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Chopstix posted:Tie some rockets to the end of up to 200 arrows and throw them on a cart, and fire them all in a barrage, because, what the hell, why not. They were particularly effective against massed infantry because FTFY
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# ? Apr 18, 2015 07:57 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 09:49 |
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There's a very good and simple metric to determine if a purported superweapon was any good. Did anyone else adopt it? Iron? Instantly. Gunpowder? Sure did. Dreadnoughts? Hell yes. Firecracker katyusha? Nope. Bronze mirror anti-trireme lasers? Probably didn't actually even exist.
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# ? Apr 18, 2015 11:33 |
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Osama Dozen-Dongs posted:Firecracker katyusha? Nope. Not at all. It's basically a congreve rocket, albeit with probably a smaller warhead. Congreve rockets were used by the British, especially during the Napoleonic wars to reasonable effect. I don't think they were ever very effective at killing people, but they were good for breaking up mass formations and disrupting advances, which was 90% of the objective in a battle at the time anyway. Also used to chase off the raggle taggle mob defending D.C. so we could burn it down Werther or not the Koreans ever managed to use their rockets to good purpose I have no idea, but the basic idea is sound.
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# ? Apr 18, 2015 20:14 |
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Yeah, from what I understand, the Hwacha wasn't to actually kill people, it was to force them to break formation so they're easier to charge.
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# ? Apr 18, 2015 20:20 |
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Carcass shot was pretty nasty, it was a 190 lb hollow iron cannonball filled with the worst mix of incendiaries and toxic compounds imaginable, and would burn for 11 or so minutes, setting everything around it on fire and releasing clouds of smoke that you REALLY don't want to breathe in. Unless you're into the whole antimony poisoning thing I guess quote:For the composition of the flammable material used in a carcass, 18th century philosopher Christian Wolff prescribed 10 parts of pounded gunpowder, 2 of nitre, 1 of sulfur, and 1 of colophony; or 6 of gunpowder, 4 of nitre, 4 of sulfur, 1 of beaten glass, 0.5 of antimony 0.5 of camphor, 1 of sal armoniac, and 0.25 of common salt. For the shell, he started with two iron rings (others used plates), fitting one at one extreme, near the aperture at which the carcass was to be fired, and the other at the other. These he braced with cords drawn lengthwise; and across these, at right angles, laced other cords, making a knot at each intersection. Between the folds of the cords, he made holes, inserted copper tubes, and filled them half full of powder and lead bullets, packing it in with a tow. The internal shell's aperture was then plugged up, and it was immersed in a mixture of 4 parts of melted pitch, 20 of rosin, 1 of oil of turpentine, and as much ground gunpowder as was needed to reduce it to the consistency of a paste. After immersion, the shell was to be covered with tow, and immersed again, until it was the proper size for the mortar.[2]
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# ? Apr 18, 2015 20:59 |
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spog posted:
Also: ha, I tried to search for the report, and only found my own post in the milhist thread four years ago. I couldn't find it then, either. Edit: I found it! A sample: The trajectory is pretty much the only difference in the text of the various incidents. Chillbro Baggins has a new favorite as of 07:02 on Apr 19, 2015 |
# ? Apr 19, 2015 06:49 |
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Minarchist posted:Carcass shot was pretty nasty, it was a 190 lb hollow iron cannonball filled with the worst mix of incendiaries and toxic compounds imaginable, and would burn for 11 or so minutes, setting everything around it on fire and releasing clouds of smoke that you REALLY don't want to breathe in. Unless you're into the whole antimony poisoning thing I guess drat, philosophy used to be pretty drat hardcore.
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# ? Apr 19, 2015 10:08 |
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Erm - wouldn't the impact of one of the most advanced tank cannons in the world turn a Bradley into a shredded blackened shell?
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# ? Apr 19, 2015 10:11 |
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If it's just shooting a hunk of DU, then not likely. Maybe if it hit a fuel line and sparked a fire...
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# ? Apr 19, 2015 10:17 |
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Sergeant Rock posted:Erm - wouldn't the impact of one of the most advanced tank cannons in the world turn a Bradley into a shredded blackened shell? DU is amour-piercing, so it's generally used to penetrate MBT/ thicker armour, so it would probably just go right though a lesser-armoured vehicle (creating a very big hole). For more efficient blue-on-blue killing action, they should probably use HEAT or HE, which'll explode/ spray molten metal on impact. tight aspirations has a new favorite as of 10:36 on Apr 19, 2015 |
# ? Apr 19, 2015 10:34 |
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Jonathan Yeah! posted:DU is amour-piercing, so it's generally used to penetrate MBT/ thicker armour, so it would probably just go right though a lesser-armoured vehicle (creating a very big hole). For more efficient blue-on-blue killing action, they should probably use HEAT or HE, which'll explode/ spray molten metal on impact. DU is actually a bit worse than that... quote:Depleted uranium is favored for the penetrator because it is self-sharpening and pyrophoric.[29] On impact with a hard target, such as an armored vehicle, the nose of the rod fractures in such a way that it remains sharp. The impact and subsequent release of heat energy causes it to disintegrate to dust and burn when it reaches air because of its pyrophoric properties.[29] When a DU penetrator reaches the interior of an armored vehicle it catches fire, often igniting ammunition and fuel, killing the crew and possibly causing the vehicle to explode. Can't remember where, but I remember some soldier referring to the charred bodies in a tank hit by them as 'crispy critters'.
