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New Rifle Tech Offers Variable Muzzle Speed

Ponca City, We love you writes "A gun that fires variable-speed bullets that can be set to kill, wound, or just inflict a bruise is being built by a Lund and Company Invention, a toy design studio that makes toy rockets powered by burning hydrogen obtained by electrolyzing water. The company is being funded by the US Army to adapt the technology to fire bullets instead. The new weapon, called the Variable Velocity Weapon System or VWS, lets the soldier use the same rifle for crowd control and combat, by altering the muzzle velocity. It could be loaded with 'rubber bullets' designed only to deliver blunt impacts on a person, full-speed lethal rounds, or projectiles somewhere between the two. Bruce Lund, the company's CEO, says the gun works by mixing a liquid or gaseous fuel with air in a combustion chamber behind the bullet. This determines the explosive capability of the propellant and consequently the velocity of the bullet. 'Projectile velocity varies from non-lethal at 10 meters, to lethal at 100 meters or more, as desired,' says Lund. The existing VWS design is a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rifle weapon, but Lund says the technology can be scaled to any size, 'handgun to Howitzer.'"

4 of 443 comments (clear)

  1. Wikileaks says Army prototype has 16 settings: by Izabael_DaJinn · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    1. Light Stun - causes central nervous system impairement on humanoids, unconsciousnes for up to 5 minutes. Long exposure by several shots causes reversible neural damage.

    2. Medium Stun - causes unconsciousnes from 5 to 15 minutes. Long exposure causes irreversible neural damage, along with damage to epithelial tissue.

    3. Heavy Stun - causes unconsciousnes from 15 to 60 minutes depending on the level of biological resistance. Significantly heats up metals.

    4. Thermal Effects - causes extensive neural damage to humanoids and skin burns limited to the outer layers. Causes metals to retain heat when applied for over five seconds.

    5. Thermal Effects - causes severe outer layer skin burns. Can penetrate simple personal force fields after five seconds of application.

    6. Disruption Effects - penetrates organic and structural materials. The thermal damage level decreases from this level onward.

    7. Disruption Effects - due to widespread disruption effects, kills humanoids.

    8. Disruption Effects - causes a cascade disruption that vaporizes humanoid organisms. Any unprotected material can be penetrated.

    9. Disruption Effects - causes medium alloys and structural materials, over a meter thick, to exhibit energy rebound prior to vaporization.

    10. Disruption Effects - causes heavy alloys and structural materials to absorb or rebound energy. There is a 0.55 second delay before the material vaporizes.

    11. Explosive/Disruption Effects - causes ultra-dense alloys and structural materials to absorb or rebound energy before vaporization. There is a 0.2 second delay before the material vaporizes. Approximately 10 cubic meters of rock are disintegrated per shot.

    12. Explosive/Disruption Effects - causes ultra-dense alloys and structural materials to absorb or rebound energy before vaporization. There is a 0.1 second delay before the material vaporizes. Approximately 50 cubic meters of rock are disintegrated per shot.

    13. Explosive/Disruption Effects - causes shielded matter to exhibit minor vibrational heating effects. Approximately 90 cubic meters of rock are disintegrated per shot.

    14. Explosive/Disruption Effects - causes shielded matter to exhibit medium vibrational heating effects. Approximately 160 cubic meters of rock are disintegrated per shot.

    15. Explosive/Disruption Effects - causes shielded matter to exhibit major vibrational heating effects. Approximately 370 cubic meters of rock are disintegrated per shot.

    16. Explosive/Disruption Effects - causes shielded matter to exhibit light mechanical fracturing damage. Approximately 650 cubic meters of rock are disintegrated per shot.

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    Careful What You Wish For....
  2. Re:Oh, good. by timmarhy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    was it something i said? hahaha

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    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
  3. Re:Oh, good. by megaditto · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yes, Globalization is in theory very good for everyone. But what we have right now is not Globalization. Employers and businesses can move jobs and funds around in seconds, while the people get locked in ever so tightly.

    The immigration restrictions are such as to prevent labor migration since this would advantage all workers. This lockdown is very bad for underpaid foreigners, but even worse for all the "overpriced" Americans who just can't compete at their standard of living (and have to lower it to match that of foreigners, instead of the reverse).

    The selective pressure in this system is towards cutting income, work conditions, innovations, literacy levels, live expectancy. If these aren't falling in your country right now, you are outcompeted until you begin starving to death (at which point you start being competitive). And if the people in a particular country wise up somehow, the businesses can just move on again, in seconds. So the Globalization of today is a race to the bottom, while it could (and should) have been a rise to the top, for everyone.

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  4. Re:Oh, good. by spun · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I've had good and bad experiences with police. I think cops have two modes, 'serve and protect' mode, and 'kick the shit out of the criminal' mode. You don't want to do anything that puts them in the second mode, which includes mouthing off to them.

    When I volunteered with Food Not Bombs, we handed out free soup and bagels in front of city hall in San Francisco. The mayor did NOT like this, so he rounded up the worst cops and set them on us.

    I've been beaten down for handing out free food. I've seen cops wrench my friend's arms out of their sockets, stomp on their heads, and drag them off. I've seen them pour soup into the gutter in front of hundreds of hungry people. That's a little hard to forgive.

    I don't think all cops are bad. But there are problems with the police. First, who becomes a cop? A few people who really want to do good, a few people who really like power over others, and a bunch of people who just didn't have any better options.

    Second, cops see the worst side of life and society, and it makes them callous and jaded. They expect the worst because they've seen it every day. Not enough emphasis is placed on proper psychological counseling for police. They really need it.

    Finally, cops protect each other. Which makes sense when you are on the street together facing danger. But they take it too far, and protect each other from consequences of very bad decisions as well. Cops get away with things that they would instantly bust others for.

    That being said, outside of protest situations, I've had nothing but good interactions with the police. They've been polite and helpful. But once you start making a fuss, not even busting up property but just protesting, they turn mean. They represent authority, and they will not have authority questioned.

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    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton