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Ever wonder why the US military costs so much?
14 years ago
General
Much of what costs so much in the US defense budget are a couple-dozen "big ticket" items, like these;
http://www.acq.osd.mil/ara/am/sar/SST-2010-12.pdf
...but a HUGE portion of the budget is to develop and/or purchase hundreds (if not thousands) of dubious and extraneous pieces of equipment, like this doozie;
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/201.....lightning-gun/
If you think that the JIN was an isolated incident, consider that the DoD is still pouring money into an aircraft project now more than 30 years old... whose product is an aircraft that STILL CAN'T FLY;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SLSiPsoF5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtrwRaZTaJI
Now, for those of you who think that the JIN was a "really interesting idea", and that "it could have worked better if we only spent more money on it", consider the following facts, that apparently dawned upon nobody in Wired's comment section;
1- IEDs are primarily buried, or covered in debris.
2- Power sources small enough to carry on trucks cannot generate a laser beam powerful enough to destroy a buried or covered IED.
3- When lightning is fired at the ground, it grounds itself, transferring no electricity to anything buried underneath, or covered-up above.
That makes it only too obvious that the people in charge of procurement aren't qualified for that task --- they either don't know their job, or perform it based upon interests other than providing the US military with the best equipment for the money spent.
http://www.acq.osd.mil/ara/am/sar/SST-2010-12.pdf
...but a HUGE portion of the budget is to develop and/or purchase hundreds (if not thousands) of dubious and extraneous pieces of equipment, like this doozie;
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/201.....lightning-gun/
If you think that the JIN was an isolated incident, consider that the DoD is still pouring money into an aircraft project now more than 30 years old... whose product is an aircraft that STILL CAN'T FLY;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SLSiPsoF5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtrwRaZTaJI
Now, for those of you who think that the JIN was a "really interesting idea", and that "it could have worked better if we only spent more money on it", consider the following facts, that apparently dawned upon nobody in Wired's comment section;
1- IEDs are primarily buried, or covered in debris.
2- Power sources small enough to carry on trucks cannot generate a laser beam powerful enough to destroy a buried or covered IED.
3- When lightning is fired at the ground, it grounds itself, transferring no electricity to anything buried underneath, or covered-up above.
That makes it only too obvious that the people in charge of procurement aren't qualified for that task --- they either don't know their job, or perform it based upon interests other than providing the US military with the best equipment for the money spent.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375719369?ie=UTF8&tag=peakclick-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0375719369
2) The laser is not supposed to destroy the IEDs, but to ionize the air between the lightning emitter and the ground, creating a temporary "lightning rod" so they have a chance to fire a guided lightning bolt at all. This concept was develeoped in a german university (as a replacement for a common lightning rod btw ^^)
3) Lightnings that hit the ground create a local temperature ov over 30000 °C, which leads to a melting of the earth directly hit by the lightning. The most interesting results you can find is in sand, where you can find complete branches made of glass tubes. Prob is: you'll need a damn huge lightning bolt to create one, which won't be possible with just a few KW of energy. I guess they tried to buy that pile of crap because they believed that the EMP generated by the lightning could somewhat disrupt an IED's electronics. Too bad that the range of the EMP of such a small lightning bolt is only a few centimeters at best - in other words: you'll need a direct hit on the fuze in order to disable it.
Also: ELON MUSK?! Oh please, not that guy again!
What ever happened to good old-fashioned HE shells, and IR-Imaging sights?