Re: DS: SAW versus APSW versus RFAC

On Sun, 08 Mar 1998 20:34:06 +0000 Brian Bell <brian.bell@axom.com>
writes:

>
>I was thinking that most infantry "machine gun" type weapons of the
>future designed for infantry suppression would be a flechette type
>weapon. I imagined that it would fire high density plastic or ceramic
>"needles" projected at hypersonic speeds.
>
>This would require a vastly increased fire rate, but much lighter ammo
>if the needles are fired individually (one per barrel). This weapon
>could even have hundreds of barrels set in a standard dispersion 
>pattern
>(or have an adjustable spread).
>
>Or could use a lower fire rate and the same weight if they are fired in
>a submunition fashion (one shell produces x number of needles). With
>this type of ammo, you could probably set up a deadly boobytrap.
>
>If the needles are sharp enough and the speeds high enough, they 
>should
>be able to penetrate light (read anything less than level 1 vehicle)
>armor.
>
>--

The only problem with needles are the fact that  I have heard that they
don't go where they are intended. Needles or fletchettes tend to wander,
if you are firing them into brush it is absolutely wild. A single leaf
can deflect a needle. A slight breeze ( invisible to the firer) can
shift
the target point significantly.

Tom Hughes

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