Not the name though. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
What you don't like the MOAR program? Someone at DARPA has an odd sense of humor.
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MOAR like a puerile, semi-intelligent forum poster.
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Lol. Good one.
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![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Notes:
Photo 1: The white trailer looks like a caravan, possibly German-built.
Photo 2: The missile carrier looks Iranian.
edited 17th Oct '16 1:16:34 PM by Greenmantle
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Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
US experiments with laser ignition for large bore guns.
Several approaches were looked at and tested for ignition experiments. In general the process showed some promise. It was tied to other programs so when funding dried up the info went onto the shelf along with a bunch of other stuff. Also the whole dissolution of the chief threat this tech was to help with disappeared meant more funding was unlikely to be forthcoming.]] This document has a year stamp of February 1993.
Another short document and summary of progress on the ETC gun technology. The summary basically states they could have gotten some good energy and velocity off of the stuff the German's had been working on up to that point at Rheinmettal. I am no wondering if their new gun might leverage some new technology in terms of ignition systems given their involvement in developing the guns and ignition technology.
And I swear I saw a Janes article about some of that but I can't find it. They are supposed to be leveraging some new propellant tech and a semi-combustible casing which are all involved in cold war and immediate post cold war testing and development.
edited 18th Oct '16 5:07:33 PM by TuefelHundenIV
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Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
And now for something interesting. I swear someone shared this on the fora a while back but I couldn't find where.
So I am going to re share what I have found on my own here.
Behold the Rarefaction Wave Gun Aka Project RAVEN. Basically it is an advanced recoiless gun that has minimal velocity loss, cooler firings, and handles pressure a lot better.
ATLAS-RAVEN document describing the general idea behind the gun. 2010
Next Big Future has a few links attached to its short article and some concept art. 2008
NBF's follow up article the following year. 2009
DTIC Report on validation of the concept of the large caliber test bed. 2008
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So, a very carefully synchronized RCLR?
One of the big challenges, it seems, would be to make sure that synchronization happens under all temperature and weather conditions specified. That's what killed a lot of promising liquid rocket fuel programs; what worked nicely in Florida turned into a choking exploding mess in Alaska.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Sabre: It seems to work in general. There are at least three ways to use the timing apparently. One of which looks it could possibly be digitally controlled by manipulating the vents. The other two use either blow back or make it part of the ammos physical design.
The liquid propellant had two other downfalls as well. One was it required either a highly volatile propellant resvoir be present in a vehicle, increasing the chance of a catastrophic kill, or it haul around a vulnerable trailer that would also go up quite nicely if hit by just about anything. I also recall they had problems in general in maintaining in gun pressure consistency even out in Florida and the fuel was not exactly the nicest thing to work with and had a poor shelf life in terms of field deployed conditions IIRC.
edited 22nd Oct '16 5:37:12 AM by TuefelHundenIV
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rollin' on dubs
Too many moving parts and the liquid fuel can be dangerous. It could work, but given how successful conventional artillery has been, the money just isn't there.
Yet.
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Taira: For the liquid option yeah lots of moving parts.
For the Rarefaction Wave Gun, not really any more then other gun systems especially given it is largely a modified recoilless system. Especially when you stop to consider just exactly what the US is looking to do with large bore guns of all varieties. The money is already there otherwise they would have never bothered to build demonstrators and take it to conferences.
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The tricky part is sustaining the timing even as the system begins to wear, or takes shock damage. That's one reason I brought up liquid rocket propellants; there were a lot of promising mixtures that ultimately had to be rejected because they relied on absolutely everything being exactly right (well, even more so than usual for rocket engines). A rarefaction wave gun that doesn't get the recoil exactly right will either suffer from reduced muzzle velocity (if the valves open too early) or take a nasty recoil kick (if they open too late).
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
rollin' on dubs
The more moving parts (and the more they need to work in concert) - the more things go wrong.
Now the US has decades of "shock physics" - if you want to slam things around with high pressure, velocity and heat the DOD is the one you want. But I predict that it will take some more time.
All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Taira: Not actually true. What matters is the complexity of the parts. The system is pretty straight forward. All you are talking about is a timed valve.
Sabre; Except the liquid propellant was a lot more complex and finicky. They don't actually compare at all. The mixtures for the liquid propellant had to have just the right conditions and if things went badly something could go boom in a big way or you get a much more interesting conflagration as the propellant cooks off instead. They had to fight pumps, propellant tanks, reservoirs for the gun and ready storage as well as a more complex breech and loading mechanism.
