How far can a sniper hit a rocket on ground?

[Lupinus]

and we would do that why?

cruise missles have better range and are more likely to stop their missle with a hit then a bullet.

 

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

Lets just will the missile out of the sky. Like Gene in X-MEN.

 

[Kharn]

BigFatKen:
Urban legend, anything goes when it comes to caliber.

Kharn

 

[BigFatKen]

and we would do that why?

It creates "plausible denialibilty". We did not do it. If the Korean-American team are captured, then it would be a problem. We might have to say they are disidents or something.

 

[mcosman]

2500 yards is about the maximum effective range on the fifty in the hands of a Human (as opposed to a SERVO Gantry) As a bmg owner I can tell you that all blunderbuss and machismo aside, there is only about a dozen guys in the US that could make that shot. No offense to anyone out there.

Carbon fiber is stronger than you might think. No you cannot take out a rocket with a BB gun point blank. This I know a thing or two about (building an all Carbon aircraft) I have also worked on tooling development for both the Pac-3(patriot) and the Taurus payload capsule.

Cruis missile all the way. More $$ but... safer for our guys, more accurate, faster deployment.

 

[profshadow]

Actually, it isn't the rocket that's the problem...it is Kim Jong-il

So the trick would be simpler if we just were able to "remove the guidance chip and reset the destination" (to swipe a common movie plot!)

 

[Chupacabra]

Why use a sniper team when you can use on of THESE?



I bet Boeing has put that system on the fast track.

 

[profshadow]

Nice Chupa! I'd take one of those flying support any day!

 

[Kentak]

We'll probably be seeing that in Mission Impossible 4.

 

[Firethorn]

Profshadow, the only problem with that plane is that it still has only like 30 seconds of burn. It's good for shooting down missiles, but the laser would have a hard time killing one human.

 

[Lucky]

If you were close enough to shoot the missile, wouldn't the explosion you caused kill you?

 

[Serendipity]

Surely, some of these responses are meant to be jokes?? Surely nobody here really believes that a Navy boat is going to shoot down a missile with bullets of any kind?

Cruise missile is the logical choice. Why have deniability? Just tell Kim that we blew up his rocket. What's he going to do about it? Then tell him that we'll blow up every other rocket that he tries to launch.

 

[profshadow]

Well, perhaps I could just use it as a nice sighting light?

 

[50 Shooter]

That's the point of this, you want to be far enough away so that A) You can escape B) You won't be part of the explosion C) Get to play 007 another day.

Here's the round of choice for all you would be SCUD hunters out there. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/mk211.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raufoss_Mk_211_Mod_0

 

[the naked prophet]

Carbon fiber is stronger than you might think. No you cannot take out a rocket with a BB gun point blank. This I know a thing or two about (building an all Carbon aircraft) I have also worked on tooling development for both the Pac-3(patriot) and the Taurus payload capsule.

I worked a stint at NASA in Huntsville (Marshall SFC) as an independent contractor analyzing rocket failures. I spent most of my time on the STS-107 (Columbia) disaster, but I also analyzed other (mostly launch) failures as case studies. I don't remember the name, but one launch used a set of six booster rockets, which had carbon fiber bodies, around the bottom. One of them had a crack, which caused an explosion. The question was, was this crack the result of a manufacturing defect, a handling accident, or a malicious attack of some sort? The problem is that in order to make them as light as possible, the carbon fiber is only strong enough to contain the pressure generated by the burning fuel - even a moderately powerful BB gun (at close range) would be powerful enough to break a few fibers of the thin material. Those few fibers would be enough to weaken the body of the rocket enough to cause a breach.

The idea is that with a sniper, they don't know that we destroyed their missile. They might have a design problem, a manufacturing problem, a sabeteur, or any of a hundred other things that will take major resources to investigate.

 

[Fred Fuller]

There were sniper teams hunting Scuds with .50s in the first sandbox war. Since then even larger calibers have been developed for use as anti-materiel rifles, intended to destroy hardware from a distance. The idea of taking out a missile with a rifle is not at all far fetched.

lpl/nc
================================

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-materiel_rifle

http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=313

http://www.special-operations-technology.com/print_article.cfm?DocID=673

http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn56-e.htm

and so on...

 

[mp510]

For all practical intents and pruposes, it would be suicide to South Korea if that sort of mission ever were executed. Even moreso if it was determined to be launched by American forces, by capturing some dead or alive Americans, recovering American ordinance, or what ever else could anger Kim Jong Il.
It is estimated that there is 3,000 conventional missles already aimed opn Seoul. They would be hitting within minutes. When planning this sort of mission, it is cursory to take negative repercussions into account. Getting GI's into North Korea undetected would be difficult enough as it is. It is a known fact that they keep scout and snipers near the DMZ, because GI's have sporadic engagement with them, or so the news reports.

 

[Owen]

bah, ignore em

Every time NK feels neglected they bluster.

IF they have a decent rocket, the CIA wants it launched, so they can figure out how far along the NK's are.

 

[PvtPyle]

I hit a 18x39" iron maiden this weekend at 833m with a 308. The 50 is not as accurate in the semi version as it is in the bolt gun. Lots of facotry depend on the shot, not just the shooters ability. What is the tempature, humidity, winds, elevation above sea level, what round is it, is there an incline or a declination angle?

This is like asking how do you make a cheeseburger.

 

[Diamondback6]

Re the Boeing YAL-1A Airborne Laser, the first bird's laser completed ground trials in December and is in final mount to the aircraf IIRC--last news-update was January, it's like they're trying to make ABL a quasi-black-op. If I was DoD, I'd put a rush on it and send the bird out to Narita for "live-fire trials in a real-world environment".

 

[BigFatKen]

thank you

There were sniper teams hunting Scuds with .50s in the first sandbox war. Since then even larger calibers have been developed for use as anti-materiel rifles, intended to destroy hardware from a distance. The idea of taking out a missile with a rifle is not at all far fetched.

These links above were just what I was looking for.

And the whole point of the post was about guns and ant- materiel ordinance. This will come up again. Maybe another Country.

I'm sure there is enough USSR stuff that could be cobbled together to make a remote controlled device. The modern computer boards, aiming stuff would have dedundant self destruct devices.

No man to catch, no fingerprints, if done right.

 

[Zak Smith]

The resource you want is called The Complete .50 Caliber Sniper Course: Hard-Target Interdiction by Dean Michaelis [2000].

I also would put the outer limit of range at 2400 yards, plus or minus 300 depending on environmental conditions. With good ammunition and 50BMG rifle, hitting a vehicle at 1 mile is not all that hard.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Dean knows his stuff, he used to teach on the SOTIC committee at USAJFKSWCS when I was a useless civilian elsewhere in SWC. Last I heard from him he was doing field testing, working out the details on the .408 Cheytac round.

See his page at http://www.snipingoperationsexecutive.org/

lpl/nc