There is no doubt about it, guided ammunitions are changing the way we fight wars. In the days of the Vietnam War, guided ammunitions had already been developed however dumb or iron bombs were still largely in use. These days many munitions have guidance systems ranging from lasers to GPS, some of these systems are even being fitted to unmanned vehicles to enable a totally autonomous attack.

Dumb bombs are what most people imagine when they think of a bomb. There is no way to control the bomb once it has been deployed, they simply fall to the ground and explode, hence the name. Needless to say hitting a target with a dumb bomb is an extremely difficult task and innocent bystanders are often caught up in the carpet bombing technique which is employed.Smart bombs are designed to guide themselves to the target. The concept of this smart weapon is certainly not new. First developed back in 1943 by the Germans, the technology would go through stages of radio-controlled and laser-guided developments before being used on a large scale. The first large-scale use of smart weapons came in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm when they were used by coalition forces against Iraq.

More Information On The Air Force’s Newest Smart bomb Plus Two Videos After The Jump.

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The Pain Ray or Active Denial System (ADS) is a long standing joint project between the Air Force and the Pentagons Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. The ABS non-lethal weapon consists of a real life ray gun which shoots 95 GHz millimeter waves that penetrate the skin at a 64th of an inch beneath the skin. This causes the water molecules to boil where the nerve receptors are most concentrated and of course, this hurts like hell.

“[They produce an] intense heating sensation [which] stops only if the individual moves out of the beam’s path or the beam is turned off……..
“The sensation caused by the system has been described by test subjects as feeling like touching a hot frying pan.”

Another Demonstration Video And More Info After The Jump >>>

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This intricate - perhaps impractical - five shot revolver apparently does work.

Produced in the 1800, the (probably French made) ring pistol is a perfect example of what was known as “la petite protectors”. The ring pistol once was one of the smallest killing devices ever developed.There doesn’t seem to be much info around regarding the practicality of the finger mounted firearm however, after a long search it appears some believe that,

“If it were fired, the smoke, flames, and noise would be considerable. The muzzle velocity would probably be so low that the powder burn would be worse than the bullet”

So may be it doesn’t classify as the most efficient killing device but considering when it was made and the craftsmanship it took to make, it certainly is an exceptional one off antique firearm. Hat’s off to the unknown creator.

More Pictures After The Jump

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The Navy is hoping that their latest project, a 10 megajoule railgun, will replace the standard 5-inch guns on most of their ships. Currently in testing phase, this awesome weapon uses a magnetic field to fire projectiles at a speed of approx 5,600 mph. But the Navy is not stopping there; they hope to create a 64 megajoule system capable of shooting at over 13,000 mph and hitting 5 meter targets from 200 nautical miles.

Check out two videos of the Railgun in action after the jump>>

“If you’ve got a little over 10 megajoules as with this demonstration model, you’re looking at 5,600 mph. When the system is completed, it’ll be firing shells with over six times that energy (well over 13,000 mph) using 64 megajoules of energy”

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Check out the video and then take a closer at the pics below. It is very amazing how this cop was able to survive a barrage of bullets. This happened out at the southern edge of Plano, Texas.

Here are the pictures of the police car back at the lab for inspection

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Ever since I was a little kid, I knew this type of technology would eventually surface if it hadn’t already. Below in the video by General Dynamics you can see Trophy Active Defense System in action. It offers an invisible force field for military vehicles that disables incoming RPG rounds.

The system can simultaneously engage several threats, arriving from different directions, is effective on stationary or moving platforms, and is effective against short and long range threats (such as RPGs and ATGM). Trophy was designed to be effective in open or closed terrain, including urban area and can be operated under all weather conditions

If the previous post about the Airborne Laser Weapon got you thinking, check out the video below which runs through steps on how to make your own high powered laser.

Careful where you point the thing and do not forget, UN protocol outlaws permanent blinding as a combat tactic!!!!

Since the Cold War the U.S Missile Command and the U.S Air Force have continually focused their efforts on designing an Airborne Laser Weapon. Whilst this idea may still seem like science fiction, testing for this ground breaking technology has already begun.

A powerful Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) has been mounted in a turret-like array on the nose of specially modified Boeing 747-400 air freighters. The Airborne System’s (ABL) primary mission will be to locate and shoot down enemy ballistic missiles whilst still in the launch stage.

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American soldiers have been using laser scopes for a long time, to make their shots more accurate. But what if the bullets themselves were steered by lasers, and able to turn on a dime? That’s the idea behind a new, $7.5 million Darpa initiative to be a “laser-guided bullet” recently unclassified. DARPA have justified plans to begin funding research into designing a laser guided bullet, the 7.5 million dollar initiative could see science fiction become a reality with bullets actually able to change trajectory in mid-flight. The hope with this technology is that the compact targeting systems embedded in the projectiles will enable,

Overmatching fire power and significantly improve first site effectiveness in engaging distant enemy forces.

The goal appears to be to “enable low-cost, high performance guided projectiles” that take advantage of “guidance and targeting systems.” While the idea of a laser-guided bullet conjures images of soldiers marching across fields, spraying ammo that never misses, the report mentions that the technology is intended to be used by Special Forces and Army Sniper Teams. So, boiled down, we’re talking a bullet that’s going to be fired at long range by a sniper and be able to adjust its trajectory mid-flight, as to have a better chance of hitting the target.

To make this possible researchers will have to design whole new guidance technologies, such as MEMS based thrusters and initial side thrusting technologies with sufficient authority to move projectiles in flight. The bullet will need high stress tolerant electronics and new targeting systems robust to field operations under a variety of conditions.

The developments in fire power have continued to make warfare more precise, could laser guided-bullets be the next generation of ammunition?