Predator w/ Sniper Rifle

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

Steve Hix wrote in
:

In article ,
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.


Then they should be turning them in to the authorities,or fleeing the area.

I doubt that in one of those rallies,that ANTI-jihadis are mixed in the
crowd.Heck,you can see them all waving their arms,and waving
flags,banners,etc.That's not anti-jihadi behavior.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik-at-kua.net

On Sun, 16 May 2004 16:54:32 +0000 (UTC), Jim Yanik
wrote:

Steve Hix wrote in
:

In article ,
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.


Then they should be turning them in to the authorities,or fleeing the area.

I doubt that in one of those rallies,that ANTI-jihadis are mixed in the
crowd.Heck,you can see them all waving their arms,and waving
flags,banners,etc.That's not anti-jihadi behavior.

Look at it logically - you're on the way to the shops to buy a hun of
cheese, take a wrong turn, and find yourself caught in the middle of a
mob who you don't support - do you

a. Chant and shout along until you can get the hell away (my personal
choice)

b. Jeer and taunt them, and end up dead in under a minute with a 9mm
headache

c. Go and report them to the authorities - who happen to be the
Americans who have been killing a lot of innocent Iraqis along with
the guilty, and who are being watched by those same nutters yuo're
against - oops 9mm headache again

Tough choice huh?

Peter Kemp

Peter Kemp wrote in
:

On Sun, 16 May 2004 16:54:32 +0000 (UTC), Jim Yanik
wrote:

Steve Hix wrote in
:

In article ,
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.


Then they should be turning them in to the authorities,or fleeing the
area.

I doubt that in one of those rallies,that ANTI-jihadis are mixed in
the crowd.Heck,you can see them all waving their arms,and waving
flags,banners,etc.That's not anti-jihadi behavior.

Look at it logically - you're on the way to the shops to buy a hun of
cheese, take a wrong turn, and find yourself caught in the middle of a
mob who you don't support - do you

a. Chant and shout along until you can get the hell away (my personal
choice)

Why can't you just turn around and leave,WITHOUT cheering and shouting,or
antagonizing them? That's what I'd do,then I'd get on a phone and call in
what I knew. Unless you call while they're right next to you,they aren't
going to know what you're discussing on the phone. I believe the phones
still work there.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik-at-kua.net

In article ,
Jim Yanik wrote:

Steve Hix wrote in
:

In article ,
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.

Then they should be turning them in to the authorities,or fleeing the area.

"The authorities" don't happen to be in the neighborhood, although
they're moving that way. It might be that some people are getting fed up
with just standing back and letting the nutcases do whatever they want.

Other factions, such as al Sistani's crowd seem to have lost patience
with al Sadr and his pals, too.

I doubt that in one of those rallies,that ANTI-jihadis are mixed in the
crowd.

Being largely within one neighborhood or other, bombing the crowd seems
more than a little stupid, what with likely damage to persons and
property. A bit more finesse seems called for, don't ya think?

Heck,you can see them all waving their arms,and waving
flags,banners,etc.That's not anti-jihadi behavior.

"Jim Yanik" wrote

Why can't you just turn around and leave,WITHOUT cheering and shouting,or
antagonizing them?

I had this happen in Madrid one night.

Walking around at about 2AM, a little bit toasty, came upon a big crowd of
people. Lots of cheering, and raised fists...

Being nosy, we worked our way near the front.

"Ummm...Bill...This is a Communist rally. Let's ease our asses out of here.
Quietly"

Pete

On Sun, 16 May 2004 05:58:15 GMT, "Thomas J. Paladino Jr."
wrote:


snip
I do know, however, that the Air Force has specifically requested that the
AC-130 gunship replacement (AC-X; whatever that may be), be equipped with
directed energy weapons.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...craft/ac-x.htm


Quote - 'Special operators want the new gunship, or AC-X, to be much
smaller than a C-130, with fewer crew members. They want it to be
stealthy, with the speed and maneuverability of a long-range jet
fighter. They want it equipped with directed energy weapons and
non-lethal technologies, and it should be able to engage targets from
any angle-above and below, front and back. '

So in effect they want the ultimate combat plane

Faster than a F22, with greater range, more maneuverable, Small as
well, with more automation, with the ability to annihilate or stun
anything in sight in any direction.

At just 2 billion US$ a copy it's a steal.

To me it looks like the Special forces want to take over the entire US
air force, or have speed machine envy, or are setting a very high
bargaining position.

"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.

In article ,
(Paul Krenske) wrote:

On Sun, 16 May 2004 05:58:15 GMT, "Thomas J. Paladino Jr."
wrote:


snip
I do know, however, that the Air Force has specifically requested that the
AC-130 gunship replacement (AC-X; whatever that may be), be equipped with
directed energy weapons.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...craft/ac-x.htm


Quote - 'Special operators want the new gunship, or AC-X, to be much
smaller than a C-130, with fewer crew members. They want it to be
stealthy, with the speed and maneuverability of a long-range jet
fighter. They want it equipped with directed energy weapons and
non-lethal technologies, and it should be able to engage targets from
any angle-above and below, front and back. '

So in effect they want the ultimate combat plane

Faster than a F22, with greater range, more maneuverable, Small as
well, with more automation, with the ability to annihilate or stun
anything in sight in any direction.

At just 2 billion US$ a copy it's a steal.

To me it looks like the Special forces want to take over the entire US
air force, or have speed machine envy, or are setting a very high
bargaining position.

With that as their initial position, their *real* position should look
very reasonable. :}

What are the economics of this? How much does such a rig cost, as
against the cost of offering paradise to the next jihadist?

I'm not sure what you mean - what has the next jihadist got to do with
it?

Well, if we spend $100,000,000 on an aerial sniper rifle, and Osama
gets his snipers for free, how long can we keep it up?

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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