242: Arsenal Freedom

[(whitty name here)]

Well the trophy system just seems to be some sort of weapon that prematurely detonates missles via bullets, nothing special. bu I did find that something close to a heartbeat sensor does exist now.

Link to prove it too.
[link]http://www.designnews.com/article/11227-Hand_held_radar_device_detects_breathing_heartbeats.php[/link]

 

[tsb247]

Railguns have always fascinated me, and they are actually quite simple to build. However, they are INSANELY DANGEROUS to operate due to the high risk of lethal electric shock. The one I built is hardly worth mentioning since it only worked twice before the firing/charging switch melted. However, here are some of videos of some do-it-yourself railguns. Some are similar to the one I built, and some are far more sophisticated.

Spoiler: Railgun Videos

NOTE: I do NOT recomment anyone here attempts to build one of these without proper knowledge of electricity! They are VERY dangerous!

 

[tsb247]

Orbital Weapons have been forbidden.
Wouldn't suprise me if USA went ahead and made one anyway, those bastards.

China is doing the same. Hell, about a year ago they shot down one of their own satellites as a statement to the world. Since they can shoot them down, we might as well build one that can shoot back.

 

[Aphroditty]

Orbital Weapons have been forbidden.
Wouldn't suprise me if USA went ahead and made one anyway, those bastards.

<url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_weapons#Orbital_weaponry>Weapons of mass destruction have been forbidden. Not kinetic weapons and other conventional weapons. If that were the case, then the Star Wars system would have been illegal. So, it is legal. Morally reprehensible? Very possibly.

 

[thatguy96]

THey should have made the hilarity bomb, that would have been genius!

Both the United States and the British tested the potential of LSD in this capacity. The hallucinogen known as BZ was actually fielded, though it was never used.

<url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_weapons#Orbital_weaponry>Weapons of mass destruction have been forbidden. Not kinetic weapons and other conventional weapons. If that were the case, then the Star Wars system would have been illegal. So, it is legal. Morally reprehensible? Very possibly.

Star Wars was already of debatable legality under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972), as is the current slew of missile defense work. This is why the US government decided to unilaterally remove itself from the ABM, in order to remove any potential issue. It unfortunately also led the Russians to unilaterally remove themselves from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces and Conventional Forces in Europe treaties.

Furthermore, the wiki entry of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty is misleading. Firstly, the treaty never actually defined "weapons of mass destruction" (which is serious legal significance), and banned the testing of any type of weapon in space. The construction of space-based military bases, installations or fortifications was also banned, as were military maneuvers in space.

 

[D-Ship]

Wow - has anybody here read Anathema? First off, GREAT book. Second, Rods of God found a place in those pages, undoubtedly inspired by the real thing.

Had a lot of fun with this article, though I'll wait for my portal and gravity guns.

 

[Aphroditty]

Furthermore, the wiki entry of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty is misleading. Firstly, the treaty never actually defined "weapons of mass destruction" (which is serious legal significance...

What you're saying then is that yeah, there is plenty of reason to believe a Rod from God is perfectly legal, and no it's not misleading at all. As per the treaty:

Article IV, para. 1 of the Outer Space Treaty:
"States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the Earth any
objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction,
install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in
any other manner." [emphasis added]

So, if it's not a WMD, then it's plenty legal. A Rod from God certainly doesn't strike me as a WMD.

...and banned the testing of any type of weapon in space. The construction of space-based military bases, installations or fortifications was also banned, as were military maneuvers in space.

And in this case you are simply wrong.

Article IV, para. 2:
"The establishment of military bases, installations
and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of
military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden." [emphasis added]

Celestial bodies are rather different from orbital and space-based weapons. You can have no military materiel on celestial bodies, and you can place no WMDs anywhere in space or orbit, but there is plenty of latitude.

So, your original assertion that weaponry and maneuvers in space are illegal is false.

http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf

Also:

Star Wars was already of debatable legality under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972), as is the current slew of missile defense work. This is why the US government decided to unilaterally remove itself from the ABM, in order to remove any potential issue.

It was indeed of debatable legality, and yes we did withdraw from the ABM -- in 2002, decades after Star Wars had died.

