If anyone is curious, the RPG the guy is carrying (which is actually a chinese-made Type 69 grenade launcher) has a HE-airburst warhead for anti-personnel duties.

On impact, the warhead will detonate a small explosive charge to 'bounce' itself to a height of 2 meters where it then detonate the main charge and scatters 800 steel ball bearings along with it.

1)Simple system. The warhead hits something, the bouncing charge goes off,sending the warhead back into the opposite direction, I guess? If it hits the ground, then it goes the opposite direction (up), If it hits a wall, it bounces backwards. The point is, the warhead will always be airborne when it detonates, not on impact.

2)Both yes and no actually. Bizarrely, RPG warheads have stabilizer fins that are beveled at one side, causing them to spin the warhead to one direction in flight. At the same time, the warheads rocket jet exhausts are slightly canted to the opposite side, so effectively those two cancel each other's spinning. So the warhead has a very, very slow spin; only around 100 revolutions per minute. Enough to create stability, but not enough to interfere too much with the HEAT plasma jet penetrator.

3)What is the problem with this? As long as you take cover right after you shoot, you should be ok from the steel balls.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Jan 20 2016, 11:04 AM

HE-only warhead have a relatively small killing zone (TPG-7V thermobaric warhead has an lethal radius of around 10 meters square), fragments or steel balls have a much longer reach (can reach more than 50 meters).

HE and thermobaric warhead best used for attacking personnel in small or enclosed spaces. In attacking personnel in the open field, HE-frag is king.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Jan 20 2016, 12:00 PM

That type of warhead will detonate mid-air, hence airburst. Meanwhile, normal RPG-7 HE-Frag warhead detonates on impact.


OGV-7 HE-Frag warhead

I personally never saw any RPG-7 in ATM service (real or photos) ever used with anything than the basic HEAT warhead. But that's just me. Also, our RPG-7s are ones made in Pakistan.

I also wonder if you could use chinese-made RPG rounds with Russian launchers?

Of course. US general demam also must be bcoz of Iran's flu virus dispersal units.

Sandbags can reduce the effect of HEAT warheads. It has been used before.



But just please put more than ONE measly sandbag layer between the warhead and your vehicle ok, those ones doesn't even seem to be solidly packed.

I heard somewhere that USAF UAVs have a programming that will kick in anytime sat signal is lost and autopilot the UAV home?

By the way Yinchet explained it, I have the impression a UAV will crash anytime satellite signal is lost. Surely UAV designers have anticipated signal loss to be a potential problem? That's why I said I heard something regarding a UAV autopiloting home in case this happens.

Is this really relevant nowadays? There are IFF systems for everyone, also the kind of ranges modern fighter planes engage each other, I doubt they could identify each other by either type or color.

That's my point. Probably nowadays, in a war setting, you see a blip on your radar screen that doesn't have an IFF or civilian signature, 99.9% it's your enemy. Do different camo colors between air force planes help in this matter? Radar sees threats for far longer and probably better than you are.

Probably helps during visual IFF, but unless its peacetime, I don't see pilots actually bothering to do anything visual.

Strategic Weapons Review: MGM-31 Pershing SRBM


A Pershing 1a SRBM on its launch trailer unit

The MGM-31 Pershing was the missile used in the Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a field artillery missile systems. The missile was a solid-fueled two-stage ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon of the United States Army and the German Air Force in the Cold War era.

Development began in 1958, with the first test missile fired in 1960, the Pershing 1 system deployed in 1963 and the improved Pershing 1a deployed in 1969. This upgraded many of the earlier missile version's deficiencies, with better electronics and support vehicles, while extending the range of the original missile from 750km to 1,000km, getting Russian soil itself within range of Pershings deployed in West Germany.

The missiles themselves were powered by two rocket stages and each stage was fueled by Thiokol solid propellants. This gave the missile a range of around 1,000 kilometers. Each rocket stage burns for 35 seconds before they were detached from their succeeding units. During launch and descent, the missile was guided by an inertial navigation system, but during its terminal phase, the missile warhead was guided by a terrain-matching radar system which gave the Pershing an exceptional circular error probability of less than 400 meters from its target.

The Pershing missile was initially armed with a 60kt W57 Nuclear warhead, but advances in warhead miniaturization in its later years gave the Pershing the ability to be armed with a 200kt Nuclear warhead. No other warhead types were ever produced for the Pershings. Due to the sensitive nature of the Nuclear warheads, the warheads were only fitted to the missile directly before its launch.

The US military retired their Pershings in 1986 to be replaced with the more advanced Pershing II while the German military retained their Pershings 1a until 1991, when all Pershings were scrapped due to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty agreements between the US and the Soviet Union.

Strategic Weapons Review: AMX Pluton SRBM



The Pluton missile was a French nuclear-armed short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) system. It was designed to provide the tactical part of French nuclear deterrence during the Cold War. It came into service in 1974.

The Pluton came in as a replacement of the nuclear-armed Honest John unguided missiles that has been deployed to France since the 1950s. The Pluton system is supposed to be used in the immediate battlefield area or just behind the front lines. Hence, it had a relatively very short operating range, between 17 and 120 km (11 and 75 mi), with a circular error probability (CEP) of 150 m. It is armed with either a small 15kt nuclear warhead or 800 kg of high explosives. The system can prepare itself from first alert to launch in just 20 minutes. The system uses a solid-fueled single stage rocket and can also be launched in a conventional manner, with a flat trajectory instead of a ballistic trajectory.

