Senate The Weekly Discussion of Military Technology

@Darth_Accipiter I never did myself, but a friend of mine went to Antarctica and walked around the south pole.

 

Stratolaunch TA-1 Hypersonic Test Vehicle Completes First Powered Flight - FLYING Magazine

 

could ICBMs be obsolete? Exo-atmospheric interceptions in terminal phase are now real-time combat tested.

 

I've never seen anyone say that missile defense makes ICBMs obsolete. It's far more difficult to shoot down a ballistic rocket than it is to just lob one at your enemy, so therefore missile interceptors are more expensive by many orders of magnitude. We'll never have enough interceptors to shoot down all incoming rockets. And secondly, everything I've heard about missile defense tests suggests that the success rate isn't that great...and the tests also were done in ideal conditions, so when it comes to a real scenario it'll probably be worse. Yeah, Israel shot down one Iranian missile, but we'd have to wait and see what the actual success rate is. And thirdly...you enemy can equip their missiles with decoys and that will lower the effectiveness of your defense as well. At the end of the day, the only viable deterrence strategy is still just MAD.

 

DARPA Achieves Major Breakthrough with AI-Controlled Aircraft - FLYING Magazine

They're getting closer to AI that can dogfight IRL.

 

Beating the Ossification Trap: Why Reform, Not Spending, Will Salvage American Power

 

The muzzle flash and tracers look cool, but I really want to see what happens to the targets.

 

Was reading some forum posts some time ago about why miniguns aren't used in ground applications, and basically it's because you can't get a dependable source of power, and they eat up ammo like crazy. Also, that big turret contraption is an easy target for enemy fire.

On another note:


If you're too lazy to watch the whole thing, just skip to 14:00 where basically he says fly-by-wire made swing wings obsolete.

 

I found one short

Now that's how you kill a spider.

 

Bernie Sanders: Defense Contractors Are Bilking the American People

 

Merlin to Automate U.S. Special Operations Command C-130s - FLYING Magazine

They want to make a C-130 fly from take off to landing with no human intervention. Let's see how the pilots feel when they're sidelined like the flight engineers and navigaors.

 

“Whoever invented tunnel warfare was really smart!”

 

Well...just hope your enemy doesn't use chemical weapons.