News London 2012: Missiles may be placed at residential flats.

[Urwumpe]

Yes, but the fact that a human operator has to keep the laser pointed at the target makes it a bit weak. :lol:

 

[N_Molson]

Yep. It sure wouldn't prevent a fuel-loaded hijacked plane to cause a lot of damage. And the laser-pointed thing seem to make it useless as a missle interceptor (unless the laser is slaved to a high performance radar unit).

Perfect against light planes, helicopters, but also light ground vehicles (that flexibility is interesting). Or even foot personnel.

 

[Spacethingy]

Just been on the BBC news about the Starstreak(they are quick)!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starstreak_(missile)

starstreak missile test - YouTube

N.

Not impressed! Hueys aren't exactly large, and it hardly got blown apart. I suppose it made a crater somewhere other than a sensitive target, but still was a crater made...

 

[garyw]

Unless they create a perimeter defense around London, for intercepting things before they reach the urban area, terrorists will have won - even the debris of a drone packed with explosives or biological weapons can cause serious damage.

Exactly. At that point it's already too late. now CAP patrols and defences off the coast of Dover I can understand but if you want to do a Sept 11th style attack out of any of the major London based airports you are already within a densely packed area where a shoot down will be just as dangerous as the terrorist act.

 

[Urwumpe]

Exactly. At that point it's already too late. now CAP patrols and defences off the coast of Dover I can understand but if you want to do a Sept 11th style attack out of any of the major London based airports you are already within a densely packed area where a shoot down will be just as dangerous as the terrorist act.

And even more dangerous, you have not the situation under control, you only react.

 

[Andy44]

I believe the term for this nonsense is "[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater"]security theater[/ame]".

Coupled with the intent to desensitize the populace against militarization, which may or may not be common in the UK, but it's huge in the US, where every local police department wants to equip itself like an army, with federal funding, complete with helicopters, SWAT teams, and all sorts of military hardware and an intent to intimidate the public with lots of show. The consequences of that are still playing out.

 

[Mattyv]

Kind of reminds me of when the Army here put Avengers in Washington DC after 9/11:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/TWQ-1_Avenger

 

[zerofay32]

When I was in DC for the last Presidential Inaugural, I saw several SAM sites, rooftop AA stations, and plenty of snipers on almost every building. It was kinda crazy to see in person.

 

[FADEC]

Makes me sad that we need something like that in the middle of Europe in the 21st century.

 

[Urwumpe]

Makes me sad that we need something like that in the middle of Europe in the 21st century.

Well, in the past we would have used honor guards in silly uniforms, like the Swiss Guard, which, while looking extremely silly, is pretty capable... likely just camouflage.

Maybe it is better if we paint the missiles in fancy colors and add some golden ornaments around it.

We could also do the German way... which is "invading a nice place with thousands of soldiers and then have a party there"

 

[MattBaker]

Well, I think that's kinda useless against terrorism.
The point of a terroristic attack is that it's fast, sudden and unexpected. Just think of the "police officer" Anders Breivik, ten seconds before no one thought that he would die know. I think that such things like missiles are useless because you don't have time for reacting.

 

[FADEC]

Well, in the past we would have used honor guards in silly uniforms, like the Swiss Guard, which, while looking extremely silly, is pretty capable... likely just camouflage.

Maybe it is better if we paint the missiles in fancy colors and add some golden ornaments around it.

We could also do the German way... which is "invading a nice place with thousands of soldiers and then have a party there"

Or we could stop doing certain pseudo-safety measures.

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 PM ----------

Well, I think that's kinda useless against terrorism.
The point of a terroristic attack is that it's fast, sudden and unexpected. Just think of the "police officer" Anders Breivik, ten seconds before no one thought that he would die know. I think that such things like missiles are useless because you don't have time for reacting.

They are useless indeed, I think. It hasn't anything to do with safety, but with demonstrating authority. It's when small guys get the chance to play big with their toys which they got from their government.

 

[JEL]

The bigger problem I see is, that it does exactly the wrong thing. It doesn't really offer you much protection against terrorism.

Unless they create a perimeter defense around London, for intercepting things before they reach the urban area, terrorists will have won - even the debris of a drone packed with explosives or biological weapons can cause serious damage.

A clever guy/gal terrorist would just fly a harmless RC into the zone, and then all the shooting-power will be committed by those pretending to protect us.
You can't tell in advance if the RC is harmless or loaded with bad stuff.
So all these efforts may in fact just aid the terrorists in their cause.

One thing's for sure; I'm NOT going to see the olympics in London, and my clear advise to anybody asking me is STAY AWAY (watch it on tv instead)

 

[Urwumpe]

Why fly one RC there? Have dozens. The microcontrollers to make a RC plane GPS guided cost about $10, even if you use no bombs, the panic would be there.

 

[JEL]

@Urwumpe; And if enough panic can be created there's a real risk that the 'good guys' will shoot some of their 'protective' weapons and end up creating havoc (or at least kill some innocent civilians in a random freak accident, like that guy* the british police shot at one time not too long ago that was running for a subway-train but who wasn't a terrorist)

If guns are bad, then placing all these guns in London is a potential recipe for disaster.

*[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes[/ame]

 

[Urwumpe]

Exactly that. Nothing is as bad as a government that panics. Single citizens can panic, but the government has to keep a cool head to prevent the whole population from panic. Especially in London, which is usually so far beyond the borders of sanity, that approaches sanity from the other end.

Also, such a strong "protection force" in numbers and armament leaves the impression of a hostile take-over.

 

[Notebook]

We seem to have HMS Ocean as a bulwark in the Thames, mind you previous aircraft carriers have seen better times:

Edit:
for folks who don't know the history: how to lose an aircraft carrier and two destroyers in one afternoon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glorious#The_Sinking

According to Winton, survivors' estimates were that about 900 men abandoned Glorious. The Royal Navy knew nothing of the sinking until it was announced on German radio. The Norwegian ship Borgund, on passage to the Faeroe Islands, arrived late on June 10 and picked up survivors, eventually delivering 37 alive to Thorshavn of whom two died. Another Norwegian ship, Svalbard II, also making for the Faeroes, picked up five survivors but was sighted by a German aircraft and forced to return to Norway, where the four still alive became prisoners of war for the next five years. It is also believed that one more survivor from Glorious was rescued by a German seaplane.[42] Therefore the total of survivors was 40, including one each from Acasta and Ardent.[43] The total killed or missing was 1,207 from Glorious, 160 from Acasta and 152 from Ardent, a total of 1,519.[44

N.

 

[FADEC]

As for RC planes:

I'd prefer quadrotors...

And that's just the next stage...

 

[Andy44]

As for RC planes:

I'd prefer quadrotors...

A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors - YouTube

And that's just the next stage...

Prototype Quadrotor with Machine Gun! - YouTube

Looks like fun...until it's used on you and your neighbors.:uhh:

 

[FADEC]

Looks like fun...until it's used on you and your neighbors.:uhh:

Or until I use it on my neighbors