Re: [GZG] Slightly OT - Hypothetical weapon question

TomB wrote:

>> >Get it off angle and it'll reflect off it does not detonate.
>>
>>Don't bet too much on that. Several types of RPG rounds - I'd expect
all of
>>them, but don't know that for certain - are equipped with a biting
edge to
>>ensure that they don't glance off even if they hit at quite acute
angles...
>>and while those biting edges are there to increase the chances that
the
>>round will detonate successfully, they also greatly improve the
rounds'
>>chances of smashing through thin obstacles if they fail to detonate
properly.
>
>[TomB] Really? I've handled several of these (RPGs) and I don't ever 
>recall noticing that.

The biting edges I've seen have all been covered by softer materials 
(softer than the hard steel of the edge, that is :-/ ) in order to
protect 
clumsy soldiers from cutting themselves while handling the round... but 
they've nevertheless been sufficient to let the round cut through thick 
plywood instead of bouncing off. It depends a bit on how much the round 
yaws though - if it hits side-on, the biting edge won't strike the
target :-/

>> >[Tomb] But if I can match  your course at a distance of 15' in a
motor 
>> launch
>>
>>...you'd better pray that you are inside the round's arming distance
so it
>>won't detonate  (or that it is a dud, giving the same result), because
if
>>it does go off you'll get killed yourself when the round's rocket
booster,
>>fin assembly and all other parts located behind the warhead come back
at
>>high speed and hit you in the face.
>
>[TomB] Okay, call it 50' then Mr. Picky. At 50', I'd imagining you are 
>outside of a dangerous launch distance.

With those old rounds? You're kidding. Try 150'-200'... and you're not
100% 
safe from your own rounds even at that distance. (Particularly since
your 
own boat is a much bigger target for the rearwards-going shrapnel than
you 
yourself are.)

>And the 34' keelboat's side isn't going to be a hard target at 50',
even 
>manouvering, because your launch is faster and more manouverable if it
is 
>driven by anyone who knows what they are doing.

Your biggest problem is getting the elevation right. A 34' keelboat hull

isn't particularly tall, and unless the sea is quite calm the boat
you're 
sitting in is rolling with the waves (especially if it is manoeuvring at

speed!)... if you're outside the round's danger zone it only takes a
minor 
unexpected wave at the moment of launch to send your round into the
water 
or through the target's sail (where it is very unlikely to explode even
if 
it works perfectly) instead of into the target's hull.

Later,

Oerjan
orjan.ariander1@comhem.se

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
-Hen3ry

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