Ok, myself and Atacms are geeks when it comes to future military tech, so I thought I'd make a thread for us to discuss it, feel free anyone else who want's to join in, but it might be heavy going for those with little to no interest of what the next PGM of the French AF is, or how fast the Brit's Astute SSN goes

This message has been edited. Last edited by: muttbut,

quote:

Originally posted by muttbut:
Ok, myself and Atacms are geeks when it comes to future military tech, so I thought I'd make a thread for us to discuss it, feel free anyone else who want's to join in, but it might be heavy going for those with little to no interest of what the next PGM of the French AF is, or how fast the Brit's Astute SSN goes

lol...I'm personally more interested as to what company is going to produce the US's next main battle rifle, and maybe what caliber its going to be (for sure this time ). You know that wimpy 5.56 ain't cuttin' it...might as well be throwin' rocks.

quote:

Originally posted by Pathfinder_82nd:

quote:

Originally posted by muttbut:
Ok, myself and Atacms are geeks when it comes to future military tech, so I thought I'd make a thread for us to discuss it, feel free anyone else who want's to join in, but it might be heavy going for those with little to no interest of what the next PGM of the French AF is, or how fast the Brit's Astute SSN goes

lol...I'm personally more interested as to what company is going to produce the US's next main battle rifle, and maybe what caliber its going to be (for sure this time ). You know that wimpy 5.56 ain't cuttin' it...might as well be throwin' rocks.

What would you like, go back to the 7,62 or try something more "exotic" 6.5 6.8?...I'm hearing that the 6.5 might be the way to go, but I have no first hand knowlage of what it's like.

Ok, first tech that I may have mentioned before this tech, but I'll post more details.

Reactive material warhead

This warhead is a marvel of chemical and materials engineering because typically warheads are essentially explosives wrapped around metal casing so that you have:

1. blast effects that can ignite targets (ie cause their fuel or explosives to detonate causing a larger swath of destruction) &

2. shrapnel which would be the metal casing torn apart by the explosive and ejected at very high velocities causing further damage to the target.

Ok, well how does the reactive material warhead work?

"Warhead cases fabricated from RMs throw fragments which can ignite upon target impact and release enormous energy and cause catastrophic damage (unlike conventional metal war head fragments that only penetrate the target)."

Here's a pic of a reactive material warhead taking apart quite literally this defunct F-14 Tomcat.


http://www.light-science.com/onrwarhead.html

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/4219350.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: atacms,

Something new and neat AT, the Danes new Ivar Huitfeldt class frigate

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the anti-air warfare system contract with Thales Nederland. This includes the Smart-L long-range 3D volume search radar and the APAR medium-range multifunction radar, plus the associated command & fire control systems. Thanks to the 400-km-range Smart-L radar, when positioned in the center of the Danish archipelago, a single frigate of this class can monitor the airspace over the whole of Denmark proper;

- the Mk 41 vertical launching system contract with Lockheed Martin;

- the contract for Ceros 200 radar/electro-optic fire control directors from Saab Systems of Sweden (these are to provide fire control for the various guns on the ship);

- the bow-mounted sonar contract with Atlas Elektronik;

- the contract for ballistic protection panels with Ten Cate/Roshield of Denmark

- the contract with Saab Danmark for the internal/external communications suite.

plus she'll have Standard Missile SM-2 Block IIIA, Tomahawks and ESSM's missiles, a 5in gun and the Rheinmetall Millennium 35mm CIWS, all for about 310/315 million dollors each X3.....nice

Big photo AT

quote:

Originally posted by muttbut:
Big photo AT

Oops, I DID use the smaller version, but the enlarged pic came out. Sorry guys, those of you with slow Internet speeds.

quote:

Originally posted by Pathfinder_82nd:

lol...I'm personally more interested as to what company is going to produce the US's next main battle rifle, and maybe what caliber its going to be (for sure this time ). You know that wimpy 5.56 ain't cuttin' it...might as well be throwin' rocks.

Ok, here's the latest on the small arms controversy courtesy of Defense News.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3392632&c=FEA&s=SPE


Personally I think that IF the US Dept. of Defense continues to IGNORE all these findings and tests and mind boggingly and stupefyingly STILL stick with the M4, then they MAY go with the Lemas blended ammunition round to address the issues of lack of "killing power" as has been shown in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

See this link:
http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=361

there a video you can watch of the Lemas BMT round kicking butt!

i acually hate the new m4's and i really hate the new m16............... i hopinh the new SCar or what ever its cold(its real late and i dont feel like looking it up lol) and im hoping they come out with the new battle armor. not sure if they still coming out with the dragon skin or not. and its time for a new upgrade to the marine sniper rifle.... plz god a new sniper rifle.

This is BaE and Navistar International's prototype entry for the JTLV, the future Humvee replacement.

JTLV, will not only be lighter than MRAP, it will incorporate lessons learned from IED amushes on the MRAP vehicles.

It will also be equipped with the APS or Active Protection System which can shoot down RPG's.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele....HCHLFs&modele=jdc_34

This is Lockheed Martin's entry for the same program.



Thanks to Aviation Week's Ares blog.

[QUOTE]
Personally I think that IF the US Dept. of Defense continues to IGNORE all these findings and tests and mind boggingly and stupefyingly STILL stick with the M4, then they MAY go with the Lemas blended ammunition round to address the issues of lack of "killing power" as has been shown in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
/QUOTE]Exactly, the DOD is hiding it's head in the sand over short comings woth the 5'56 round, even back in Somalia they had instances of shooting giuys 4,5,6 times or more and they could still function, no wonder certain SOF's in Afghanistan and Iraq have procured there own weapons, and they ain't in 556.

