G]

Martin - The 747 with chemical laser aboard is in the testing phase. It's actually flying....

G

That's cute.

If anybody's interested, this page explains pretty well, while not going too indepth, how it works - and also lists some short comings at the end.

[magician]

I am still waiting on a phased plasma pulse-laser in the forty watt range.

[Ambush Master]

I thought that I had posted something like this, and just had the time to find it !!! If you want to see something impressive, watch what is posted here:

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ead.php?t=1913

[kusinagaraDB]

While researching I found this. It seems to have some good info.