Frosted Flake posted:

What if the government didn't have to negotiate with shipyards for price? Is such a world possible?

How would they know warships need to be made if not for the price signal?

Maed posted:

you like their governance including the beating people bloody with sticks if they dare have a speck of weed on them or spit out gum?

StratGoatCom posted:

Honestly, I think I've seen the future of western war - prison 'mercenaries', with the cheapest possible equipment screening starship troopers style exoskeleton elites and drone tanks, with an ever greater supply of meat from poverty and law sending ever more to prison.

cat botherer posted:

Considering that Russia literally does this now, we definitely will if we need to fight a big-boy war. A draft nowadays is just so unworkable that there's not much else.

Slavvy posted:

We would love to live in a world where stuff can be made

gradenko_2000 posted:

How to design a war technology: What wins? What is reasonably cheap or too expensive?

fits my needs posted:

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1639319056829550592?s=20

atelier morgan posted:

you could get a relative handful to work as mercenaries by offering pay and favorable conditions but just like that doesn't make for enough inmate firefighters to keep up wildfire demand in california right now, that isn't going to keep up with the demands of a war

and trying to go any further than volunteers, well people like to rag on americans for never doing anything against the people oppressing them but there are two categories of people with a long history here of violently resisting when pressed and those are conscripts and inmates

skooma512 posted:

Yep, it's like Chen Shang during the Qin Dynasty. The government was already going to kill him for being late, so he rebelled instead. Americans don't rebel because of the police state and hitherto relatively high standard of living, but a conscript or a slave soldier already got hit by the police state and is already essentially facing a death sentence, and lol they handed them a gun.

The Oldest Man posted:

We're going to be hearing a lot about how the incredible perfect beautiful weapons systems weren't fully operational over the next decade I bet

Centrist Committee posted:

and rest assured it is NOT because they don’t work

quote:

“Look at me. I am not forgiving the fact you’re not delivering the ordnance we need. OK?” Adm. Daryl Caudle, who is in charge of delivering weapons to most of the Navy’s East Coast-based fleet, warned contractors during an industry gathering in January. “We’re talking about war-fighting, national security, and going against a competitor here and a potential adversary that is like nothing we’ve ever seen. And we can’t dillydally around with these deliveries.”

His open frustration reflects a problem that has become worryingly apparent as the Pentagon dispatches its own stocks of weapons to help Ukraine hold off Russia and Washington warily watches for signs that China might provoke a new conflict by invading Taiwan: The United States lacks the capacity to produce the arms that the nation and its allies need at a time of heightened superpower tensions.

Industry consolidation, depleted manufacturing lines and supply chain issues have combined to constrain the production of basic ammunition like artillery shells while also prompting concern about building adequate reserves of more sophisticated weapons including missiles, air defense systems and counter-artillery radar.

KomradeX posted:

From Rockets to Ball Bearings, Pentagon Struggles to Feed War Machine

lol, lmao

KomradeX posted:

From Rockets to Ball Bearings, Pentagon Struggles to Feed War Machine

lol, lmao

quote:

Procurement budgets are growing. The military is offering suppliers multiyear contracts to encourage companies to invest more in their manufacturing capacity and is dispatching teams to help solve supply bottlenecks. More generally, the Pentagon is abandoning some of the cost-cutting changes embraced after the end of the Cold War, including corporate-style just-in-time delivery systems and a drive to shrink the industry.

quote:

The current problems have their roots in the aftermath of the Cold War’s end, when a drive for the “peace dividend” led to cuts in weapons procurement and consolidation of the industry

quote:

Prodded by military industry lobbyists — and the hundreds of retired high-ranking military officers they have hired to their sales and marketing teams — the government has instead mostly focused on buying new ships, planes and other extremely high-priced pieces of equipment, where the major contractors make most of their money.

Those loving Dipshit Shills at the NYT posted:

The current problems have their roots in the aftermath of the Cold War’s end, when a drive for the “peace dividend” led to cuts in weapons procurement and consolidation of the industry.

Centrist Committee posted:

bar ran dun: catholic ideology fixes this

Frosted Flake posted:

e: lol what loving peace dividend? I'm so tired of hearing about this thing that so far as I know, did not exist, and certainly did not shape policy.

Frosted Flake posted:

e: lol what loving peace dividend? I'm so tired of hearing about this thing that so far as I know, did not exist, and certainly did not shape policy.

Cerebral Bore posted:

i dunno, the mic seems to have reaped quite the dividend as they didn't actually have to deliver on anything anymore

Centrist Committee posted:

bar ran dun: catholic ideology fixes this

mawarannahr posted:

Tankbuster posted:

lol, modi keeps flip flopping hard. The first term was him going all in with the west and inking deals with the US and France (while our media hooted and hollered that we were getting superior western weapons instead of lovely commie ones the muslamic INC had shoved down our throats) and how we are back to pretending that India is a key player in the new multipolar world order.

