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Forcefields

croxiscroxis I am the walrus
[url]http://media2.foxnews.com/040606/040606_fr_tobin_300.swf[/url]

Comments

  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    Is it using an EM blast to cause the weapon to discharge early?

    Jake
  • HuntSmackerHuntSmacker Firstones Ambassador to Starcraftia
    Defender Missiles

    (EVE reference)
  • Fascinating. Wouldn't call it a forcefield though. So would their "classified counter-measures" protect against a hand-thrown grenade? Not that a tank would be affected by such.
  • bobobobo (A monkey)
    It looks like it uses a tightly targeted projectile to hit the warhead - bullet-hitting-a-bullet.
  • JohnDJohnD Ranger
    From the sound of things, it isn't exactly highly targeted. What happens is once the radar detects the missile/RPG, it decides when to fire a shotgun-style spread of metal pellets towards the weapon.
  • shadow boxershadow boxer The Finger Painter & Master Ranter
    its basically a phalanx type system on a much smaller scale

    if it works well you could perhaps employ it to protect other assets, maybe even an active perimeter for airfields or other critical areas

    this could herald the beginnings of new weapon systems era

    if this system works well and is refined, it could get to the point where there has to be a shift in weapons technology to defeat it.

    if for instance this thing could take out a maverick or another form of modern missile, perhaps even the 'look down' hatch knocker type missiles, then something else is going to have to take its place.

    we may end up going back to good ole fashioned, big heavy penetrators and hypervelocity guns

    if this sort of system becomes truly effective then it may get to the point where there is a reducton in current armour loads and become more reliant on active defense like this, rather than passive, ( ie armour ). War has always been about logistics at some point and a tank which weighs in at less that 60t would be a boon.

    it may also shift the battlefield hierachies around a bit. A very light tank killer, with perhaps virtually no armour and an active defense system like this could become a truly evil little battlefield asset Only a genuine MBT tank would have a chance of taking it out if it can draw LOS and use a APDS round.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Since it's apparently detonating the charge far in advance of it hitting, it's probably a microwave beam of some sort targetted by the radar system. Of course, we won't find out for sure until many years from now when actual forcefields exist :p
  • TyvarTyvar Next best thing to a St. Bernard
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by shadow boxer [/i]
    [B]its basically a phalanx type system on a much smaller scale

    if it works well you could perhaps employ it to protect other assets, maybe even an active perimeter for airfields or other critical areas

    this could herald the beginnings of new weapon systems era

    if this system works well and is refined, it could get to the point where there has to be a shift in weapons technology to defeat it.

    if for instance this thing could take out a maverick or another form of modern missile, perhaps even the 'look down' hatch knocker type missiles, then something else is going to have to take its place.

    we may end up going back to good ole fashioned, big heavy penetrators and hypervelocity guns

    if this sort of system becomes truly effective then it may get to the point where there is a reducton in current armour loads and become more reliant on active defense like this, rather than passive, ( ie armour ). War has always been about logistics at some point and a tank which weighs in at less that 60t would be a boon.

    it may also shift the battlefield hierachies around a bit. A very light tank killer, with perhaps virtually no armour and an active defense system like this could become a truly evil little battlefield asset Only a genuine MBT tank would have a chance of taking it out if it can draw LOS and use a APDS round. [/B][/QUOTE]

    Its still gonna weigh in at 20 tons or so, you need enough armor to defeat blast/fragmentation effects, unless you can garuntee your gonna stop an artillery shell at good long distances. Plus your going to need to fend off small arms attacks. Problem is whats it going to use to hunt a genuin MBT? since they are going to use active defensive measures also. A heavy tank gun is gonna weigh a good amount, and now it needs to get into LOS and use an APDS round, meaning the other vehicle has a change to shoot too. If anything your now locked into paradigm that means you either have to kill via ambush/mines/IEDs or heavy penetrators. Thats going to encurage tanks to just get fatter. It was the original development of active defenses that started the progress into the OGRE marks wasnt it? can anybody rember the books?
  • JohnDJohnD Ranger
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Sanfam [/i]
    [B]Since it's apparently detonating the charge far in advance of it hitting, it's probably a microwave beam of some sort targetted by the radar system. Of course, we won't find out for sure until many years from now when actual forcefields exist :p [/B][/QUOTE]

    Nope. It's pretty much a shotgun. The thing shoots out a spread of metal pellets in the direction of the missile/RPG coming at the tank.
  • E.TE.T Quote-o-matic
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by JohnD [/i]
    [B]Nope. It's pretty much a shotgun. The thing shoots out a spread of metal pellets in the direction of the missile/RPG coming at the tank. [/B][/QUOTE]Russia has been designing such systems for some time... might have been that they couldn't develop strong enough armor materials so had to look these. (remember their heavy use of ERA)
    Actually they claim it would be enough to stop APDS but I wouldn't bet about that.
  • JohnDJohnD Ranger
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by E.T [/i]
    [B]Russia has been designing such systems for some time... might have been that they couldn't develop strong enough armor materials so had to look these. (remember their heavy use of ERA)
    Actually they claim it would be enough to stop APDS but I wouldn't bet about that. [/B][/QUOTE]

    I believe Russia also has a missile defense system they are mounting on the current batch of tanks that fires a laser at the attacking weapon's seeker head as an attempt to blind it.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by JohnD [/i]
    [B]Nope. It's pretty much a shotgun. The thing shoots out a spread of metal pellets in the direction of the missile/RPG coming at the tank. [/B][/QUOTE]

    Interesting, and quite simple. I likes it!
  • TyvarTyvar Next best thing to a St. Bernard
    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by E.T [/i]
    [B]Russia has been designing such systems for some time... might have been that they couldn't develop strong enough armor materials so had to look these. (remember their heavy use of ERA)
    Actually they claim it would be enough to stop APDS but I wouldn't bet about that. [/B][/QUOTE]


    with the mass and velocity of even a tungston cored APDS round, you are looking at a good bit of a challenge to stop that in flight.
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    Sounds a bit like MetalStorms system.
  • FreejackFreejack Jake the Not-so-Wise
    One thing I don't believe this system was intended to do was defeat projectile rounds. As someone pointed out, the projectile would be traveling much too fast and carrying too much velocity to be stopped by some metal fragments. It definitely looks to be intended for urban and asymetrical combat where shoulder fired rockets and missiles become a real annoyance.

    Jake
  • E.TE.T Quote-o-matic
    Actually there's other system for handling shaped charge warheads, so called "electric armour".
    It consists from two insulated/separated metal plates (other could be vehicles ordinary armour) which are connected to system consisting from capacitors. Shaped charge's jet of molten copper creates shortcut between armour plates causing electric arc which "burns" copper jet.
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