Saturday, October 17, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Weapons: Army Pushes Precision Mortar
I tell you, if we could pump out little miniature JDAM style mortars, how cool would that be? Every grunt out there, would be worshiping these things. That means less mortar rounds to hump around and more lethality with each shot. If you could use some kind of pointer system, like a IR pointer or some laser as a means for guidance, then that would really be cool. Or just use a GPS coordinate. Either way, a precision mortar round would be awesome.
The system must also be easy to use and durable. Once we make accurate munitions like this, tactics could be modified to take advantage of that accuracy. That accuracy has to be consistent and dependable…Hopefully. This is the kind of thing that would bring more capability to the ‘super empowered infantry’ that these guys keep talking about. Oh, and make it small and light. (I know that is a fantasy, but it doesn’t hurt to dream. lol)
Another thing they could do, is to make a smaller Javelin type of system. Imagine something the size of a LAW?
Or how about a precision RPG round? Now that would be really cool, because then you could use those rounds, as well as captured enemy RPG rounds in a fight. That saves weight, and that increases the lethality of a unit. Hell, Airtronics made an American version of the RPG 7, why not make a precision round for it and use it to kill Taliban and Jihadists? I guess I could hint at the idea of precision 40mm, but that would be crazy talk. lol –Matt
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By Greg Grant
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Afghanistan is an infantryman’s war. Afghan insurgents have mastered fighting small unit actions in mountains terrain where they use skillfully prepared fighting positions on ridgelines and high ground. Springing ambushes from prepared positions, Taliban insurgents offer fleeting targets to direct fire weapons; which explains in part why the Army has received an urgent request from soldiers in the field for a precision guided mortar and has accelerated its efforts to develop and deliver the new weapon.
The “accelerated precision mortar initiative” is all about providing added firepower to the rifle platoon, said Army Maj. Gen. John Bartley, program manager for the Brigade Combat Team, who said the Army’s requirement is to precisely deliver indirect fire from as small a tube as possible. “You can hump a mortar, you can’t hump a Non-Line of Sight Launch System,” he said, referring to the “rockets in a box” missile system that came out of the now dead FCS program.
The Army is looking at a range of potential sizes for the round, from 60mm on up to 120mm, which is currently the most commonly used mortar “Ideally, you would like to give one to everyone… what is the art of the possible is to be determined.” The Army has not decided whether the precision mortar will be laser guided or will use GPS.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Weapons: The Amerikansky RPG-7 and Pump-action 40mm Grenade Launcher by Airtronic USA
Talk about some interesting weapon systems? If the company needs a tester to shoot these things, I am available. (lol) Seriously though, the concern I have with the grenade launcher, is if there are any primer detonation issues with being set up in this configuration. If the 40 mm rounds were flat, like shotgun shells, then I could see this not being a problem. Is this a valid concern? I don’t know enough about the weapon systems or the round used to make a valid assessment, so maybe an Airtronics representative can explain how this works?- Matt
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The Airtronic 40mm pump-action grenade launcher.
Review at Defense Review here.
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The Airtronic ‘Amerikansky’ RPG-7 (made in America!-hee hee)
Review of weapon here at Defense Review.
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Airtronic USA, Inc. website here.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Funny Stuff: Panzerhaubitze 2000 155mm Schalldämpfer!!!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Cool Stuff: Slinging.org
This is a fun one, and thanks to Doug for sending me this. I guess the one thing that is cool about slings, is that you could potentially use a sling as a less than lethal option for crowd control. Thats all depending on the type of projectile you use. (please note the Israeli using the sling below). Or if you are bored at some outpost and want something to do on your downtime, build a sling out of paracord and see if you can hit a tin can with it. It’s cheap fun, but it is also cool to get a feel for how this weapon could have been used back when it was a weapon of war. With the right projectile and some skill, a sling can certainly be deadly. –Matt
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An Israeli soldier uses a sling shot to stone demonstrators and workers dismantling the area in front of the Fatima Gate on the Israeli-Lebanese border, at Kfarkila, southern Lebanon, Tuesday Oct. 10, 2000. The area was liberated after the Israeli’s troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in May.
Welcome to Slinging.org!
When I first became interested in this fascinating weapon, I could find little information on the web or in published material. I hope this website can be the definitive source for slinging related information and news. Of course, it needs a community of slingers to experiment and pass on their knowledge. With your help, I hope we can rekindle the interest in this truly simple, effective, and historically significant weapon.
Sling Ranges
The range of the sling has always been a point of contention among enthusiasts and scholars. Present literature generally underestimates the sling’s range. Consider this snippet of text from Thom Richardson’s “The Ballistics of The Sling”, which provides an overview of some of these statistics:
“The more conservative estimates are around the 200 m mark (Ferrill 1985: 25), Connolly suggests 350 m (1981: 49), Korfmann estimates 400 m (1973: 37) while Demmin and Hogg go to 500 m (1893: 876; 1968: 30). The few accurately recorded observations are rather different. Reid records 55 m with a 227 g stone, and 91 m with 85 and 113 g balls (1976: 21). Burgess threw stones with his reconstructed Lahun sling between 50 and 100 yds, but admits to being unskilled at the art (1958: 230). Korfmann observed Turkish shepherds sling ordinary pebbles, ‘in 5 out of 11 trials the pebbles reached 200 m, and the three best casts were between 230 and 240 m (1973), while Dohrenwend has himself thrown beach pebbles over 200 yds (1994: 86).”
Since many of these statistics are formulated from authors’ experiences, the ranges that are creeping into literature, and becoming the standard, might not be representative of the true potential of the sling. The sling is a demanding weapon; range varies considerably from amateur to expert. Below is a table documenting the varied ranges of some members on slinging.org’s forum. It’s also important to consider the projectiles used in the test. A stone or softball will not perform as well as a biconical lead projectile, like those often used in antiquity.
For comparison, the current World Flight record for a “historically accurate” English longbow and horn/sinew composite bow is 306m and 566m respectively. It should be noted, however, that these ranges were achieved using light-weight flight arrows designed for range, and not for combat.
Website here.
5-Strand Woven Paracord Sling Tutorial