Re: ARSA reports dispell DoJ / ATFE myths

This valuable analogy and statistic is helpful and on-topic.

This should be in the FAQ.

Obviously Wickman alredy DID and NAR and TRA will not.

Jerry

August 24, 2003 - The Amateur Rocketry Society of America continues to publish on their web site reports that put a spotlight on the lies and propaganda being spread by the Department of Justice and ATFE on the dangers of rocketry in America. The second report shows how useless amateur and high power rocketry components would be in making weapons against armored vehicles. The report also details how ridiculous the claim by the Department of Justice and ATFE is that a terrorist can "tinker" together an anti-tank weapon with a 5 mile range. The best the US military can do is only 3.1 miles.

This report is available at

IF my fibre glas rocket can put a dent in an M1A1 or Bradley, or blow through a HUMv my tax money is in the wrong spot and our troops are in harm's way. The defense contractors of this country have failed miserably. I respectfully request permission to milk the government for several million dollars to make all three vehicles safe from model rockets. Naive as I am, I failed to realize our vehicles were so fraile. Which senator is in charge of defense of the defense? ATF has showed an incredibley oversight of American hardware. I will not allow my kids to volunteer for an Army which can not defend itself from a model rocket.

Chuck

One of the programs I worked on over 10 years ago was an anti-tank round, rocket propelled.

The specifications for it were so severe and so marginal it would be impossible for an amateur to replicate it and very difficult for even an experienced rocket firm without the computer models to properly optimize the kill value. Furthermore now many armored vehicles have either reactive armor or layered armor to defeat simple kinetic+explosive weapons. Thus rocket propelled anti-tank weapons have reduced in favor, to air launched, laser guided (to a known engineering point) and target specific defeaters.

In short sticking fertilizer, fuel oil, alcohol, in a tube and launching it against the target is a total waste of time. You might hit the target but you only annoy them enough to get their attention and have your launch smoke trail targeted by their far more accurate return fire weapons.

Jerry

Darwinism is in full force and effect.

It does no good posting this on the internet where the Congressmen and Senators will not see it as they are too busy with important things, like vacation and reelection. I don't think the media will be looking at the website either.

Karl Perry

This information is in one of the saftey studies the NAR did perhaps 2 decades ago. It may have been Trip that dug it up. THe final estimate was less than 1 in a million IF YOU WERE TRYING and in range.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

One other potential PR problem is the Palestinians and their homemade rockets that they keep launching at Israel. They look a whole lot like our HP rockets. All we need is for one of them to make a lucky (from a targeting standpoint only) hit and cause casualties. One could only imagine the inane howling we'd here from some of those ignorant congressman.

You mean the DoJ is hoping for a 1:1,200,000 shot? It would only prove the point we've laid out.

I believe their howling would be directed at the moon for another reason, ;-)

Chuck

We could send right now a sealed letter predicting it then when they have the press conference, have a competing press conference with the opening of the magic letter.

TV loves gameshows with a political theme :)

But even the PROOF or either the fact or the statictic in no way changes their inane political position. They have government jurisdiction and jobs to justify.

I've got a moon they can howl at.

FYI, in response to an ROL post, John replied with the following

Yes and more than just news agencies.

John Wickman

It's not obvious to me that the Senators and Congressmen know anything about the subject at all. Publishing a report on a web site doesn't guarantee that anyone reads it.

I have a copy of that report. There are some things in the report that I wanted to rebut, but as the report remained obscure, I left it at that. While there are some interesting points in the report, overall, T think it is best left to obscurity.

Alan

Maybe not the DoJ, but the Homeland Security goons will trample the rights of 1,200,000 US citizens in the hope of finding one person whom they might call a terrorist, and they take great pride in doing so.