September 27, 2013
Precision guided firearms (PGFs) are long-range rifle systems designed to improve the accuracy of shooting at targets at extended ranges through target tracking, heads-up display, and advanced fire control.
Inspired by missile lock-on and fighter jet technology, the application of PGF technology to small arms mitigates multiple sources of marksman error including mis-aim, trigger jerk and shot setup miscalculation. PGFs can significantly increase first shot success probability (FSSP) out to extreme ranges of 1,200 yards or more. PGFs are fully integrated systems consisting of a standard caliber bolt action or semi-automatic rifles combined with a networked tracking scope and a guided trigger.
Posted in Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
December 15, 2012
Assault weapon is a political term, often used by gun control advocates, typically referring to firearms ‘designed for rapidly firing at human targets from close range,’ sometimes described as military-style features useful in combat. The term was most notably used in the language of the now-expired Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994, more commonly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2004.
The federal assault weapons ban specifically prohibited 19 guns considered to be assault weapons. These were all semi-automatic firearms, meaning that they can eject spent shell casings and chamber the next round without additional human action, but (as opposed to automatic firearms) only one round is fired per pull of the trigger.
read more »
Posted in Death, Politics, War |
1 Comment »
September 14, 2012
A Millwall brick is an improvised weapon made of a manipulated newspaper. It was named for supporters of Millwall F.C., who had a stereotyped reputation for football hooliganism.
The Millwall brick was allegedly used as a stealth weapon at football matches in England during the 1960s and 1970s.
read more »
Posted in Games, Politics, World |
Leave a Comment »
June 27, 2012
The M1911 is a .45 caliber pistol originally made by Colt, and is now the most copied pistol design in the world. It was made in the early 1900s and was used in World War I, World War II, The Korean War, and in the Vietnam War. It is semi-automatic and can fire a bullet each time the trigger is pulled. It can hold seven rounds inside its magazine and one more in the chamber. It was standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985 when it was replaced by the 9mm Beretta M9 (though the M1911 is still carried by some U.S. forces).
The M1911 is a common pistol design for police special teams because it is reliable in function, easy to modify by a gunsmith, and effective. The ‘1911’ in the name is because the pistol was adopted by the United States Army in the year 1911. M1911A1 pistols have an ‘A1’ added because they were changed from the original design in the 1920s in military service.
read more »
Posted in Money, Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2012
The Glock is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced in Austria. The company’s founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or manufacture at the time their first pistol, the Glock 17, was being prototyped in 1982.
Glock did, however, have extensive experience in advanced synthetic polymers, knowledge of which was instrumental in the company’s design of the first successful line of pistols with a polymer frame. Glock introduced ferritic nitrocarburizing, a form of case hardening, into the firearms industry as an anti-corrosion surface treatment for metal gun parts.
read more »
Posted in Money, Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
January 15, 2012
Sonic and ultrasonic weapons (USW) are weapons of various types that use sound to injure, incapacitate, or kill an opponent. Some sonic weapons are currently in limited use or in research and development by military and police forces. Others exist only in the realm of science fiction.
Some of these weapons have been described as sonic bullets, sonic grenades, sonic mines, or sonic cannons. Some make a focused beam of sound or ultrasound; some make an area field of sound. Although many real sonic and ultrasonic weapons are described as ‘non-lethal,’ they can still kill under certain conditions.
read more »
Posted in Technology, War |
1 Comment »
June 1, 2011
Vajra [vuhj-ruh] is a Sanskrit word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond. It is a short metal weapon – originally a kind of fist-iron like Japanese yawara – that has the symbolic nature of a diamond (it can cut any substance but not be cut itself) and that of the thunderbolt (irresistible force). The vajra is believed to represent firmness of spirit and spiritual power. It is a ritual tool or spiritual implement which is symbolically used by Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, all of which are traditions of Dharma. In Buddhism the vajra is the symbol of Vajrayana, one of the three major branches of Buddhism. Vajrayana is translated as ‘Thunderbolt Way’ or ‘Diamond Way’ and can imply the thunderbolt experience of Buddhist enlightenment or bodhi. It also implies indestructibility, just as diamonds are harder than other gemstones.
