Article

2006-04-08 Science & Technology

military X-37 space plane went through its first free flight

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by 2006-04-08 00:34|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Long-range, high-altitude bombers are an obvious application of autonomous systems. Apart from the landing, it's really a quite straightforward problem assuming you are high enough above any air defenses. Fly to location x, drop GPS guided munitions, return to start point.

Posted by phil_b">phil_b 2006-04-08 05:29|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/] 2006-04-08 05:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Taxpayers: Unfortunately a very limited amount of discretionary tax dollars are available. Please make your 1040 selections.

(____) Military X-37 Space Plane
(____) Federeral Emergency Motel Agency (FEMA)
(____) Cynthia McKinney legal fund
(_X__) Concertina wire for the Mexican border

Posted by Besoeker 2006-04-08 09:45|| 2006-04-08 09:45|| Front Page Top

#3 #2, Hat tip to RAH, besoeker?

Posted by gromgoru 2006-04-08 12:32|| 2006-04-08 12:32|| Front Page Top

#4 I see a very practical application for it right now. Dropping a bunker buster that is a rocket assisted GPS meteorite, in effect. A "Rod From God, Jr."

Imagine the impact of even a cargo full of fist-sized ceramic balls over a large area? I gather its cargo can be 12,000 lbs. Imagine the psychological impact of perhaps 3,000 meteorites striking a large area simultaneously?

Posted by Anonymoose 2006-04-08 18:31|| 2006-04-08 18:31|| Front Page Top

#5 Are you thinking of dropping thousands of tiny little rocks on our enemies? Each with little navigation units? Course their mass to air ratio would slow them down to subsonic on impact. But still being bombarded by baseballs is very American.

Posted by Hatfield 2006-04-08 19:22|| 2006-04-08 19:22|| Front Page Top

#6 The space plane is nice, but for a weapons application I'd put my money on hypersonic missiles that can reach anywhere on the globe in about two hours. Low cost, high accuracy and astonishing impact velocities. Such vehicles would dramatically change the need to deploy carrier based aircraft and other high cost slow-to-deploy conventional assets. The ne plus ultra when it comes to projecting (non-nuclear) power.

Posted by Zenster 2006-04-08 20:44|| 2006-04-08 20:44|| Front Page Top

23:51 Barbara Skolaut
23:23 Shieldwolf
23:21 Glolung Graving3413
22:09 RWV
21:46 Dave D.
21:40 N guard
21:37 Darrell
21:36 JerseyMike
21:24 ryuge
21:23 RD
21:22 RD
21:00 RD
20:58 RD
20:57 john
20:47 Zenster
20:44 Zenster
20:40 WTF!
20:39 Nimble Spemble
20:35 Pappy
20:34 Zenster
20:32 RD
20:14 RWV
20:14 Barbara Skolaut
20:10 RWV