Predator w/ Sniper Rifle

From: Steve Hix NVALID


Jim Yanik wrote:
If the crowd of jihadis is milling around and carrying prohibited weapons
like RPGs,why not just drop a 250 lb. blast-frag bomb on the crowd? Everyone
there is supporting the jihadis.

Hardly. Quite a few locals are fed up with the jihadis, particularly al Sadr's
mob.

I think he meant "everyone (in the direct vicinity of the weapon carrying
jihadis) there is supporting the jihadis".

And while that is probably true, reports from the Fallujah siege indicate that
the gun toting trouble makers tend to hide behind women and children. The
Marine snipers reportedly were extremely valuable in that fight, due to their
precision in avoiding civilian casualties. In such circumstances, a 250 lb.
might be a PR disaster.

Consequently, I was wondering about the possibility of a Predator as sort of a
sniper platform. It was just a thought, but I am starting to think the required
level of precision hitting the target would probably be unattainable.......at
least with a .50 BMG round.

Now a tungsten flechette fired from a sabot gun....that might just do the
trick.
Dave

On 16 May 2004 02:29:41 GMT, (Dav1936531) wrote:

Consequently, I was wondering about the possibility of a Predator as sort of a
sniper platform. It was just a thought, but I am starting to think the required
level of precision hitting the target would probably be unattainable.......at
least with a .50 BMG round.

Now a tungsten flechette fired from a sabot gun....that might just do the
trick.

How about a medium powered sniper IR laser?
(I'm not talking starwars here) - but enough to blind/maim the
intended target(s) - no need to worry about windage, just point &
click. It'd keep collateral casualties to a minumum too...

Cheers,
N

On Sun, 16 May 2004 23:10:55 +1000, Nina
wrote:

On 16 May 2004 02:29:41 GMT, (Dav1936531) wrote:

Consequently, I was wondering about the possibility of a Predator as sort of a
sniper platform. It was just a thought, but I am starting to think the required
level of precision hitting the target would probably be unattainable.......at
least with a .50 BMG round.

Now a tungsten flechette fired from a sabot gun....that might just do the
trick.

How about a medium powered sniper IR laser?
(I'm not talking starwars here) - but enough to blind/maim the
intended target(s) - no need to worry about windage, just point &
click. It'd keep collateral casualties to a minumum too...

First off blinding weapons are highly illegal, as are weapons intended
to maim (though it's ok to kill someone - go figure), and secondly,
powerful lasers are probably not viable on a small platform like a UAV
for a while, simply for power source and size reasons.

I do like the visual though - some nutter in a market place waves an
RPG around chanting "death to the infidels" and a few seconds later
drops dead with flash burns and a smell of cooking bacon.

Peter Kemp

"Nina" wrote in message
...
On 16 May 2004 02:29:41 GMT, (Dav1936531) wrote:

Consequently, I was wondering about the possibility of a Predator as sort
of a
sniper platform. It was just a thought, but I am starting to think the
required
level of precision hitting the target would probably be
unattainable.......at
least with a .50 BMG round.

Now a tungsten flechette fired from a sabot gun....that might just do the
trick.

How about a medium powered sniper IR laser?
(I'm not talking starwars here) - but enough to blind/maim the
intended target(s) - no need to worry about windage, just point &
click. It'd keep collateral casualties to a minumum too...

Blinding weapons are considered to be banned by the rules of war.

Dave:

Saboted flechettes would be much, much less accurate and precise than a
..50 BMG round. CEPs in sniper variants of 10" out to 1000 meters do-able
(but certainly not from a UAV!) for the .50; notch that up at least one
order of magnitude (yes, 100") for a saboted flechette.

Steve Swartz


"Dav1936531" wrote in message
...
From: Steve Hix NVALID


Jim Yanik wrote:
If the crowd of jihadis is milling around and carrying prohibited
weapons
like RPGs,why not just drop a 250 lb. blast-frag bomb on the crowd?
Everyone
there is supporting the jihadis.

Hardly. Quite a few locals are fed up with the jihadis, particularly al
Sadr's
mob.

I think he meant "everyone (in the direct vicinity of the weapon carrying
jihadis) there is supporting the jihadis".

And while that is probably true, reports from the Fallujah siege indicate
that
the gun toting trouble makers tend to hide behind women and children. The
Marine snipers reportedly were extremely valuable in that fight, due to
their
precision in avoiding civilian casualties. In such circumstances, a 250
lb.
might be a PR disaster.

Consequently, I was wondering about the possibility of a Predator as sort
of a
sniper platform. It was just a thought, but I am starting to think the
required
level of precision hitting the target would probably be
unattainable.......at
least with a .50 BMG round.

Now a tungsten flechette fired from a sabot gun....that might just do the
trick.
Dave

On 16 May 2004 02:29:41 GMT, Dav1936531 wrote:

Consequently, I was wondering about the possibility of a Predator as sort of a
sniper platform. It was just a thought, but I am starting to think the required
level of precision hitting the target would probably be unattainable.......at
least with a .50 BMG round.

Now a tungsten flechette fired from a sabot gun....that might just do the
trick.

While a high-velocity sabot gun would have a longer range, it
wouldn't solve the problem of pointing it in the right direction.
(And the longer the range, the more accurate the pointing has to
be).

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