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From: BXR307@CSC.ANU.OZ.AU
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Long range tank destruction
Message-ID: <1990Oct2.235339.23873@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 2 Oct 90 23:53:39 GMT
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From:    BXR307@CSC.ANU.OZ.AU
In article <1990Sep27.031554.7357@cbnews.att.com>, khearn@uts.amdahl.com (Bug Hunter) writes:
> From: khearn@uts.amdahl.com (Bug Hunter)
> In article <1990Sep24.001517.23322@cbnews.att.com> FQV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU (jim bowers) writes:
>>It seems to me that the technology exists to destroy every Iraqi Tank
>>in Kuwait without any U.S. personnel ever crossing the border.
>>
>>Use RPV's (like the ones the Israelis have used to such good effect for
>>intelligence gathering) and attach a laser designator to the tv camera.
>>The only thing you now need is a long range delivery system for some
>>pave laser guided bombs.  Ideally a simple unguided long range rocket
>>should do the trick.  Since it would probably take too long to develop
>>this technology, I suggest a high speed / high altitude release from
>>an F-15 in a ballistic trajectory.
> 
> You might find that it is hard to keep  a laser from an RPV on target
> for the length of time it takes for a bomb to arrive. RPV's probably
> aren't the most stable platform in the world, and it could take quite
> a while for the bomb to arrive.
> 
> It is an interesting idea, though. It would take some development, but
> it might be feasable if you could gyrostabilize the laser. I don't
> know how small you could make a stabilizer though. I doubt we could
> get a working system ready for the battlefield before fighting starts
> this time. :-(



	They are gyro-stablised.  Its the only way you can get a steady
picture/paint at the ranges they view their targets.  Gyro-stablisers are now
very small and very compact.  They are in use on most RPV (or as they are now
called in the dynamic world of military acronyms just to confuse more people
with more jargon UAV  [Unmanned Air-Vehicles] :-) and have even now found a use
in some of the more advanced tank project around the world in gyro-stablised
tank sights for tank commanders (the AMX-30b2,AMX-32,AMX-40, LeClerc and
Challenger Mk II's are all vehicles which immediately spring to mind.).  Most
UAV's also now carry laser designators as standard equipment.
	However what the original poster has ignored is that most (if not
all) laser glide bombs are not intended to be tossed bombed.  In addition 
they would have difficulty aquiring the laser "paint" (the bomb needs to
be able to "see" the laser spot before it is released normally) because of
its extremely narrow field of view.
	Finally I think this scheme is just a touch expensive in material
terms.  I do not know how much a laser guided PGM is, but I would suggest
that it could well be more expensive than most of the earlier types of
MBT's (such as the T55) which make up the bulk of the Iraqi's tank strength.



Brian Ross