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Libyan Rebels Weaponize Power Wheels Toys
Danny Rathjens pointed out a story about the DIY weapons created by Libyan rebels. One of the more interesting is a machine gun drone created from a Power Wheels-style ATV. Rebels outfit the toys with a small cannon and attach controls via long wire. A solider can hide while he uses a small television and simple controls to move the vehicle and fire the gun. A similar system is also outfitted to a toy truck with a machine gun on top.
Desperation is the true mother of invention. These Lybian rebels are determined, and it's impressive what people can do when faced with something that important to them but a limited budget.
It would have taken the Army 8 years and $100's of millions of dollars for the US to do this. *Sigh* We really should take a lesson in innovation.
Libya has been an outright sponsor for terrorist organizations for years and when they backed off on the first world they moved in on Africa supplying arms, training and mercenaries to some of the most vicious rebel groups in the region. You can't get much worse than Gaddafi to begin with so the dice roll is worth the risk.
Something about the fact that they've formed their own central bank seems less than grass-roots to me.
Kind of the point, really. Yes - we can all snicker at over-priced hammers. But the kind of tech that's being produced for big budget military is orders of magnitude more impressive than the hacks being described here (and there's nothing wrong with a good hack). But both have their place and can be appreciated for the technology involved.
People often forget where that $800 hammer comes from :-)
- You need to have a DARPA program to fund research into advanced nail insertion technology (ANIT).
- Then you have some FFRDC do an involved trade study that concludes that a hammer is preferably to the DARPA-developed ANIT project.
- A program executive office (PEO) now hosts an industry day presentation on the US Army's Tactical Hammer Needs to the tool-making industries
- The PEO now publishes a Request For Information (RFI) to solicit information from industry on steel hardening and handle-forming capabilities that could be used for the hammers.
- Finally a Request for Proposal (RFP) is published, along with a detailed performance spec, requirements list, and statement of work. There is a limited number of hammers desired, with options for buying more later. They also have to conform to various Military standards that no tool you'd buy at Home Depot would ever have to confirm to. Also, they do need to be made in the US in a facility that holds the proper security clearances.
- The PEO finally selects one of the submitted proposals, awarding the contract.
- One of the loosing contractors decides to file a formal protest, and drags the process out longer. Eventually a settlement is made, and the selected prime contractor takes them on as a subcontractor for handle-to-head integration.
- After several rounds of requirements engineering, systems engineering, and product R&D, along with approvals at preliminary and critical design reviews (PDR/CDR), the government gives the go-ahead to enter Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP).
- Testing eventually finds issues in the initial batch. Some design changes are made, costs are passed along, and eventually the hammer enters full-rate production (FRP).
- Following training and deployment, the MK42 Tactical Nail Insertion Device (code-name "Hammer") is deployed into the field.
- Meanwhile, nails are getting tougher, and follow-on program for the MK49 Objective Nail Banger is announced.
I could go on forever :-)
Do you see the irony is claiming that battery life is a critical failure when commenting on an article that shows DIY modifications of weapons?
People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people