 

[thatguy96]

What you're saying then is that yeah, there is plenty of reason to believe a Rod from God is perfectly legal, and no it's not misleading at all. As per the treaty:

Article IV, para. 1 of the Outer Space Treaty:
"States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the Earth any
objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction,
install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in
any other manner." [emphasis added]

So, if it's not a WMD, then it's plenty legal. A Rod from God certainly doesn't strike me as a WMD.

Most treaties take specific time to define what various terms mean. The term "weapons of mass destruction" in the 1967 treaty is not defined at all, only that it includes nuclear weapons. Common meanings of a term are of little legal significance and one could easily argue that something like the "Rod from God" fits the spirit of the term as intended by those who wrote up the treaty. This is exactly how lawyers argue the finer points of other important documents, such as the US constitution.

And in this case you are simply wrong.

Yes, I misread the copy of the document I have.

It was indeed of debatable legality, and yes we did withdraw from the ABM -- in 2002, decades after Star Wars had died.

Yes, but that was not my point. Had SDI gone into action, it would have been of debatable legality regardless of the terms of the '67 space treaty.

 

[Epitome]

The Rods from God sounds liek a remarkably stuipd Idea to me? Can you imagine the reload time on that thing, how many can it carry and load before it runs out and they have to send a shuttle to fill it back up, impressive as a 7000mph stake is for killing giant vampires I imagine it would take alot to cause significant damage to say a countries infrastructure.

 

[tsb247]

Orbital Weapons have been forbidden.
Wouldn't suprise me if USA went ahead and made one anyway, those bastards.

China is doing the same. Hell, about a year ago they shot down one of their own satellites as a statement to the world. Since they can shoot them down, we might as well build one that can shoot back.

And that would solve things how?

No, China is not doing the same. They used a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile.

I would also like to make the distinction between developing such a weapon and actually implimenting it. I'm sure that all of the world superpowers have the know-how and have probably had a space weapons program at some point in time.

Sure, the U.S. probably could successfully impliment a "Rod from God" weapons system, but would we? That's a different question altogether. We are still bound by the same treaty that everyone else is. However, someone else already pointed out that the treaty refers specifically to, "Weapons of mass destruction," and it is unlikely that a long metal rod would be seen as such since it carries no explosive payload at all.

 

[Bob_Marley42]

Orbital Weapons have been forbidden.
Wouldn't suprise me if USA went ahead and made one anyway, those bastards.

China is doing the same. Hell, about a year ago they shot down one of their own satellites as a statement to the world. Since they can shoot them down, we might as well build one that can shoot back.

And that would solve things how?

By the good old means of having a bigger stick than the other guy. It means that the other guy has to build an equally big stick or something capable of countering said stick, granting an advantage, however temporary, to the owner of the new, large stick.

Thats how arms races work.

Anyway, cool list. But trophy in addition to only being a CIWS mounted on a tank, isn't even anywhere near the first of its kind. The Ruskies have had a similar system on thier Marines' tanks since the early 1980s

 

[Brad Shepard]

God i hope we dont see metal gears... god i hope not...

 

[MiodekPL]

I have a friend who built a railgun (in age of... 15? 14?). It was composed of a laptop, gun (four coils IIRC) and... light bulbs (for discharging). It had quite a punch when he used nails.

 

[Quad08]

"If we don't end war, war will end us"

Can't help thinking that as I see weapons get more powerful, and more deadly

 

[mGoLos]

Yes, more weapons - That's what we need.

And babies, lots of babies.

 

[Chasmodius]

Also, check out number nine on this list [http://www.cracked.com/article_18410_the-12-most-insane-things-you-can-buy-internet.html].

I clicked your 'list' link, but I got a 404...

Fixed! One silly little equals sign missing.

 

[tkioz]

We could have this tech within the year if we really wanted it, same with interplanetary travel, it's possible with current tech, it's just really really really really freaking expensive, the R&D budgets are what limit the growth of these weapon systems, and when you consider some of them have budgets in the billions (that's billion with a B) of dollars that's saying something.

Anyway look at the Stealth Bomber, that took over a decade to make, and it was so secret we only found out about it years after it went operational, that was 30 years ago! I'd love to see what the nice little marvels have been cranking out since.