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# ? Apr 19, 2015 10:44 |
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Jonathan Yeah! posted:DU is amour-piercing, so it's generally used to penetrate MBT/ thicker armour, so it would probably just go right though a lesser-armoured vehicle (creating a very big hole). For more efficient blue-on-blue killing action, they should probably use HEAT or HE, which'll explode/ spray molten metal on impact. Actually it will make a very very small hole. The point is that the aluminium "armour" of a bradley doesn't pose enough resistance to cause spaling or to make the DU round fragment, so it just drills a neat little hole in both sides. Unless you are unlucky enough to be directly in the path of it's flight, in which case it will make a neat little hole in you too.
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# ? Apr 19, 2015 11:04 |
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Pharnakes posted:Not at all. It's basically a congreve rocket, albeit with probably a smaller warhead. Congreve rockets were used by the British, especially during the Napoleonic wars to reasonable effect. I don't think they were ever very effective at killing people, but they were good for breaking up mass formations and disrupting advances, which was 90% of the objective in a battle at the time anyway. Also used to chase off the raggle taggle mob defending D.C. so we could burn it down Come on, guy, even ignoring the fantastic arrows-that-explode-on-impact angle, Congreve rockets came hundreds of years later and are only related in the sense that they're propelled by gunpowder attached to the projectile. You might as well say that 17th century repeating muskets were a viable weapon because using a level to reload rifles was workable with the 19th century.
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# ? Apr 20, 2015 13:32 |
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DumbparameciuM posted:Honestly, given the incredible things you can do with a C-130 gunship, I'm amazed that the A-10 is still in use. A-10s rule though, GAU 8 Avengers all loving day son: I remember playing a flight sim of a Warthog, and it even had the plane stall if you laid on the cannon too much. It was awesome
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# ? Apr 22, 2015 03:00 |
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I remember playing a flight sim of a Warthog, and it even had the plane stall if you laid on the cannon too much. IIRC, that was an issue with early version of the Warthog. The escaping gas from the GAU-8 would flow directly into the engine inlets and stall them. They fixed it pretty quickly, hehe. Now, time for one of my favourite munitions, the Paveway Bomb System https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrpXOIVCcAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fc8bgf1pGk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srrBUGo-ckU For those moments when you have an itch you REALLY need to scratch! The Paveway system is actually a guidance system, making them members of the JDAM family of bombs. All sorts of different types of warheads have been attached to the system over the years, I'd point to the wikipedia page for more info. The majority of the Paves in existence are unpowered laser guided bombs. Varients can use different guidance systems, such as GPS. Some interesting tidbits: The Paveway III, aka GBU-28 which was designed, manufactured, tested, and deployed within three weeks to be used in Desert Storm. Wikipedia posted:The first GBU-28 was dropped off-target due to target misidentification. The second GBU-28 was a direct hit and penetrated the thick reinforced concrete before detonating, killing everyone inside. It was also used in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, now Israel has a stockpile of them. Here's footage of six of them in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOWK72i8bCU The GBU-24 Some grainy footage of the '24 in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRRXK7QnxaU That's a whole lot of "gently caress you".
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# ? Apr 23, 2015 06:37 |
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I remember playing a flight sim of a Warthog, and it even had the plane stall if you laid on the cannon too much. in DCS:A-10C, the highest fidelity civilian A-10 simulator, you can use the cannon's recoil to brake enough to be able to land it on a carrier
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# ? Apr 23, 2015 08:37 |
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Son of Thunderbeast posted:EDIT: Okay so this one isn't as crazy out there as the other weapons in this thread, and it's in actual use by militaries, but the concept is still pretty loving crazy to me--the H&K 40MM Grenade Machine Gun (Granatmaschinengewehr, so still GMG in both languages) I've never played with the HK GMG but I did get to fam fire the Mk19 (US military's grenade machine gun) a few years ago. It's a loving hoot. What I didn't know going in was that since the rounds are so massive and relatively slow, when you're looking through the sights you can see little black dots arcing downrange and going boom (or in the case of training rounds, sparkle). The low rate of fire compared to a machine gun is actually a bonus as well. According to the guys training us it's almost impossible to overheat it and ruin the barrel, which is a big problem training large amounts of idiots on the .50 who think machine guns work like video games. It's mounted on a turret, I've got infinite ammo!
