This topic came up in another thread and Sparhawk thought it might be a good discussion in itself. Basically, there's a guy in New Zealand building a cruise missile on a $5000 budget. He seems to have a pretty good design and A LOT of people believe he is going to succeed. There have been many articles around the world about the project and he has repeatedly tried to get the US government and others to recognize the missile threat as real. Getting little to no response from the organizations he contacted, he decide that only by building it will people take him seriously.
I think there are many implications to this, not the least of which is that proliferation of missile technology will happen. Groups (terrorist and otherwise) and governments that don't already have this capability can and will achieve it at some point in the future. Personally, I believe that research into a missile defense system is justified, not strictly because this one guy is building one that may or may not be accurate, but because despite what the famous quote "It's not rocket science." implies, rocket science is not that complicated. Creating a really accurate rocket/missile has traditionally been difficult but given the sophistication of maps produced today, GPS systems, and the like it's getting easier.
http://www.interestingprojects.com/c...le/diary.shtml
There's too much info on the above site to paste here, but here's a brief run down of what the site contains:
Welcome to the DIY Cruise Missile construction diary.
Regular visitors to this area of the website will be able to see:
how and where materials and components were sourced and how much was paid.
how the airframe is designed and constructed (with full working plans)
How the engine (a conventional pulsejet) is designed and constructed (with full working plans)
How the guidance system is designed, built and programmed
How the launch system is designed, built and tested (with full working plans)
How the various subsystems are tested
The final assembly and testing of all major subsystems
Flight-testing and deployment (under controlled conditions with a dummy payload)
All of the above will be documented using text, CAD files, GIF/JPEG images, and streaming or downloadable video clips.
A summary of each increment in the project's construction will be posted for public access, with the full details (and supporting text, CAD, MPEG and other files) only available to those who subscribe.
Project Milestones:
Phase 1: Initial Procurements
Phase 2: Airframe Design
Phase 3: Engine Design
Phase 4: Engine Construction
Phase 5: Airframe Construction
Phase 6: Engine Testing
Phase 7: Engine Installation (with ancilliaries)
Phase 8: Flight Control System Design
Phase 9: Flight Control Systems Installation
Phase 10: Launcher Design
Phase 11: Launcher Construction
Phase 12: Launcher Testing
Phase 13: Initial (manually piloted) Flight Testing
Phase 14: In-flight Auto-Guidance System Testing
Phase 15: Deployment.
Note, as each phase of development is completed and documented, the above headings will become hypertext links to the relevant summary pages -- with more detailed information and documentation available through links to the subscription section of this website.