Russian Black Eagle Surpasses America's Abrams

[scandinavian]

I think it is obvious that a combination of stealth and intelligent weapons is the future. The tank represents the opposite.

I was just thinking, with the develpoment of smaller electronics and more advanced microcontrollers, that autotargeting might become much cheaer.

Think about heat/TV/radar seeking missiles for example. If you could take one of those RPG-7:s and put a chip and a small camera (they're becoming real small now) in it, you would have a cheap seeker available for mass markets.

I wont go into technicalities here, but the point is that small and intelligent weapon are becoming real cheap now.

For example, if I had a seeker (no launcher is needed), I could position it outside the white house and program it to fire when it sees the presidents car.
This is entirely possible even with todays electronics and software.

A small missile might even be programmed to navigate inside a city.

But what about those US carriers, would they survive an attack of a swarm of homemade missiles?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,202159,00.html

Those missiles were dumb, but it wouldn't be such a huge step, ie for a terrorist organisation with money, to integrate some flaps, a camera, microcontrollers and simple regulators.
I think it is possible to create a cheap and simple missile with very advanced targeting features.
The only thing that would differ it from a "real missile" is the quality of aerodynamics and the warhead.

Ingredients:
-Missile frame + stabilzers
-Flaps powered by electric engines
-Simple rocket engine

-Warhead + detonator

-Camera
-Programmable microcontroller

It might be possible to reprogram a modern cell phone to act as the brain of the missile, or just use any cheap commercial microcontroller. It must be connected to the camera, flaps and the detonator. With proper software the camera might be able to distinguish different shapes. (There are software available today that can distinguish different human faces.)

[limey_defence]

They don't want to be screwing around with all that. You want a RPG, fire it at the target and leave, no bother making, creating or when fired, aiming. Simple, fast, cheap and effective.

[scandinavian]

They don't want to be screwing around with all that. You want a RPG, fire it at the target and leave, no bother making, creating or when fired, aiming. Simple, fast, cheap and effective.

But they *are* screwing around with that.. didn't you see the link?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,202159,00.html

(Copy and paste the URL into your browser if the link donsn't show up properly.)

Seekers can hit distant and moving targets very easily and they are very stealthy when automated. They make for perfect ambushes or assaults.

It is possible to build a seeker in a workshop using only commercial materials. With proper intructions, available through the internet perhaps, it would merely be a question of assembling it..

If the Chezhens, Basques, Iranis, North Koreans or whoever realize this I can't say.

[limey_defence]

That is all about the Qassam-2 rocket, so? It's an artillery rocket with 5 mile range, I don't see your point. It's nothing as complicated as putting cameras and such in the missile, this missile is still cheap, easy and effective, like a RPG.
Terrorists (Which North Korea are not) don't want to be fussing around with cameras its too time consuming and costly, cheap by your standards expensive by theirs. That Qassam-2 is the kind of missile they want, set it up, fire it and leave, cheap and easy.

[Balamut]

You cant make an engine for this thing in the workshop.
It realy must be a state of art engine for such small thing as RPG round

[scandinavian]

Balamut, I wouldn't expect any amateur to build an engine, it is much easier to just buy one!

The only thing someone needs to do is build one using commercially available parts, test it, and make the assembly instructions available on the internet bundled with the right software to load into it.

[Balamut]

I mean that.. We are talking about guided(unguided seeker means infrared sensors, but that's against flying targets only)small as RPG round, missle which can TURN (cause it's a seeker). Correct? So it must have a complicated engine with several nozzels or turning wings + some electronics with cam; all this must be covered with casing to protect equipment from all sorts of damages = more weight, bigger size. = it turns out like we have here a modern TOW missle
Why to make if it can be bought