They now have portable machines to look through containers. Do you think it's possible to build something that was practical enough to set up on a road side which could detonate any explosives that passed through a beam from it?
Would dearly love to send all those mad bomber bast***s to see Allah a little earlier then they expected.
And the local farmer heading out to blast some stumps?
No, there ain't no such a machine. Lots of explosives won't even explode if you set them on fire. Takes shock to set them off.
Think Iraq! Did you think it would be for use in the US?
Everyone is well aware of that. I was asking if there is any kind of technology that could or could be developed that could eradicate some of these kamikaze bombers before they get into a crowd of innocent people.
IE EMP might well induce a current in the lines to an electric det.
I assumed so. But if you meant Iraq, what about American troops carrying explosives?
Only if you used microwaves powerful enough to cause severe medical problems to anyone passing by.
And your tactical radios, vehicle ignitions etc.
Where were you planning on being when the EMP went off? How often did you plan on triggering it? How do you seperate the bomber from innocent passers by on the road?
snippage
Seems like it might be possible. Many years ago in a Navy tech. school we were learning the APS-38 radar that used to be used in the big dome on the top of the Navy 4 engine recip. aircraft which I've since forgotten the name of. (P3?) Heard the story time and again of the 55 gal. drum of avgas on the flight line that was ignited when some techs had an APS-38 at full scan power close by. It had 150KW output, if I remember it correctly. I would imagine that the bung must have been out on the drum, or the closed vapor strength wouldn't have supported combustion. Just like sparks in a microwave, I guess. Might work with a wired detonator, but may also sterilize the folks hit with the beam. Anyhow, your heart is in the right place, Carl.
Garrett Fulton
Trying to find the resonate frequency of the various explosives might be interesting. And since they share so many commonalities with various normal substances..you may well wind up with an exploding fountain pen or mother in law if she is wearing the wrong makeup.
Hummm....that certainly does bear some investigation doesnt it?
Gunner
It's better to be a red person in a blue state than a blue person in a red state. As a red person, if your blue neighbors turn into a mob at least you have a gun to protect yourself. As a blue person, your only hope is to appease the red mob with herbal tea and marinated tofu.
(Phil Garding)
"Carl" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@sprint.com... | They now have portable machines to look through containers. Do you think it's | possible to build something that was practical enough to set up on a road side | which could detonate any explosives that passed through a beam from it? | | Would dearly love to send all those mad bomber bast***s to see Allah a little | earlier then they expected.
Ah, another Carl.... Anyway, there was an article a few weeks ago about someone in Afghanistan that missed getting demo'd by a roadside explosive. Seems that there was a vehicle whose purpose was to electronically set these things off. They didn't give any further details about the device, for reasons obvious. IIRC, cell phones are used as remote detonators (I always wondered if they even had cell phones before the war?) so its likely that these devices make all cell phones in the area go off, thereby setting off any remotely detonated bombs. Just thinking out loud, but that's what I'd do, until I had to think about it some more...
What about an ON Off switch, John?
I said as an example "EMP" because it's hard to dispute that it could not do it. Sort of to blow your blind assertion that it could not be done, out of the water and open up your mind to think of possible ways to do it.
Think "half full and not "half empty" That's how progress is made. The world did turn out to be round John, and no one ever fell off of the edge!
Now that's a good Idea!
The primitive A-rab?
Satellite E-lint from cell phone use was a prime source of intelligence for the US before the war. Cell phones are very popular in the Middle East.
Yes, it could. So you have your EMP device set up and here comes a car. From a nice safe distance you trigger your EMP (they are a pulsed affair, not continuous). The car stops instantly, it's ignition system fried even if it's an old fasioned capacitor and points system. If it's a modern car with an ECU that's toast too. Also the headlight filiaments, every tailight, parking lamp and dash lamp. The radio if he has one is junk too, and even the driver's cell phone and wristwatch!
So you tow this first victim out of the way, complimenting him on not having a bomb, and wait for the next one. Do you think such a system would be popular with the Iraqui citizenry you're trying to teach about democracy?
Yeah it could be done, until the bombers stopped using electrical detonators and went back to fuses you light with a match.
Very simple, place large signs and audio recordings explaining that all explosives will detonate when they pass that device 50 yards up the road. If you have explosives for a legitimate purpose, you will be checked out and bypass the device.
Mike Patterson Please remove the spamtrap to email me. "I always wanted to be somebody...I should have been more specific..." - Lily Tomlin
And the terrorist, duly warned, doesn't get blown up. He is however free to look for another way around. Or resort to an old fashioned light-with-a-match type fuse.
I was reading something recently that warned against packing chocolate or cheese when flying. It seems that those common food items appear very similar to some kind of explosive on the airport scanners. That doesn't reflect well on our "high tech" security - a low-tech bomb-sniffing dog could easily tell the difference.
I'll be careful not to pack one of those 5lb Hershey bars and a big wheel of Gouda for my next trip.
-Ron
Interesting idea, but totally impractical. One word - Airbags.
Explosive-cinched inertia reel seatbelts, side-impact airbags...
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Aw man - that's just terrible. I like my fountain pen!
Since a bunch of IED's are triggered by cell phones, how about a demon dialer that just dials millions of numbers. It could trigger a bang while the bad guys are planting it.
You are as evil as I am! I've been thinking that they should round up all the RPGs they could get their hands on and modify them all to self destruct on the shoulder, then disburse them to unprotected munitions stockpiles. Alternatively they could let stockpiles of equipment doctored with tracking devices be captured.
Outsource it with a list of local cell-phone numbers to Bangalore. If it blows up fine, if not they can sell the Iraqis discount long distance services or something.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
Gunner
The resonate frequency is easy, that's how Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR or MRI to you civilians) works. Any chemistry library can tell what frequencies would be good candidates (n-n, azide bond, or o-o, peroxide bond would be good candidates). On the other hand, generating sufficient power absorption to cause anything to happen is virtually impossible because the energy dissipates so fast. Nice idea, but no easier to generate than an EMP.
Jim
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