The system itself was relatively light-weight and simple with a small number of support vehicles, which allowed its deployment in difficult conditions near the front lines . Each missile squad consists of a command vehicle, a logistics vehicle, two launchers and four reload trucks with a missile container each.

The missile is launched from a modified AMX-30 MBT chassis with the missile's own transport container acting as its launch platform. A well-trained crew can reload the missile in less than 30 minutes. A CT-20 drone was available to provide last-minute information about the target before launch, making the Pluton system battle-capable. The Pluton system was scrapped in 1996.

Kurdish fighters selling German-supplied weapons on the black market, federal authorities fear they may fall into IS hands


A shop selling firearms in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

Assault rifles and pistols from Bundeswehr stocks are now being freely sold on black arms markets in northern Iraq. These are the results of research conducted by NDR and WDR news agency in the Kurdish autonomous region. German opposition politicians have long warned the German government that the weapons could fall into the wrong hands. They were originally for the fight against the terrorist militia "Islamic State (IS)".

In the cities of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah the reporter had found several H&K G3 assault rifles and type P1 handguns with the engraved initials 'BW' for Bundeswehr. The weapons apparently came from military stocks, which have come to the Kurdish autonomous government in northern Iraq, under the assistance program of the German government.

According to the reporter's research Peshmerga fighters often sold their service weapons, because they had received no pay for months because of the difficult economic situation in the country. The G3 assault rifles, built in 1986 would catch a market price of around 1450-1800 US dollars in Erbil's gun bazaar.

In Berlin, the reporter had met with a former Peshmerga fighter, who have fought until recently in the front line against the IS and now live with his family as an asylum seeker in Germany. He had reported that he had sold his gun to finance the escape to Germany. He recounted many other fighters also did the same in order to earn money. He also claimed that he had not been paid for nearly 6 months before he decided to leave Iraq.

Officials in the Kurdish autonomous government was aware of the problem of deserting Peshmerga fighters. The governor of the province of Kirkuk, Nadjmeddin Karim, told NDR and WDR, he does not condemn defected soldiers. The Kurdish government is experiencing lack of funds to efficiently pay and maintain civil servants, including the Peshmerga, regularly. The downturn in world economy and the massive drop in oil prices, itself a major part of Kurdish income revenue, has forced the Kurdish regional government to severely cut expenses.

In 2014 the federal government had begun to equip the Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq with weapons, in order to assist them in the fight against IS. Additionally, German soldiers have been deployed in northern Iraq to train the Peshmerga.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Jan 28 2016, 03:18 PM

"new weapons"

Oregon wildlife preserve occupation fizzles out: Militant movement leaders arrested, one dead in confrontation with police


Police mugshots of Oregon militia leaders arrested by police on Wednesday

One militant is dead and seven are in custody after state and federal officials moved to arrest the leaders of the anti-government group behind the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Ammon Bundy and his followers seized the Harney County wildlife refuge on Jan. 2, insisting they wouldn't leave until two local ranchers were released from federal prison and other demands were met.

Protest leader Ammon Bundy was arrested Tuesday night during a traffic stop. Another protester was shot and killed during the same stop. The protester was identified as Lavoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher.

Bundy has asked, through his attorney, that the remaining occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon go home.

Protest leaders were on their way to a community meeting set up by local residents when authorities attempted to pull them over, according to a law enforcement official who described the dramatic showdown.

One vehicle stopped, but the other, driven by Finicum, took off at high speed, the source said. With police in hot pursuit, Finicum tried to leave the main road and drove into a snowbank.

He emerged from the vehicle and was ordered to surrender, said the source. That's when, according to the source, Finicum reached toward his waistband, where he had a gun.

Officers opened fire and Finicum was killed. Bundy's brother, Ryan Bundy, suffered a light wound on his arm.

With their leader arrested and a fellow protester killed, an unknown number of demonstrators have indicated they'll continue their weekslong armed occupation. A number of protesters has already left the wildlife refuge.

The FBI tried to assert more control Wednesday, setting up checkpoints on roads heading to and from Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

By 'shifting balance of power' you mean TNI potentially unseating SAF from the top dog position in ASEAN?

but of course obviously only SAF is allowed to have Apaches.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Jan 29 2016, 09:40 AM

Armored vehicles roll into site of Oregon militia standoff



A convoy of armored vehicles rolled Thursday into a wildlife refuge in Oregon where a handful of armed protesters are holed up in a drawn-out standoff with the federal government that turned deadly this week.

According to an AFP photographer at the scene, armored vehicles were seen entering the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, appearing to point at an imminent intervention by law enforcement to drive out the last protesters.

Local newspaper The Oregonian said four people remain inside the reserve, down from an estimated 30 people who were there last week.

Protest leader Ammon Bundy repeated a call for the last holdouts to call off their movement and leave peacefully.

"Turn yourselves in and do not use physical force," the 40-year-old said in a statement released by his lawyers. Bundy and several militia leaders were arrested by police on Tuesday night at a police stop when they were heading to a meeting with local residents.

Bundy urged his supporters to "continue to defend liberty through our constitutional rights," including through the use of media and social media.

"We only had guns for our protection and never once pointed them at another individual or had any desire to do so," he added. "The people have a right to bear arms for their own protection. We never wanted bloodshed."

Balance of power depends on not any side attaining any type of superiority/dominance over another. That's why the term has the word 'balance' in the word.

If you're not allowing another side to arm themselves on the same level as you are, you're not following the balance of power. You're preserving your dominance over them.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Jan 29 2016, 10:52 AM