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# ? Apr 23, 2015 10:49 |
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Wild T posted:I've never played with the HK GMG but I did get to fam fire the Mk19 (US military's grenade machine gun) a few years ago. It's a loving hoot. What I didn't know going in was that since the rounds are so massive and relatively slow, when you're looking through the sights you can see little black dots arcing downrange and going boom (or in the case of training rounds, sparkle). I've always wondered how accurate the Mk19 is? Most of the footage I've seen of it being used in the field has been for-effect.
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# ? Apr 23, 2015 15:13 |
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DumbparameciuM posted:I've always wondered how accurate the Mk19 is? Most of the footage I've seen of it being used in the field has been for-effect.
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# ? Apr 24, 2015 05:31 |
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I guess the fact that it is so much heavier than a bullet and never goes transsonic makes for better long range accuracy? On the other hand, the grenade starts out at 240m/s, so I'd guess it takes at least 10 seconds to reach that 2000m target.
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# ? Apr 24, 2015 05:55 |
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My very limited experience with it was being able to land grenades on vehicle-sized targets, iron sights at about 400 meters the first time I got behind it. I'm just some random Air Force admin clerk they let shoot training rounds through it, though. Someone with a lot more experience than I would be better to talk about maximum effective ranges and things like that. That's just for first round, though - the gun shakes around a bit and the following rounds will scatter in an area around it, which is something you kind of want to happen anyway since whatever the first round hit is probably already dead and probably has buddies in the area around it. Most machine guns operate on the same principle - you want it accurate enough to be capable of hitting a guy when you put a burst towards him, but with enough of a spray that you can suppress an entire group of people because nobody wants to lift their head up when bullets are hitting all around their cover. The extreme example of that was the MG3. I went shooting with the Bundeswehr reserves a few times and they would bring a pair of them out. It's literally nothing but a modernized MG42 rechambered to use 7.62 NATO ammo, and keeps the absolutely blistering rate of fire (about one and a half that of the US equivalent, the M240B). You pretty much have to throw your entire body weight in behind it, lock it against its bipod so that it's stable and give the trigger a split-second squeeze - three or four rounds will disappear before you can even let go. I can only imagine being on the receiving end of something like that. If someone lines you up in their sights I doubt your odds are good walking away without being hit, if only because of the sheer amount of lead they can send your way in such a small period of time.
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# ? Apr 24, 2015 09:23 |
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Ironicness, I don't think those two guys are using any of those things.
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# ? Apr 24, 2015 10:15 |
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"See that guy? gently caress him and everyone near him."
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# ? Apr 25, 2015 07:08 |
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Why are they all not-wearing goggles?
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# ? Apr 25, 2015 07:17 |
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From anecdotal tales my military friends told me the Mk19 is jam-tastic & the risk of slam-firing and having a round cook off while in battery are legitimate concerns, especially if the system is a clapped out piece of poo poo near the end of its duty cycle.
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# ? Apr 25, 2015 07:35 |
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The Lone Badger posted:Why are they all not-wearing goggles? Because it ain't windy out, duh.
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# ? Apr 25, 2015 08:24 |
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When you're an early 1900s French gambler, you're probably going to see some hairy situations. LaPierre doesn't want to pay his debt, or Guymon got caught with a couple of aces up his poofy sleeves. You'd be best served by having a weapon. But what to choose? Brass knuckles can settle a disagreement up close, but if the other guy pulls a knife on you you're in serious trouble. A knife of your own evens the odds, but what if he has a pistol? A pistol of your own would work, but most concealable pistols are clumsy pepperboxes, so if you fail to put down a raging French gambler you're back to your fists. The solution? Combine all three together. A pepperbox pistol with a tiny flip-out knife blade and a set of brass knuckles as the pistol grip. Sure, it has no barrel and uses a low-power black powder charge so it's useless outside of a few feet. But that shortcoming doesn't matter when you can literally stab a man in the gut, pump him full of shots and if he's still standing, beat the poo poo out of him with your pistol. Throughout the early days of the pistol, there sprang up all kinds of crazy ideas about how to use a gun to hit people really, really hard. Probably the most perfect evolution of the idea is the Sedgley Punch Gun, perhaps best known from its brief appearance in Inglourious Basterds. It's literally a tube fastened to the back of a leather glove that you cram a .38 Special round into, cock it, and activate it by punching an unfortunate Nazi in the face as hard as you can.
