Re: [GZG] [OFFICIAL] Question: was Re: [SG3]: What if?

On Feb 5, 2008 12:45 AM, K.H.Ranitzsch <kh.ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:

> Existing rifles etc. all can shoot and do damage well beyond those few
> hundred meters. It is just that you can't hit much at that range.

Given 100 years of technological development, I don't think it's
impossible to imagine a small arms weapon that can hit anything out to
2 km with little effort. We can do that now, but the weapon is only
usable in the hands of a specially trained, and gifted, sniper. One
hundred years from now, with some sort of sensor that accurately
adjusts for wind and motion of the target, every squad gets a
"sniper"; he's just a regular Joe with a nifty weapon that can hit
pretty much anything it's aimed at. (Downside: it has such a narrow
field of view that you can't afford everyone in your team having one.)

And why should Joe fire this thing? Give it to a drone/robot.

This is the problem with trying to extrapolate future weapon design.
Once you throw something like an "everyman sniper rifle", every squad
gets a sniper. Then once you get on the tabletop someone decides that
the optimum mix isn't one sniper, but two, or four. Does this make for
an interesting game, or does it unbalance things?

The same thing goes for suppression fire at long range. I can imagine,
in 100 years, a weapon that can change its cyclic rate based on range.
Targeted for 2 km? No problem, increase the rate of fire so that the
shots don't scatter so much at long range. Hitting a closer target?
Dial down the cyclic rate (and do it automatically for the shooter; he
has enough to worry about).

If the "smart gun" of the future can add these features cheaply
without adding to the weight (or the sensors, etc. are used at short
range for other reasons) then there's no reason engagement ranges
can't be increased in terrain that allows it.

Allan

-- 
Allan Goodall		 http://www.hyperbear.com
agoodall@hyperbear.com
awgoodall@gmail.com

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