Comments on: Video: The awesomest killbot evah

By: mr. b

mr. b — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:29:48 +0000

Maybe they could test this at the next Academy Awards show.

By: rocketman

rocketman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:25:56 +0000

There is always a limited fuel load on an interceptor–one of the controlling software requirements is to not launch until the probability of a good intercept is high. Also–there is usually not time for a second shot due to the high incoming target velocity–shoot twice if you want to live! (This was also a U.S. Army infantry basic training rule long ago.) Maneuvering targets are a challenge also–unnecessary interceptor motion can run you out of fuel fast.
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Running out of missile velocity or maneuvering fuel before intercept guarantees failure–and a destruct sequence. Review the Hiroshima and Nagasaki photos for more information on what real failure to intercept means. This is a terminal guidance system–it was never intended to be used a lot when the interceptor is a long way from the incoming TBM or ICBM.
***
John Bibb

By: Timothy S. Carlson

Timothy S. Carlson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:48:04 +0000

Any ideas on the fuel consumption rate of this sucka?

It looks like it just runs out and drops. Did they do a limited fuel load so it wouldn’t run amok for 1/2 hour and kill all of the techs, or was it end of test so just turn it off?

I like the netting around it – there must have been some spectacular lab accidents to warrant the protection :P

By: Timothy S. Carlson

Timothy S. Carlson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:42:03 +0000

Wow! It’s got a good beat and I can dance to it.

I give it a 95.

Where’s the remix/smash-up/whatevah?

By: Geministorm

Geministorm — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:13:08 +0000

I remember back when we were racing to be the first to demonstrate the ‘hit-to-kill’ tech successfully…ran the test out at White Sands (which is weird, because its in NM, but we all worked out of Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX during the tests). If I remember correctly, our competitor was first to the launch pad but missed several times and then we ran 8/10 (8 successful). Watching a missile traveling ~mach 5 and impacting another missile head on is a very testosterone-filled event (a big “HELL YAH!”)…good times.

By: taznar

taznar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:52:41 +0000

What the heck is that thing. It looks like it waista a lot of ammo.

I may be wrong, but I don’t think it was “shooting” anything. My impression was that those were short bursts from “maneuvering thrusters” (for lack of a better term) to keep it upright and properly balanced.

By: Vashta.Nerada

Vashta.Nerada — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:48:14 +0000

I don’t know what that thing is, but it looks PISSED.

uncivilized on December 10, 2008 at 8:30 PM

Yeah, we need to let it out of its cage, and direct it to DC.

By: Geministorm

Geministorm — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:29:45 +0000

Similar “hit to kill” technology is used in the Patriot PAC-3 Missile also–it works very well. Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin do a lot of good work in this area.

<– Worked on the PAC-3 and PACM. The “green suiters” (what us engineers called the army personnel) should be much happier with the PAC this time around. Only $3M + 18months to retrofit the PAC-2s to become PAC-3s, but they’ll knock anything China, North Korea, Iran, or Syria has out of the sky /lol

By: grapeknutz

grapeknutz — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:35:54 +0000

It looks like Chili night at the local diner!

By: Reaps

Reaps — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:47:03 +0000

No, I’m not going to compare it to the droid Luke used during lightsaber training. That’s already been done.

MANHACKS!

By: pedestrian

pedestrian — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:03:43 +0000

http://break.com/index/your-new-favorite-model-helicopter.html

By: Sapwolf

Sapwolf — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:12:49 +0000

Can we use it on the pirates? Could be pretty fun.

By: RSS agregator » Blog Archive » Warporn WTF - LM TEAM CONDUCTS FREE-FLIGHT HOVER TEST OF MDA’S MULTIPLE KILL VEHICLE

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:13:59 +0000

[...] tip because I couldn’t tell if this was real or a CGI thing. Allah, ever skeptical, dubs it legit. It’s a module intended for orbital attacks on ICBM’s in flight, although one is free to [...]

By: rocketman

rocketman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:06:25 +0000

The SM3 kill vehicle “hover test” was very good. High stability of pointing and roll control, very good side movement when commanded, excellent pickup and orientation after falling into the test cell bungee cord “floor”.
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This type of control system has been used in the past using high pressure nitrogen gas valving systems. Some hypergolic fuel valving / mixing designs were tested at White Sands 40 years ago–the fuel and oxidizer mixed and exploded along grooves in the side of the missile and blew it onto a new trajectory. From a few miles away the trajectory and smoke trail looked like a right angle the turn was so fast. The missile was going through the sky like a bat out of hell–with very high “G” control system checkout “turns” to put maximum stress on the airframe.
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In space the kill vehicle would by moving at very high speed toward the intercept point. Slight firing of the control rockets would slightly change the trajectory until it hits the target. Only at the endgame would a lot of firing occur–like in the test video–as the last errors are taken out of the trajectory.
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Similar “hit to kill” technology is used in the Patriot PAC-3 Missile also–it works very well. Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin do a lot of good work in this area.
***
John Bibb

By: cabbageheat

cabbageheat — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:04:04 +0000

I could have sworn I killed something like that in that PS3 game Resistance.

Cool! I hope it wakes up UBL one morning.

By: uncivilized

uncivilized — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:30:41 +0000

I don’t know what that thing is, but it looks PISSED.

By: BobMbx

BobMbx — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:42:28 +0000

Here's a link to the video of an actual intercept. There's only about 3-4 seconds of video that starts at 2:10. It's not CGI, it's actual video from the KV as intercepts the target. Cool.As.Hell

By: keep the change

keep the change — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:18:21 +0000

HA! With one of those I could keep the neighbors cats off of my property!

Every street has as ogre that hates cats. And Fred Thompson.

By: CP

CP — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:16:09 +0000

Pretty effing awesome!

By: Tony737

Tony737 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:57:05 +0000

With one of those I could keep the neighbors cats off of my property! – C.S.

A B.B. gun will have the same effect! :-)

By: Tony737

Tony737 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:55:44 +0000

There was a little video (like this one) where the engineers were creaming their jeans when a little diddy like this thing was able to hover for 3 seconds. – 44 Mag

I remember that one, and this looks a lot like it. That one had the Soviets crapping THEIR jeans … or whatever they used to wear back then when jeans were illegal … some were saying that it was faked but that it also won the cold war for us!

By: csdeven

csdeven — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:23:22 +0000

HA! With one of those I could keep the neighbors cats off of my property!

By: OldEnglish

OldEnglish — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:13:52 +0000

That’s the best scarecrow I’ve seen in long time! :)

By: knob

knob — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:03:14 +0000

This may shed some light on the topic…

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/MKV/index.html

By: Cuffy Meigs

Cuffy Meigs — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:59:49 +0000

How else would you propose to test it’s ability to manuever and track a target?

Hollowpoint on December 10, 2008 at 5:56 PM

Exactly. Orbital tests ain’t cheap.