h a l f b a k e r yExpensive, difficult, slightly dangerous, not particularly effective... I'm on a roll.
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Insertion of a man or team behind enemy territory often carries a great risk of detection. While stealth bombers and fighters exist and can drop big bangy things, a person shows up on radar. I propose a self-contained environment: a small pressurised cabin the size, shape, and stealthiness of a bomb.
It would use a parachute to drop all the way down, and only open when the man is safely on the ground. Another advantage is padding, so the parachute can open lower.
HALO parachuting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HALO
Jump high, open low. [Noexit, Jun 06 2007]
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But the parachute is outside the capsule - and how stealthy is the shape of a parachute? What makes a shape stealthy? Not too many sharp edges or pointy bits? A parachute doesn't have pointy bits, but it does have a sort of sharp edge. What sort of things might you do with the shape of a parachute without impairing its basic function? Can you coat a parachute in something that makes it less reflective of radar? |
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Anyhow, I like the idea of insertion //behind enemy territory//; so, for example, you might take off from a carrier in the Strait of Hormuz, overshoot and land in Azerbaijan, *behind* Iranian territory... if Iran were your enemy, hypothetically. |
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I'm not voting against this, just seeking clarification. |
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//stealthiness of a bomb// With the usual cruxiform stabilisers, that is a stealth factor of "not very".
In fact, the best possible moment for detecting a stealth aircraft (or the worst, depending on your relationship to the crew) is when the bomb-bay doors are open. |
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I don't think bombs are paticularly stealthy. And I really doubt parachutes are at all. |
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It's not particularly stealthy but I doubt that anyone does anything about bombs that show up on Radar, so your para could be mistaken for a bomb and ignored. I think the parachute would need to open pretty low though, and I doubt it would have much of a radar signature as they are not solid so the waves will pass through it. |
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I would bet a digit that parachutes are not
significantly visible in radar. |
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Somewhere in a science mag, deep in the past, I read a small article about a troop-carrying pod designed to be attached to the wing of a Harrier jump jet (in place of an external fuel tank, IIRC). High speed insertion, no runway needed, but not a parachute drop like this idea.
Try as I might, I can't find a mention of it to link to. |
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[marklar] - if a bomb shows up on radar in the middle of nowhere, in an area devoid of any targets, it might raise some red flags. You'd have to drop them on a building or convoy to avoid notice, heh. |
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[coprocephalous] - used to be that the interiors of the bomb-bays weren't coated in RAM, so when they opened them, a small signature would show. Now, I think they've solved that problem. Honestly though, I don't know enough about radar to opinionate - I'd just heard that somewhere like the Discovery Channel. |
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I'll see your digit and raise you two ;) |
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How is this any more stealthy than a HALO jump? Is it baked by a HALO jump? See link. |
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edit: I do see this as being baked, or at the least made non-necessary by the HALO jump. |
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Would that be the same C-130 with two large, flat-bladed radar choppers on each wing? |
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There is a system for high-altitude insertion that utilizes a delta wing strapped onto a paratrooper who is outfitted with appropriate gear including oxygen. But I can't remember its name or find a link to it ... |
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//Also made unneccesary by terrain-avoidance and terrain-following radar// So you trade off stealth for flying low and shouting (in a gigahertz stylee) in the general direction of the person you're coming to visit?
The C130 connection reminds me of a story I heard from a friend at the Civil Aviation Authority. They got a call from the RAF saying that they would be flying a low-level mission over Devon and Cornwall, but they wouldn't be filing a flight plan because the exercise was secret.
The next morning the station commander got a fax from the CAA of the exact path of the aircraft, plotted from telephoned complaints from members of the public. |
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Can you still call it a "smart bomb" if its IQ is measured at 71? |
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