onetime2

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.

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Sparhawk

The inner geek in me smiles at this guy's work. I kind of doubt, however, that one guy is going to be responsible for the spread of missile technology. I'll have more thoughts on this when I get home though

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onetime2

I don't think he's going to help spread the technology all that much. His work may encourage some to take it up who thought it would be too expensive but the majority of those who want the capability are already working on it. This guy is just trying to dispel the wide spread belief that it's too hard for the "average" country or person to do and it doesn't have to involve massive governmental conspiracies and secret programs.

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MSD

Hit the local Home Depot, Radio Shack, and hobby store and you can make yourself a Stinger-style heat-seeker. Go to a much larger scale, and you can do this.

Ustwo

I would be easier to just rig a cesna 150 for remote control.

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m0ntyblack

When I was in college, I always found it very impressive just how much a single group of college students with a low amount of funds could actually get done. From building planes that actually fly to robotics that I couldn't begin to describe, they do amazing things as a part of senior projects, or just for the fun of doing them. Now, skip over to "terrorist" groups, who have a much larger fund basis, more focus, and more manpower. I don't see why they don't have working missiles.

Rocket science is just that, a science, and with the right minds you can produce just about anything. Heh, maybe I should shut up before the next project of the evil-hearted is to steal our college students and use them to build super-neutron bombs against us!!

MB

onetime2

Ahh, they'd have to pry them away from their computers and their kegs. It would probably be easier to build a nuke themselves.

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Locobot

True, but it wouldn't be nearly as threatening or cool. This project sounds like a lot of fun.

Maybe I'm being naieve but I don't find the proliferation of this technology nearly as scary as biotechnology. What would be everyone's feeling if this was a site describing the process of creating a lethal virus?

onetime2

Bio tech doesn't scare me that much at this point. They can be absolutely horrendous weapons but are usually rather limited in their scope. Effective deployment of bio weapons is extremely difficult. Winds, rain, massive quantities of water (if trying to contaminate a reservoir) are just a few of the factors that have to be overcome to make them effective. That's not to say they won't be able to kill people, just it won't be easy to kill a lot of people. If this were a site that was detailing a revolutionary way of dispersing bio or chem agents then yeah, it would scare me a lot more. As it stands, this doesn't necessarily scare me but it's something that people should be aware of and I think it's something we should come up with defenses for. Just my .02.

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2wolves

http://www.interestingprojects.com/cruisemissile/

What dreams may come....

2Wolves

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ashap

Where there is a will, there is a way. If you have enough money and time, you can accomplish anything. There is too much money in illegal weapons for this type of thing not to happen. It just makes you wonder how safe the new Homeland Security program will make us.

2wolves

Here's a partial answer: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34438.html

and here's personal experience: I walked into a Federal Office (downtown D.C.) in the early fall with the wrong kit in hand. Not that it didn't have the tools I needed but that it also had 10 M-80's in it. Scanned, sniffed, and allowed to go right into the IT center. This was NOT an intentional act on my part.

2Wolves

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