General military questions thread

[Zachowon]

I got to say I love metal gear solid
Hey @Zachowon you are in the army can I ask you army stuff?
Like is it possible for a hind to shoot down an f16? I know it’s practically impossible but is it theoretically possible like if the helicopter got the drop on the net could hits weapons hit it?

As Marduk said, but yeah.
If it is armed with the AA missiles and gets the ambush off

 

[Aldarion]

Speaking of, Javelin can be used against low-flying helicopters? Is it limited to hovering helicopters?

 

[Marduk]

Speaking of, Javelin can be used against low-flying helicopters? Is it limited to hovering helicopters?

FM3-21.94 Appendix F Javelin Employment

www.globalsecurity.org

Marines shoot down Russian helicopter with Javelin anti-tank missile system

Ukrainian marines shot down a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter on 2 July from a Javelin portable anti-tank missile system on the Berdiansk front. Source: press service of the 36th Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynskyi Quote: "The 309th Russian helicopter was shot down by the...

news.yahoo.com

Absolutely.

 

[King Arts]

Speaking of, Javelin can be used against low-flying helicopters? Is it limited to hovering helicopters?

Snake shoots down a hind with stinger missles quite a few times.

 

[King Arts]

Mil Mi-24 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If it carries those (same as used by Russian fighters) and gets a good ambush, possible.

As Marduk said, but yeah.
If it is armed with the AA missiles and gets the ambush off

Thanks can I also ask questions about nukes. Not secret ones that are classified obviously. But how do our satellites detect if a nuke was launched. So is it true that the satellites observe the plume of fire from the rocket and that’s how we detect it a rocket was launched? Does that mean if we launched a nuke through a railgun instead it would be undetectable?

 

[Husky_Khan]

Speaking of, Javelin can be used against low-flying helicopters? Is it limited to hovering helicopters?

It has a powerful thermal tracker which can track helicopters pretty well against the sky. The main drawback would be the short range of the Javelin versus a fast helicopter.

 

[Marduk]

Thanks can I also ask questions about nukes. Not secret ones that are classified obviously. But how do our satellites detect if a nuke was launched. So is it true that the satellites observe the plume of fire from the rocket and that’s how we detect it a rocket was launched? Does that mean if we launched a nuke through a railgun instead it would be undetectable?

That's one of the ways.
Radars and possibly more exotic kinds of detectors trying to spot if the warheads contain fissiles. A railgun fired round would still get spotted by radar sats and planet based early warning systems, and with the sheer speed needed for a railgun round to get this far, it may get hot enough through atmospheric friction to be spotted on IR anyway.

 

[Zachowon]

Thanks can I also ask questions about nukes. Not secret ones that are classified obviously. But how do our satellites detect if a nuke was launched. So is it true that the satellites observe the plume of fire from the rocket and that’s how we detect it a rocket was launched? Does that mean if we launched a nuke through a railgun instead it would be undetectable?

Alright. I had to Google to make sure what I wanna say is allowed.
OPIR is how we detect it.
Here is the rundown from the US Defense contractor

Next Gen OPIR Polar (NGP) | Northrop Grumman

Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) polar-orbiting satellite, known as NextGen Polar, is key in strategic missile warning for our nation’s defense.

www.northropgrumman.com

 

[Aldarion]

That's one of the ways.
Radars and possibly more exotic kinds of detectors trying to spot if the warheads contain fissiles. A railgun fired round would still get spotted by radar sats and planet based early warning systems, and with the sheer speed needed for a railgun round to get this far, it may get hot enough through atmospheric friction to be spotted on IR anyway.

Thanks can I also ask questions about nukes. Not secret ones that are classified obviously. But how do our satellites detect if a nuke was launched. So is it true that the satellites observe the plume of fire from the rocket and that’s how we detect it a rocket was launched? Does that mean if we launched a nuke through a railgun instead it would be undetectable?

Modern IR sensors IIRC can detect temperature differences of 1-2 degrees Celsius, so railgun projectile would be rather detectable...

 

[Zachowon]

It would depend. Is there any evidence US military railgun testing was caught by said sensors?

 

[Marduk]

It would depend. Is there any evidence US military railgun testing was caught by said sensors?

Depends on scale and distance for sure. A tank gun scale railgun is a wholly different detection challenge than some huge, Bond villain grade nuke tossing railgun firing 50+ kg projectiles over intercontinental distances.

 

[Zachowon]

Depends on scale and distance for sure. A tank gun scale railgun is a wholly different detection challenge than some huge, Bond villain grade nuke tossing railgun firing 50+ kg projectiles over intercontinental distances.

Very true.
I was meaning more realistic for the railgun.

 

[King Arts]

That's one of the ways.
Radars and possibly more exotic kinds of detectors trying to spot if the warheads contain fissiles. A railgun fired round would still get spotted by radar sats and planet based early warning systems, and with the sheer speed needed for a railgun round to get this far, it may get hot enough through atmospheric friction to be spotted on IR anyway.

Very interesting thanks but how would a gravity sensor tell you if there is a nuke there? Is it because of the greater mass of uranium or plutonium?

