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The Jet Fighter Laser Cannon
fahrbot-bot sends in a Register piece about DARPA issuing the penultimate contract for what is intended to be a jet-mounted laser cannon. The Reg outdoes itself in a BOTEC involving downsizing to shark scale. "The US military will shortly issue a brace of contracts for 'refrigerator sized' laser blaster cannons. One of the deals will see a full-power ground prototype built which will be the final stage prior to America's first raygun-equipped jet fighter. ... If it scales down far enough, this would seem to put handheld HELL-guns within an order of magnitude of the striking power offered by conventional small-arms. A 9mm pistol bullet has about 750 joules muzzle energy: a 5kg portable HELL-ray weapon would put out this much energy in a blast less than a second long. ... A dolphin can carry a human being weighing up to 100kg along for a ride. A thoroughbred shark in good training can surely match this. Thus, we seem to be looking at practicable head-[laser] output in the 20-kilowatt range."
Obvious troll is obvious.
I am not from the US but it is pretty clear to me that the US is vulnerable only on its energy supply. That is why they now have an oil producer (Iraq) as a client state. You can mouth off about the US being the next victim but the fact is that as long as they have a supply of energy they can't be effectively attacked short of lobbing nukes. And even there the chance of success is small.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
I'd be interested in numbers on those outcomes. Did police agencies who switched from 9mm to a larger caliber have measurably better outcomes, under some relevant measure (controlling for other variables, of course), after the switch than before? Do agencies in comparable situations that use different calibers have anything measurably different about their outcomes?
No. That's why the majority of LE still use 9mm.
The various failures and complaints you've heard about 9mm, and often thrown around by its detractors, are for a variety of causes. More often than not, its failure is actually the choice of bullet rather than the caliber. Believe it or not, there was a period where police where forced to use light grained, low powered rounded to protect the public from over penetration. Many blamed 9mm for its failure. That many would be idiots. Believe it or not, the bullet manufacturers have been developing various high tech rounds over the years. Some have proved successful. Some have not. Many blamed 9mm for its failure. That many would be idiots. Believe it or not, even trained "professionals" have trouble shooting straight in a crisis. Some of these professionals blame 9mm for their inability to shoot straight. The list goes on. Realistically, using police grade ammunition, 9mm has a 90+%, single shot torso, kill rate, and that's with full metal jacket.
Anyone who says 9mm is a bad round is either ignorant of the facts or trying to justify their overcompensation. That doesn't mean 9mm is the best round for all purposes, but it is the best round, by far, for general purpose and self defense.