Re: [GZG] Slightly OT - Hypothetical weapon question

John Atkinson wrote:

>A fiberglass hull may or may not detonate the pizeoelectric fuze.

Agreed. Depends on far too many factors to say anything for certain...
but 
the risk that it would go off as intended is certainly big enough that I

wouldn't want to risk being hit by it.

> >HEAP or the like might just punch a small hole through the boat. But
then,
> >what might it hit on the way? Propane tank? Gas tank? Diesel tank?
Various
> >other critical pieces? Batteries? etc. It would be less serious, but
could
> >still leave you shipping water.
>
>My concern on a fiberglass hulled vessel would be the probability that
>the jet of copper would be at some really silly temperature (I'm sure
>OA could give a precise reading) that would tend to ignite the boat.
Not 
>to mention unused rocket fuel, etc.

The jet temperature is fairly low; usually around 600 degrees centigrade
or 
thereabouts - the metal is actually solid, but under such extreme
pressure 
that it behaves roughly as if it were a fluid. Remaining rocket fuel (if

any; most RPG rocket boosters burn out at fairly short ranges) and 
especially the blast from the warhead are far more likely to start fires

than the copper jet is.

>RPG accuracy and precision is not all that great, they are intended to
>hit slow-moving armored targets at close range from a stationary
>platform (ie, the ground).

Yeah. It'll be a fair bit trickier to hit a boat with an RPG than
hitting 
with a combat rifle due to the low velocity of RPG rounds.

>However, as has been demonstrated, fire
>enough of them at almost anything, and you can hit a helicopter.  I
>doubt a sailboat is going to be more difficult to hit than a
>Blackhawk.

Most of those helicopters (including those in Mogadishu) weren't hit 
directly though, but instead caught in the blast by self-destructing
RPG-7 
rounds. The factory-set self-destruct range of RPG-7 rounds is 920
meters, 
but it isn't that hard to reduce it... if you don't mind risking blowing

your hands off, that is :-/

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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