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# ? Apr 28, 2015 02:52 |
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This thing: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2015/04/28/homing-bullets-moving-targets/ quote:DARPA researchers have recently tested homing bullets that maneuver themselves in-flight to hit moving targets from long distance. Researchers first tested the Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) earlier this year, and expert, as well as novice, marksmen consistently hit a target from hundreds of yards away.
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# ? Apr 28, 2015 23:03 |
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Jerome Agricola posted:This thing: That pistol from Runaway becomes reality. Edit https://youtu.be/lA6ybohAVq8 Aleph Null has a new favorite as of 03:23 on Apr 29, 2015 |
# ? Apr 29, 2015 03:20 |
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blunt for century posted:Well, first of all, that's a much better idea than mine of stationing mobile AA next to it. There's plenty of room on top for it to fit.
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# ? Apr 29, 2015 03:52 |
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Time for some thread necromancy with the Urumi, AKA the Indian Whip Sword https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMAsCuDFSUI wikipedia posted:The urumi hilt is constructed from iron or brass and is identical to that of the talwar, complete with a crossguard and frequently a slender knucklebow. The typical handle is termed a "disc hilt" from the prominent disc-shaped flange surrounding the pommel. The pommel often has a short decorative spike-like protrusion projecting from its centre. The blade is fashioned from flexible edged steel measuring three-quarters to one inch in width. Ideally it should be the same as the wielder's armspan, usually between 4 feet to 5.5 feet. Multiple blades are often attached to a single handle. The Sri Lankan variation can have up to 32 blades and is typically dual-wielded, with one in each hand
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# ? May 7, 2015 03:48 |
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DumbparameciuM posted:Time for some thread necromancy with the Urumi, AKA the Indian Whip Sword That's a nice dance. Maybe someone will tell them guns were invented hundreds of years ago.
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# ? May 7, 2015 03:59 |
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DumbparameciuM posted:Time for some thread necromancy with the Urumi, AKA the Indian Whip Sword This seems like one of those things from history, where it was a major gently caress-up and to cover up for it someone just ran with it. "Hey Jim the emperor wants you to make a sword that's like, flexible you know? We need it by Tuesday or else I'm in deep poo poo" "Umm wow ok, this is totally not what I meant, and it's really useless except for dancing with or maybe slicing a lot of carrots at once... Hmmmm" "Tell him it's the new style, we are going to be at the fore-front of lovely wobbly sword technology!"
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# ? May 7, 2015 04:08 |
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Ideally the length of the wielder's arm span, typically 4 to 5.5 feet? I get that average height has been on the rise, but seriously, when in human history could 4 feet tall have been remotely typical?
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# ? May 7, 2015 04:22 |
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Inspector 34 posted:Ideally the length of the wielder's arm span, typically 4 to 5.5 feet? I get that average height has been on the rise, but seriously, when in human history could 4 feet tall have been remotely typical? Unfortunately, it was marketed as the adorable new weapon system for child soldiers.
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# ? May 7, 2015 06:31 |
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Wild T posted:Unfortunately, it was marketed as the adorable new weapon system for child soldiers. It'd be so sad if it wasn't so adorable.
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# ? May 7, 2015 06:56 |
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I think the whip sword is what the Rajput lost in "Deadliest Warrior" even though they also had the best weapons ever made... THE KATAR. You know the one. Voldo the mad, blind gimp from Soul Calibur has them. Fist mounted punching knives that just RUIN people. God, I love Katar's so much.
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# ? May 7, 2015 08:20 |
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Not a weapon system exactly, but probably one of the earliest examples of electronic warfare... 'The Battle of the Beams' http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_beams In the early years of WW2, the Germans developed various systems of radio beams (Knickebein, X-Gerät, Y-Gerät) that were used to guide pathfinder squadrons and night bombers onto British targets. This led to devastating night time raids including, famously, the destruction of most of Coventry's City centre. The Brits fought back though and thanks to a German defector, enigma decrypts and some cutting edge science; managed to develop countermeasures so effective that German pilots would no longer trust the beams. Oh and check out awesome '70s documentary 'The Secret War' for the whole story as told by those who fought it, including Albert Speer and R V Jones: Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6SkWxL5FzE Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn-MInKLnM0 Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZAGCoBUQk0 Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5K3-mc3NCs Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u58JOo-oC0
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# ? May 17, 2015 23:44 |
Inspector 34 posted:Ideally the length of the wielder's arm span, typically 4 to 5.5 feet? I get that average height has been on the rise, but seriously, when in human history could 4 feet tall have been remotely typical? They are talking about wingspan I guess.
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# ? May 18, 2015 01:56 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 09:49 |
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Lockheed Martin built a thing to intercept ICBMs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBMU6l6GsdM Why are we even bothering any more? Who is going to attack us with better weapons than the ones we already have?
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# ? May 18, 2015 20:32 |