Laser-Guided 40mm Grenade

[stanc]

http://www.raytheon.com/news/feature/guided_weapons.html

[montana]

I wonder if this technology will one day render the sniper obsolete or at least his tool of trade, the precision rifle. Nice find stanc.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Cool. Good find! All I was asking for was 40mm laser-ranged air-burst with a sleek ogive fired at medium to high velocity from a recoilless mini-Carl Gustav launcher, but this takes it one step further. We'll see how it shakes out.

[Variable]

I'd like to see it to believe it (from a practical fieldability standpoint), but it definitely sounds interesting. I worry about payload though. Conventional 40mm HEDP is somewhat anemic as it is (IMO). If they are going to all the trouble of propulsion and guidance, I'd like to see increased lethality while they are at it.

With an optical guidance section in the nose, I'm going to guess there won't be much shaped charge lensing in a projectile that small. If correct, then we are left with fragmentation and blast effect..... How much?

[JASmith]

Look at the slightly darker section that wnds about where the guy' left thumb is. That section is about the size of the payload section of the standard 40mm HE round. Indeed the payload might be in that dark section just behind the fins.

The rest is likely to be batteries and electronics even though I am surprised that much room is needed given how compact the guidance module could be and the short duration of guided flight.

[Variable]

Look at the slightly darker section that wnds about where the guy' left thumb is. That section is about the size of the payload section of the standard 40mm HE round. Indeed the payload might be in that dark section just behind the fins.

The rest is likely to be batteries and electronics even though I am surprised that much room is needed given how compact the guidance module could be and the short duration of guided flight.

The dark section aft of the fins appears to be a rimmed "cartridge casing" to me. I'd suspect it uses a high-to-low pressure propulsion system (similar to the regular 38 blank in a '203) to expell the round from the launcher before the rocket motor ignites. Kind of like the kicker charge in an RPG or a Javelin, etc...

I think you're probably right about the darker silver portion forward of the fins being the payload. If so-- They need to do better.LOL Of course it might be a kind of placeholder, subject to expansion later in the program. It could take up additional space later as other components are further miniaturized.

[Variable]

If their smart munitions get any better, they can just orient the launch tube upwards out of a pack. Then slave designation and active guidance inputs to a HUD/laser module mounted on the trooper's helmet...........

















Is that you Boba?

[JASmith]

Do a web search for 'box of rockets"

[Variable]

Do a web search for 'box of rockets"

Yep, like a baby "PAM" NLOS, but much smaller, and without the box.LOL

I sit here pondering the capabilities of an iPhone 6+ (Accelerometer, compass, gps, etc.), and I gotta wonder how glorious the guts of that very thin phone (if made bulletproof) would be in sending pain to deserving recipients. "Top down attack on a foxhole?", "Yeah, I got an app for that....."

[cory]

If their smart munitions get any better, they can just orient the launch tube upwards out of a pack. Then slave designation and active guidance inputs to a HUD/laser module mounted on the trooper's helmet...........










Is that you Boba?

You joke, but that's not a bad idea! With these being laser guided, why not?

Develop a backpack version and a larger version that mounts onto the MRAP. Fired and directed by a laser device mounted on an M4.

[Variable]

You joke, but that's not a bad idea! With these being laser guided, why not?

Develop a backpack version and a larger version that mounts onto the MRAP. Fired and directed by a laser device mounted on an M4.

Yeah, I was only half joking.LOL

Also-- along my iPhone thinking: The "combat iPhone" (iKillPhone?) could be incorporated into the helmet, and video displayed on the HUD. Then for optical feedback/guidance, the munition could "facetime" with your helmet. You'd have really cool vids of the durkas horrified faces right before the flash....

[GSPHunter]

It seems to me that this is really just another piece of the larger Lethal Autonomous Weapons System puzzle. It won't be long before there won't be any humans involved....except of course, the ones being killed.

[stanc]

If their smart munitions get any better, they can just orient the launch tube upwards out of a pack. Then slave designation and active guidance inputs to a HUD/laser module mounted on the trooper's helmet...........

1:48-1:52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhVx3jBXRSY

[GSPHunter]

stanc,

The problem with any sort of actively guided munition, is that they are always going to be susceptible to jamming/decoying.....These sort of weapons might be useful attacking 3rd world countries (or uppity civilians) but I doubt that they are going to be useful against an opposing force with the same level of technology.

I believe that ease of interfering with guided systems is what will drive the development of L.A.W.S. We really are on the edge of a new kind of warfare, one every bit as game changing as machine guns, airplanes, and nukes.

On a lighter note....when I first saw the video you posted, the "ghost recon" insignia reminded me of this skit :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpZ8EkK3eWY

[LRRPF52]

There's a very active drone war going on as we speak on the Russian-Ukrainian border, complete with jamming, drones acting as Recon and FAC's for Russian artillery, EW, etc.