10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

[Old Man]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

nah when you do Riot Duty you tend to do it' date=' Without (officially) Guns, that way the rabble that is in deserving of a good beating, can't take your weapon and use it on you. Also, it's pretty easy to shove people around with those shields, and facing down a good Shield wall (The Chinese have the best Riot Squads by far right now I'd say), takes a Lot of nerve. It's very intimidating to be on the wrong end of the Shields and Sticks.[/quote']

 

Absolutely. Though the answer to shields and sticks is in any medieval history text.

[Old Man]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

It launches kitchen appliances?

 

That would totally rock.

[Sundog]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Absolutely. Though the answer to shields and sticks is in any medieval history text.

 

Medieval? Just take a leaf out of the 19th century - a pocketful of ball bearings will bring a shield to charge to a flailing end remarkably quickly.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Yeah but a Riot Control advance, isn't your typical "CHARGE!!!!". It's meant as crowd control, the movement and presentation is different, slow, steady, and confined. The Ball Bearings though would do wonders if fired out of a Pipe as a Mortar though heh....

 

~Rex

[BobGreenwade]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

I like the Politically Correct descriptions of the weapons-

The Active Denial System fires a beam of millimeter-wave radiation

When they actually mean "it fires microwaves".

Incorrect. It fires milliwaves. Microwaves would do actual damage. Milliwaves only affect the outer two or three layers of cells and make the target feel very uncomfortable.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

It works REALLY well to. There's a very instinctive reaction to that kind of uncomfortable.

 

~Rex

[Kristopher]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Until you run into a really bad dude who doesn't care if his skin feels like fire.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

yeah there are always the Crazies out there. But then, that's what MetalStorm is for.

 

~Rex

[Nyrath]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

I like the Politically Correct descriptions of the weapons-

 

 

When they actually mean "it fires microwaves".

 

Well, notice how the other weapon had its name changed from Pulsed Impulsive Kill Laser to Pulsed Energy Projectile

[Tom Carman]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Incorrect. It fires milliwaves. Microwaves would do actual damage. Milliwaves only affect the outer two or three layers of cells and make the target feel very uncomfortable.

 

It fires Restaurants from the End of the Universe?!

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Still hard to beat Metal Storm for potential Crowd control. I still feel, Slug Throwers will never die in Sci Fi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DRmuljq9yw&feature=related

 

~Rex

[BobGreenwade]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Still hard to beat Metal Storm for potential Crowd control.

It's excellent for warfare, but far too deadly for crowd control. OTOH, maybe for crowd control they could change it to Rubber Storm.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Or show big giant movies of Metal Storm in Action vs sides of Beef, and then make it clear, Beef is tougher then people. Rubber Storm though, would be kinda funner though at that velocity and rate of fire, Nerf Storm.

 

~Rex

[Old Man]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

There comes a point where it stops being dangerous and starts being... fun.

[Curufea]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Incorrect. It fires milliwaves. Microwaves would do actual damage. Milliwaves only affect the outer two or three layers of cells and make the target feel very uncomfortable.

 

Except that there is no such thing as "milliwaves" and the microwave band includes milimetre long frequencies. But thank you for your crommulant correction.

[wcw43921]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Until you run into a really bad dude who doesn't care if his skin feels like fire.

 

There's one way to see just how tough you'd have to be to resist the ADS--bet on it. Whoever wants to try it kicks in twenty bucks or so, and they all stand in a group in front of the projector. Last man to turn away gets the pot.

 

Who wants in?

[Kristopher]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

If "milliwaves" are microwaves, then I can see the company that's developing the ADS trying to create a distinction so that their weapon isn't "microwaving people".

[megaplayboy]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Seems like somebody could figure out the wavelengths the ADS uses, figure out a material that bounces or heavily mitigates that wavelength, and then attach it to some kind of outfit or uniform. Maybe even something a protester could carry in a backpack and throw on when they see the ADS truck sitting there.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Aye. The Civilian Hippy Outcry of "YOU CAN'T MICROWAVE PEOPLE LIKE A MARSHMALLOW PEEP!!!!!!!!" would crash that system real quick and we lose something very useful. As for the tough enough to withstand it, there's been a few Discovery type channel shows that showed off aspects of tough enough (Like, Human Guinea Pig), though I can see a good combination reality game show for this. "Stand there Contestants! Last one Standing gets to Pick a Briefcase!"

 

~Rex

[megaplayboy]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

If I had to guess about the future of slug-throwers, it'd be that the next big leap forward would be guided projectiles. Dunno whether that would involve tiny flight surfaces on the rounds, or whether you'd have tiny little rocket motors, too, to help steer the projectile towards its target. I also think proximity defense systems like the ones being developed for vehicles are probably going to be further developed to counter heavy projectiles like tank gun rounds. But I doubt it'd ever be cost effective to do that for individual infantry facing small arms fire.

[Kristopher]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

If I had to guess about the future of slug-throwers' date=' it'd be that the next big leap forward would be guided projectiles. Dunno whether that would involve tiny flight surfaces on the rounds, or whether you'd have tiny little rocket motors, too, to help steer the projectile towards its target. I also think proximity defense systems like the ones being developed for vehicles are probably going to be further developed to counter heavy projectiles like tank gun rounds. But I doubt it'd ever be cost effective to do that for individual infantry facing small arms fire.[/quote']

 

While there's a guided round for the .50BMG in development, it's laser-guided, and for single-shot special-use precision fire. It's going to be a long, long time before the guided bullet or the homing bullet for general use becomes a reality.

 

While point defense systems against anti-tank missiles could happen in the foreseeable future, and perhaps even a system for use against HEAT cannon rounds, a PDS that's quick and accurate enough to stop kinetic-kill rounds is, again, a long, long way off.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

The Future of Slug Throwers.......I will put some thought into that because various things I've seen, in Military Sci Fi lately, and the points made with them make a lot of sense. There's a lot of Simple things that can be done even today, that make the slug throwers viable for a LONG time. That's before factoring in that it's really hard to beat, the cost effectiveness, of making something break, or die, by hitting it with something else.

 

~Rex

[megaplayboy]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

The Future of Slug Throwers.......I will put some thought into that because various things I've seen, in Military Sci Fi lately, and the points made with them make a lot of sense. There's a lot of Simple things that can be done even today, that make the slug throwers viable for a LONG time. That's before factoring in that it's really hard to beat, the cost effectiveness, of making something break, or die, by hitting it with something else.

 

~Rex

 

Well, I know you can make the firing platform more stable, and the firing mechanism(ala the Metal Storm handgun) efficient enough that one slug simply follows another through the same hole. And you can continue to find ways to mitigate recoil effects, maybe to the point that special charge loads other than gunpowder could be used in cartridges(150% to 300% as powerful = 150-300% of the muzzle energy) without blowing up the gun or breaking the shooter's hand and/or shoulder. New bullet and gun materials (like perhaps nanofiber construction) is another thing to explore.

[RexMundi]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Oh it's an insanely huge list. The Bullet design for the .50 BMG round for example in the novel "Von Neumans War" , is actually quite doable. Just picture a 50 cal now, with 20 times the effective range.

 

Gets interesting real quick.

 

~Rex

[Kristopher]

Re: 10 Sci-Fi Weapons That Actually Exist

 

Oh it's an insanely huge list. The Bullet design for the .50 BMG round for example in the novel "Von Neumans War" , is actually quite doable. Just picture a 50 cal now, with 20 times the effective range.

 

Gets interesting real quick.

 

20 times the range? How would that be accomplished? There's some pretty simple and definite physics involved in the limits on effective range.