The vajra is made up of several parts. In the center is a sphere which represents Sunyata, the primordial nature of the universe, the underlying unity of all things. Emerging from the sphere are two eight petaled lotus flowers. One represents the phenomenal world (or in Buddhist terms Samsara), the other represents the noumenal world (or Nirvana). This is one of the fundamental dichotomies which are perceived by the unenlightened. Arranged equally around the mouth of the lotus are two, four, or eight mythical creatures which are called makaras. These are mythological half-fish, half-crocodile creatures made up of two or more animals, often representing the union of opposites, (or a harmonisation of qualities that transcend our usual experience). From the mouths of the makaras come tongues which come together in a point.
Posted in Philosophy, War |
Leave a Comment »
March 28, 2011
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are operated close to the fortifications, while others attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and tended to use mechanical advantage to fling stones and similar missiles. With the development of gunpowder and improved metallurgical techniques, siege engines became artillery. Collectively, siege engines or artillery combined with the necessary troops and transport vehicles to conduct a siege are referred to as a ‘siege-train.’
The earliest engine was the battering ram, developed by the Assyrians, followed by the catapult in ancient Greece. The Spartans used battering rams in the Siege of Plataea in 429 BCE, but it seems that the Greeks limited their use of siege engines to assault ladders, though Peloponnesian forces used something resembling flamethrowers. The Carthaginians used siege towers and battering rams against the Greek colonies of Sicily.
read more »
Posted in Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
March 28, 2011
The Churchill Crocodile was a British flame-throwing tank of late Second World War. It was introduced as one of the specialized armored vehicles developed under Major-General Percy Hobart and known as one of ‘Hobart’s Funnies.’ It was produced from October 1943, in time for the Normandy invasion.
400 imperial gallons of fuel and the compressed nitrogen propellant, enough for eighty one-second bursts, were stored in a 6½ ton detachable armored trailer towed by the Crocodile. The trailer, connected to the tank by a three way armored coupling, could be jettisoned from within the tank if necessary. The thrower had a range of up to 120 yards.
read more »
Posted in Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
March 28, 2011
Hobart’s Funnies were a number of unusually modified tanks operated during World War II by the United Kingdom’s 79th Armored Division or by specialists from the Royal Engineers. They were designed in light of problems that more standard tanks experienced during the Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France in 1942.
These tanks played a major part on the Commonwealth beaches during the landings at Normandy. They may be considered the forerunners of the modern Combat engineering vehicle. They were named after their commander, British Military engineer Percy Hobart.
read more »
Posted in Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
March 23, 2011
A proximity fuze is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane. A shell with a standard ‘contact fuze’ explodes upon impact, and a ‘time fuze’ after a specified number of seconds. A ‘proximity fuze,’ however uses a radio detection system, and explodes when within a certain distance from a target.
One of the first practical proximity fuzes was codenamed the ‘VT fuze,’ an acronym of ‘Variable Time fuze,’ as deliberate camouflage for its operating principle. The VT fuze concept in the context of artillery shells originated in the UK with British researchers (particularly Sir Samuel Curran) and was developed under the direction of physicist Merle A. Tuve at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. It is considered one of the most important technological innovations of World War II.
Posted in Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
January 17, 2011
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today for recreational sport diving. The name is most commonly used to refer to the weapons that Italy, and later Britain, deployed in the Mediterranean and used to attack ships in enemy harbors.
The first human torpedo (the Italian Maiale) was electrically propelled, with two crewmen in diving suits riding astride. They steered the torpedo at slow speed to the enemy ship. The detachable warhead was then used as a limpet mine. They then rode the torpedo away. In operation, the Maiale torpedo was carried by another vessel (usually a normal submarine), and launched near the target. Most manned torpedo operations were at night and during the new moon to cut down the risk of being seen.
Posted in Technology, War |
Leave a Comment »
The Daily Omnivore 