The RWG is literally based directly off of already proven technologies in both timed valves with a high pressure system and recoilless weapons. There isn't anything actually exotic about the material and even considering timed value or pressure release valve options is amazingly mundane technology. Maintenance quite handily deals with wear and tear on the tubes just like in any other artillery piece and they have started using digital tracking systems to help with maintenance tracking of how many times the gun is fired.
Timing with simple computer controls is quite unlikely to suffer a mistiming event and even if it did it would quite unlikely result in any real damage to begin with.
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News from Jane's, Armoured and non-Armoured:
Brazil develops modernised Cascavel
The tests will be followed by a final evaluation phase at the Army Evaluation Center in Rio de Janeiro, the army source added. The EE9U is to be first displayed at a symposium hosted by the 2nd Armored Cavalry Brigade in Uruguaiana, state of Rio Grande do Sul, in late October.
According to the company, separate tenders by the War Arsenal of São Paulo were won to modernise one platform and turret in the army inventory; the project was aimed to demonstrate the viability of such modernisation and to extend the type's lifespan.
A new compartment was added to the rear of the refurbished and overhauled platform in order to quickly add a new powerpack, the 320 hp Rolls-Royce Power Systems MTU 6R926 engine, and ZF Friedrichshafen 6HP504C automatic transmission. A new differential, alternator, braking system, transfer case, and partially new suspension were installed as well.
The turret was fitted with a multispectral observation sensor from Opto Eletrônica with day and night cameras, laser range finder, and missile laser illuminator; situation awareness system incorporating four compact cameras from Orlaco Products; Harris Falcon III tactical radio and associated antenna; Thales SOTAS digital intercom; and servo-hydraulic turret drive and elevation control systems.
A storage area was added in the vehicle's rear to accommodate new batteries and other components. Provisions were made to add side-mounted launchers for Mectron MSS1.2 AC anti-tank guided missiles. The Cascavel's 90 mm rifled gun, 7.62 mm coaxial anti-aircraft machine guns, and two triple banks of 76 mm smoke grenade launchers were retained. Ruggedised displays were installed for the driver, gunner, and commander.
Considering how popular the Cascavel still is, this upgrade may have an export market.
KMW lines up team for Challenger 2 LEP bid
One of the key members of their Challenger 2 LEP team is Pearson Engineering, which now owns the former Vickers Defence Systems (subsequently BAE Systems) Armstrong Works at Newcastle-upon-Tyne where many of the Challenger 2 MBTs were built.
This facility still maintains the heavy lifting equipment required to lift the Challenger 2 MBT turret to enable the upgrade work to be carried out, and has recently carried out inspection work on a number of Challenger 2 MBTs.
US Army kicks off competition to upgrade workhorse FMTV trucks
Oshkosh took over the FMTV programme in 2010 after winning an initial 're-buy' competition against incumbent BAE Systems, and now the army is again seeking bidders for another re-buy.
Scott Davis, programme executive officer for Combat Support & Combat Service Support, told reporters on 4 October that the army hopes to get better ride quality and performance to accommodate heavier armour, and will look for better power generation and an added electronic backbone.
The request for proposals (RfP), published 13 October on the Federal Business Opportunities website, said the FMTV A2 programme would seek "to integrate higher capacity suspension, wheels, and tires; integrate underbody protection; increase engine power; integrate higher capacity alternator; integrate data bus upgrade; and integrate safety enhancements".
edited 24th Oct '16 10:45:47 AM by Greenmantle
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We Are Officially In The Future, Part X of Y: laser Strykers on the way.
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
I got excited for a minute but it's just a real fancy hard kill APS.
Aw.
Oh really when?
How about a Stryker that mounts a freaking shark that mounts a fricking laser beam on its head?
edited 25th Oct '16 4:27:29 PM by TamH70
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Knowing soldiers? Someone's going to paint that on.
I mean, there are some pictures of US SOF vehicles participating in the Mosul offensive—and close inspection reveals that at least one ODA named their vehicles after Disney princesses, meaning that Elsa and Mulan (and Rum Runner too) are playing a role in fighting ISIS.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Bah forget that silly Halo stuff. We need the plasma power guns from Hammers Slammers. So even an APC can possibly melt down a tank.
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Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
They punch holes in Iridium armored tanks with the equivalent of a warthogs gatling gun. The combat cars have a gatling weapon.
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Lol.
Apparently MBDA has something similar called the Enforcer that is ready to be supplied to customers by 2018 and they just started their manufacturing lines sometime last year.
Tom will like this one. The M-4 Gustav, the one the US Army didn't choose for some odd reason, is now the focus of SAAB's efforts to possibly create a guided munition for the launcher.
edited 14th Oct '16 6:19:54 PM by TuefelHundenIV
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