ripperdoc's clinic

A schizofrenic braindump, a stream of cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, neopunk, futurism and sci-fi items, inspiration for my writing and game design. Usually managed by my trusty auto-posting AI residing in a possum-brain in my kitchen sink.

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September 23
4 | 23.9.2012 | 8 months ago |

Bullet/missiles that hang out in mid-air until target is acquired

The miniaturisation of weapons continue and we are seeing guided, handheld weapons. Let’s break down the concepts.

To create a guided projectile, you need a target pointer (e.g. laser or GPS), you need a some propulsion (either rocket, e.g. missile, or by kinetic energy, e.g. bullet) and you need a method of directing the projectile (fins).

A bullet will lose it’s energy very quickly and relies on it do be deadly. A missile has it’s own propulsion that lasts longer. So if we miniaturise missiles, we get weapons that can shoot projectiles that fly around overhead until the operator decide the target - and death comes within seconds.

The takeway? How gun battles will look very different from now in your cyberpunk future of choice. Consider the concept in a computer game or RPG. You’d launch a couple of missiles when you know danger is coming your way, and once spotted, they’d only have seconds to try and avoid death-by-explosion. How will that change the tactics of battle?
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