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An Auckland man is building a cruise missile in his garage, just to prove he can.

It is on a quite country backroad that an unlikely roar breaks the silence.

Bruce Simpson is trialling one of his homemade jet engines, which he intends to use to power his very own cruise missile.

The New Zealand home handyman is attempting to build a do-it-yourself cruise missile with legal, off-the-shelf equipment for less than $US5,000.

He is building it, well, just to prove he can.

"Just to prove that very point, that you don't have to be a rocket scientist," Mr Simpson said.

"There's so much stuff available off the shelf, there's so many standard components you can get from anywhere over the Internet, in your local hardware store, that it's important that the awareness is raised.

"I myself knew it would be easy, but I was stunned at just how easy it was."

Defence interest

But Mr Simpson's activities are attracting official interest, particularly as he has now test-fired several jet engines.

On his web site, where Mr Simpson is chronicalling his quest, he says he has been challenged by US military experts over his claim the missile could easily be built.

"In order to prove my case, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and build a cruise missile in my own garage," the 49-year-old said.

Mr Simpsons says he welcomes the interest from defence authorities.

"I've done my best to inform the authorities all along, because the last thing I want is a bunch of black suits turning up and saying 'what's this missile you've got in your garage'?," he said.

"In fact I've asked for some assistance from the air force, because when it comes to testing, I'll need some clear air space and someone who is there to oversee things."

Bruce Simpson was last briefly famous for building a jet engine in his backyard and using it to cool his beer.
His web site said at the time, "the risks should be obvious, but it is worth pointing out that beer is a very dangerous substance when used without due care".

He says he has managed to acquire most of the parts from the online auction house eBay, including a GPS system purchased for $US120 that "was delivered by international airmail in less than a week and passed through customs without any problems".

The initial procurement is so far the only one of 15 stages of development completed in Mr Simpson's missile diary.

Mr Simpson says it is a crude missile but it easy enough to make.

He expects to have it flying by the end of June.

"It's like a small aircraft powered by a jet engine," he said.

He says it could easily reach a chosen destination up to 100 kilometres away, carrying a 10-kilogram payload.

"Obviously the goal of this web site is not to provide terrorists or other nefarious types with the plans for a working cruise missile but to prove the point that nations need to be prepared for this type of sophisticated attack from within their own borders," Mr Simpson said.

Terrorist enquiries?

The NZ Defence Department would not comment but one official told the New Zealand Herald Mr Simpson's web site could be violating the international Missile Technology Control Regime, under which New Zealand has agreed to restrict the availability of missile technology.

Mr Simpson says he has had 400,000 hits on his web site and calls from people in Lebanon and Iran wanting to buy his know-how.

"I have had emails from Lebanon, Pakistan, Iran, quite a few places where one would suspect that it might not be a good idea to get involved."

But he denies he could be helping terrorists, saying he generally ignores those emails.

"I'm not publishing anything or any information that isn't available elsewhere," Mr Simpson said.

"All I'm doing is basically amalgamating it into a single point source.

"Terrorist groups like Al Qaeda have got far more resources, far more well-educated, qualified people than myself and if they wanted to do this, they would do it whether I published my web site or not."

Mr Simpson says there is little authorities can do to stop the spread of such information or the construction of similar missiles.

"Unfortunately, you take a kitchen knife, you can use it to butter bread or to stab someone with it. And we don't ban kitchen knives because they might be a weapon, and the same goes for the GPS and all the other systems involved in this cruise missile," he said.

"I think all we can do is raise public awareness.

"Hopefully it will mean that people in the street will take a little more notice of their neighbours making funny noises at night or shipping large amounts of polystyrene and fibreglass into their garage."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/indepth/f...ms/missile.htm