Recoil free "automatic shotgun" fires 300 rounds per minute.
posted by jonson on Nov 19, 2007 - 121 comments

If you ever wanted to have an actual working M41-A Pulse Rifle (the preferred weapon of the Colonial Marines in the 1986 Documentary Aliens), then today is your lucky day. Many more sci-fi prop replica guides can be found here.
posted by jonson on Jun 3, 2007 - 33 comments

It sounds a lot like science fiction. It moves at the speed of light and it can penetrate walls. The U.S. military has firepower that uses electromagnetic energy to blind, stun or kill targets. Defense contractors are eager, but the weapons are not yet being deployed.
posted by dsquid on Jul 12, 2005 - 38 comments

You got your Outkast in my Sun Tzu Weaponry, military, and war footage set to music. Although the author believes Enya did the song Adiemus, the target practice video is kind of interesting. I couldn't find any videos set to Peace Train, however.
posted by joaquim on Dec 1, 2004 - 13 comments

Gamma-ray weapons could trigger next arms race "The hafnium explosive could be extremely powerful. One gram of fully charged hafnium isomer could store more energy than 50 kilograms of TNT. Miniature missiles could be made with warheads that are far more powerful than existing conventional weapons, giving massively enhanced firepower to the armed forces using them." Half of me thinks: "WOW! Cool!" The other 1% thinks: "We've really had it now"
posted by hmgovt on Aug 14, 2003 - 25 comments

US fighter shot down by Patriot missile The Patriot Missiles that are supposed to be the protector of American forces are living up to their reputation. So far, one just shot down an F-18, and previously took out a RAF Tornado, killing two people. Another one locked onto an F-16, but the quick-thinking pilot blew up the Patriot missile battery's radar dish with a HARM missile. These missiles didn't work in the last gulf war, and are continuing to follow that trend. The locking onto allied planes seems to indicate a bug in the IFF routines of the Patriots. Not very patriotic of it.
posted by Xoc on Apr 3, 2003 - 20 comments

The F-22 Raptor is the next generation fighter for the United States. At nearly 97 million each, it will be deployed in 2004.This site gives a remarkably detailed report regarding its design and function. Including such gems as "first-look, first-shot, first-kill capability" and " Humans are good differentiators, but they are poor integrators."
posted by JohnR on Dec 19, 2002 - 53 comments

"In the most recent issue of the Arms Sales Monitor, the Arms Sales Monitoring Project finds that the War on Terror has provided the U.S. military with an excuse to begin arming regimes that had previously been blacklisted for human rights abuses, weapons proliferation, or brutal conflict" - Federation of American Scientists. The content of this document gives rise to a range of issues. Can arming new friends with advanced weaponry strengthen the long-term security of the U.S, or will this ultimately ensure renewed hostility arising from an apparent readiness to take sides in foreign conflicts?? One year on from 9/11/01, has the moral high-ground implied by the 'War Against Terrorism' been fatally eroded by turning a blind eye to the questionable ethics of 'friendly' states (the records of the Saudis, and arguably, the Israelis and others, may also be a case in point)?
posted by Doozer on Sep 11, 2002 - 6 comments

The G-Rated War: Blowing Smoke, Pipe Dream, or The Real Hashish?
I want to spin antiwar arguments a slightly different way. Previous threads have been quite dim. This Cnn chat transcript focuses on the use of non-lethal weapons, the need to separate innocents from terrorists and separate terrorist networks from Islamic states, and the interviewee is as much as suit as they come. You could cut a diamond on that crew cut. I have several questions: 1) Is the US military actually going to use non-lethal weapons, or is this the new "smart bomb?" 2) Do the 'pacificists' among us consider this to be pacificist? 3) If you do favor peace over war, do you think this is a good compromise between peace and war, or is the issue by definition binary? More > >
posted by rschram on Oct 3, 2001 - 11 comments