The Oldest Man posted:

Explain the difference between a one way attack drone, a suicide drone, and a cruise missile

KomradeX posted:

From Rockets to Ball Bearings, Pentagon Struggles to Feed War Machine

lol, lmao

quote:

A recent fire disrupted the assembly line at one of the two remaining suppliers, Aerojet Rocketdyne, causing further delays in delivering the SM-6 and other precision missile systems, even as Pentagon orders for thousands of new missiles pile up.

quote:

That habit has also extended to European allies such as Poland, which has committed to buying F-35 fighter jets, which cost about $80 million each — but not enough missiles to use them for more than about two weeks in a war, said Hayes of Raytheon, whose Pratt & Whitney division builds engines for the fighter.

Grognan posted:

"One-way attack drone"

so I guess we're evolving beyond "suicide drone"

what other types of drones are there, bi directional drones that land, challenge the target to a fight, and then return home to explode?

The Oldest Man posted:

Explain the difference between a one way attack drone, a suicide drone, and a cruise missile

Bot that I fed books about artillery posted:

Subject: Proposal for Developing a New APDS Round for Field Artillery Battery Defence

To: Chief of Artillery Section, [workplace]

Sir/Madam,

Based on recent combat reports from Ukraine, I am writing to propose the development and integration of a new Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) munition for our 105mm field artillery systems, enhancing the self-defence capabilities of our artillery batteries against a wide range of enemy vehicles. The concept involves adapting the projectile from an obsolete 105x617mmR tank round (L52/M728) with a tungsten alloy core and tilt cap to create a new, effective, and rapidly procured defensive capability that is compatible with our existing 105mm field artillery systems.

The L52/M728 projectiles are currently available in NATO stocks but are considered obsolete and are awaiting disposal. By repurposing these projectiles, we can make effective use of existing resources while achieving improved performance over the current Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles and M72 LAWs issued for battery anti-tank defence. The high performance of the proposed round opens up the possibility of secondary uses in the direct fire role against hardened targets.

The proposed new round will involve affixing the L52/M728 projectile to a fixed 105mm field artillery case. Our calculations indicate that a chamber pressure of 240 MPa will generate a muzzle velocity of approximately 1256 m/s. This higher muzzle velocity would result in a flatter trajectory, allowing for more accurate engagements at distances up to 1500 meters. In addition, the increased armor-piercing capabilities would enable effective defense against a wide range of threat vehicles, including BMPs, BTRs, and GAZ Tigrs.

It is worth noting that more recent stock of C127 tungsten alloy APFSDS rounds cannot be used for this purpose, as their longer penetrator design would require the projectile to extend into the case. Field artillery ammunition, unlike tank rounds, require that the entire projectile be affixed on top of the case, due to the different arrangement of propellant within the case, making the C127 incompatible with this proposal. The L52/M728 APDS, on the other hand, provides an ideal solution due to its compatibility with our existing 105mm field artillery systems.

To fully realize the potential of this new capability, we also recommend exploring the integration of advanced fire control systems (FCS), including optical or laser rangefinders and integrating the existing Doppler radars used for muzzle velocity measurement on LG 1 and C3 howitzers. These systems could be rapidly mounted on the artillery systems during battery defence or other direct fire engagements, further enhancing the effectiveness of the new APDS round.

We believe this innovative concept has the potential to greatly improve our artillery battery anti-tank self-defence capabilities, and we look forward to your support in exploring and developing this promising new munition.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Title]

Attachment:

Spec Sheet for the XC728 Sub-Calibre APDS Round

Rapidly procured by mating the sabot and penetrator of the L52/M728 105x617mmR tank round to the case of the 105mm C1 field artillery cartridge.

Parent L52/M728 105x617mmR Specifications:

Muzzle Velocity: 1426 m/s
Chamber Pressure: 310 MPa
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) at various ranges:
10m: 265mm
100m: 263mm
500m: 252mm
1000m: 240mm
1500m: 228mm
2000m: 216mm
Proposed XC728 Sub-Calibre APDS Round Specifications:

Muzzle Velocity: 1256 m/s (estimated)
Chamber Pressure: 240 MPa (using 105mm C1 field artillery cartridge case)
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) at various ranges (estimated):
10m: 232mm
100m: 230mm
500m: 221mm
1000m: 210mm
1500m: 200mm
2000m: 189mm

The penetration values for the proposed XC728 round are estimated based on the assumption of a linear relationship between muzzle velocity and penetration performance. The actual performance of the round may vary due to other factors such as propellant burn rate, barrel length, and projectile aerodynamics.

Performance against frontal armor of threat vehicles (estimates based on engagement ranges and armor penetration values):

Emergency battery defence (0-400m): Likely to defeat the frontal armor of BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3, BTR-70, BTR-82, and GAZ Tigr.
Direct fire engagement of point targets (400-1500m): 50% chance of defeating the frontal armor of BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3, BTR-70, BTR-82, and GAZ Tigr.
Limited to low effectiveness against T-72BM3, T-80UM, and T-90A MBTs at all ranges (Unable to penetrate armour, may cause mission or mobility kill).