Alright. I had to Google to make sure what I wanna say is allowed.
OPIR is how we detect it.
Here is the rundown from the US Defense contractor

Next Gen OPIR Polar (NGP) | Northrop Grumman

Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) polar-orbiting satellite, known as NextGen Polar, is key in strategic missile warning for our nation’s defense.

www.northropgrumman.com

That says IR so it tracks the heat from the rocket launch and exhaust. But wouldn’t a railgun have very little heat no more than artillery or a tank round how could you tell between a conventional railgun tank and a metal gear with a nuke.

Also I have a question about helicopters if it gets shot down is there a way for the pilots to eject? Because they can’t do it the same way as an airplane or the propeller would slice up the pilot after he ejects like an onion on an infomercial. So are helicopters flying coffins or is there some way to get out if it’s about to crash?

Modern IR sensors IIRC can detect temperature differences of 1-2 degrees Celsius, so railgun projectile would be rather detectable...

Again how could you differentiate between that and the white noise? Because the heat of a fired handgun also gives off energy but picking it up won’t help to detect the nuke and know it’s a nuke and not something else.

 

[Zachowon]

Very interesting thanks but how would a gravity sensor tell you if there is a nuke there? Is it because of the greater mass of uranium or plutonium?

Basically yes.

That says IR so it tracks the heat from the rocket launch and exhaust. But wouldn’t a railgun have very little heat no more than artillery or a tank round how could you tell between a conventional railgun tank and a metal gear with a nuke.

It is actually a whole hell of a lot of heat. As well as the power necessary to shoot it.

Also I have a question about helicopters if it gets shot down is there a way for the pilots to eject? Because they can’t do it the same way as an airplane or the propeller would slice up the pilot after he ejects like an onion on an infomercial. So are helicopters flying coffins or is there some way to get out if it’s about to crash?

Some helicopters have them. Like the KA52. It launches the propellers off when they eject.
That's the only one with one afaik

Again how could you differentiate between that and the white noise? Because the heat of a fired handgun also gives off energy but picking it up won’t help to detect the nuke and know it’s a nuke and not something else.

Radiation iirc is how nukes are tracted

 

[Marduk]

Very interesting thanks but how would a gravity sensor tell you if there is a nuke there? Is it because of the greater mass of uranium or plutonium?

Yes, they basically get an idea of mass density distribution in the warhead, while fissile materials and radiation shielding are necessarily very dense elements, and things like explosives and chemicals are fairly low density, so if there's very dense stuff in the warhead it's probably a nuke.

That says IR so it tracks the heat from the rocket launch and exhaust. But wouldn’t a railgun have very little heat no more than artillery or a tank round how could you tell between a conventional railgun tank and a metal gear with a nuke.

All missiles, the bigger the more so, create said heat. Telling if it's nuclear tipped or not usually depends on other intelligence, like what i mentioned, or knowing which missiles are nuclear only and so on.
Same way, you have nuclear artillery shells, but those have flight time and range so short that the most obvious way to tell it was nuclear is by the very obvious nuclear explosion.

Also I have a question about helicopters if it gets shot down is there a way for the pilots to eject? Because they can’t do it the same way as an airplane or the propeller would slice up the pilot after he ejects like an onion on an infomercial. So are helicopters flying coffins or is there some way to get out if it’s about to crash?

Outside of Ka-52 (which has its own risks) or jumping out the door with a parachute like in WW2, no.
There's also autorotation, which, if pulled off, means the helicopter crashes at low velocity so the crew may be able to walk away from the crash with no or at least limited injuries.

Again how could you differentiate between that and the white noise? Because the heat of a fired handgun also gives off energy but picking it up won’t help to detect the nuke and know it’s a nuke and not something else.

A lot of said detection relies on the assumption that if it's a fatass intercontinental weapon fired by a nuclear power, it's probably a nuke, because using such expensive delivery mechanisms for anything else isn't really worthwhile.
There may also be ways to detect the radiation signature of a warhead.

 

[Agent23]

Oy, can some people kep their attempts at maintaining their armchair general cred to the actual wardroom?

Kthxbye.

 

[King Arts]

Oy, can some people kep their attempts at maintaining their armchair general cred to the actual wardroom?

Kthxbye.

It’s on topic metal gear deals with nukes and railgun and giant robots and helicopters and tanks.

 

[Aldarion]

Again how could you differentiate between that and the white noise? Because the heat of a fired handgun also gives off energy but picking it up won’t help to detect the nuke and know it’s a nuke and not something else.

Several ways.

First, infrared imaging. You get infrared telescope, you can ID things by how they look.

Second, spectrum. Different objects give off IR radiation in different parts of spectrum, depending IIRC on their temperature and material characteristics. You get a match, you get ID.

Third, kinematics. If it flies at Mach 12, it sure as hell isn't a handgun.

 

[Buba]

The M2 Bradely seats 7 infantry. Losing the turret and making it a "pure" APC - could it carry 10?

I may have asked this before - old age is creeping up on me ...

 

[Zachowon]

Iirc there is a vehicle in the works that makes exactly that for the US