Doesn't anybody know what Britain's next main assault rifle will be cos i hear the sa80 might be scrapped????????

Hey atacms, what kinda of materials do they use for those reactive warheads?

Do they place the same type's as material in it as the reactive armor? Plastic explosives that that detonate because of the pressure?
Sounds highly difficult to fabricate but also effective.

Also tose replacements for the humvee looks quite vulnerable at the suspension near the wheels, I was suprised they weren't buidling something I little more like fennek.
I just thought that might me more apropriate for it's low profile and nbc protection and all ( and thermal visison, but that could be and option, coupled with it's all terrain functions).

quote:

Originally posted by Greg_354:
Hey atacms, what kinda of materials do they use for those reactive warheads?

Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_material

It's a mix of aluminum, zirconium and other metals in a powdered form.

quote:

Do they place the same type's as material in it as the reactive armor? Plastic explosives that that detonate because of the pressure?

It's different because the reactive material are made of fragments each of which has a kinetic and an explosive effect. Reactive armor destroys ATGM's via an explosive charge that is sandwiched in a layer of armor. It's the explosive that's destroying the ATGM. Pure HE not kinetic AND HE.

quote:

Also tose replacements for the humvee looks quite vulnerable at the suspension near the wheels, I was suprised they weren't buidling something I little more like fennek.
I just thought that might me more apropriate for it's low profile and nbc protection and all ( and thermal visison, but that could be and option, coupled with it's all terrain functions).

Low profile can help with detection avoidance, but the higher ground clearance you have the better off you are when it comes to mines or IED's.

Look at the MRAP or other vehicles that have excellent blast protection, ground clearance is a big factor.
Navistar's MRAP

quote:

Originally posted by uberwocky:
Doesn't anybody know what Britain's next main assault rifle will be cos i hear the sa80 might be scrapped????????

From what I understand they had tons of problems with the first models and then they did some redesigning which greatly increased their reliability.

Anyway, I hadn't heard that they had been planning on replacing it.

I do know that they have a future infantry program called FIST which will also have cameras attached to the rifle so you can fire from behind a wall or obstacle without getting your head blown off, just your arm.

quote:

Originally posted by muttbut:

What would you like, go back to the 7,62 or try something more "exotic" 6.5 6.8?...I'm hearing that the 6.5 might be the way to go, but I have no first hand knowlage of what it's like.

The 6.5 is a 6mm Remington in civilian talk, it has the same flight/impact characteristics as a 30-06 (7.62) but less stopping power.

<minirant>
Honestly! Why do they do that? Just make a .308 caliber M-16 and call it good, know what I mean? Though the 6.5 is a vast improvement over the 5.56.

Anybody out there ever fire a .22 Long Rifle?? It is the same size *bullet* that we are sending to Iraq! The only difference (besides the shape) is the .223 round has a little bit more powder behind it. The .223 is a joke in combat. So if any high-up brass is reading this, you now know where I stand.
</minirant>

And while we're on the subject of the guns...What about the sidearm? I heard that they are bringing the .45 back. Somebody high up got sick of troopers having to shoot a hostile 10 times to put him down. Kinda defeats the purpose of carrying more ammunition don't it?

quote:

Originally posted by atacms:

Wait a minute...where did you get a pic of my truck??

quote:

Originally posted by codbrooks1989:
i acually hate the new m4's and i really hate the new m16............... i hopinh the new SCar or what ever its cold(its real late and i dont feel like looking it up lol) and im hoping they come out with the new battle armor. not sure if they still coming out with the dragon skin or not. and its time for a new upgrade to the marine sniper rifle.... plz god a new sniper rifle.

the m4s and -16s now are no differant than they were 10 years ago except for the RAS. And i dont think i have ever heard any negative complaints about the M40.

and dragon skin is not being looked at by the DoD for any usage. atleast not at this time.

anyone know what the deal is with the Future Force Warrior program and the Land Warrior program?
i know originally the LW was supposed to be a combat prototype for FFW but there was a rumor the FFW was canceled and some EndWar websites state that the JSF infantry tech. is built off of the LW program, not FFW...
any help? i'm kinda a nerd my self somewhat when it comes to military tech but i'm not quite sure on this....

quote:

Originally posted by vazquezlax:
anyone know what the deal is with the Future Force Warrior program and the Land Warrior program?
i know originally the LW was supposed to be a combat prototype for FFW but there was a rumor the FFW was canceled and some EndWar websites state that the JSF infantry tech. is built off of the LW program, not FFW...
any help? i'm kinda a nerd my self somewhat when it comes to military tech but i'm not quite sure on this....

Land Warrior was folded into Future Force Warrior, it wasn't canceled, just changed significantly and updated. As for the FFW stuff, I believe the lower-tech things involved are supposed to be utilized by Striker Brigades, and I think the rest is supposed to be on the way.

technically the land warrior program was cancelled, but all of the work was transferred to FFW.

quote:

Originally posted by AlphaDelta219:
technically the land warrior program was cancelled, but all of the work was transferred to FFW.

Isn't Land Warrior in use in Iraq? i know this doesn't count for much - but I saw LW on future weapons lol
What's the deal with the new body armor? is the army sticking with the crye-armor? or going with the ferrofluid and magnetorheological fluid armor? b/c i know that so far dragon skin is out (even though it is the body armor god)