Jun 282019
 

Marshae Jones is a 27 year old woman in Alabama. She was five months pregnant when she was shot in the belly by one Ebony Jemison; as a result of the gunshot, Jones miscarried. In Alabama, a fetus is legally protected as a human being with human rights, and so the killer has been brought up on manslaughter charges.

Here’s the thing: *Jones* has been brought up on charges. The woman who was shot, who lost her baby, has been charged (although it seems the charges have since been dropped).

The pro-abortion folks are obviously up in arms about this, screaming about how this is evidence that the laws in Alabama will oppress mothers who want to abort their children. But here’s the thing: the grand jury found that Jones initiated the fight, and that Jemison shot in self defense. Nobody in their right mind would hold someone liable if they truly shot an attacker in self defense. It’s just that the attacker in this case was pregnant, and the prosecutors have decided that Jones, who clearly knew she was pregnant, should have known better than to endanger her child in that fashion.

It’s something of a rare occurence, I would imagine.

But let’s say things were a bit different. Maybe the incident occurs nine months later, and instead of Jones being five months pregnant, she’s got a five-month-old baby strapped to her. And in that condition sh decides to attack another woman, the other woman pulls out a gun to defend herself, and the shot hits and kills the baby. Would the mother still be legally responsible in that case? Is a baby real life plot armor that allows someone to attack someone else and use the kid as a bullet sponge and escape responsibility for the death of the kid? Would this be a way to expand abortion to, say, the 30th trimester? Strap your kid to your torso, attack someone and hope they fight back in a  fashion that takes out the kid but leaves you un- or minimally-harmed? Does a pregnant woman legally require a different standard of restraint from someone she’s attacking? You may, of course, shoot an attacker all you like. Nobody in their right mind would argue otherwise. But how about if one of your bullets goes astray, perhaps because your attacker is whacking you with a crowbar, and the bullet goes into a window three blocks away and kills a kid *there?* I would expect the law would come down on the attacker. but I equally imagine the *lawsuit* would come down on the defender for being negligent or careless or some such while they were being pummeled.

“Hmmm” all around.

 Posted by at 12:33 am
Jun 212019
 

Another missile has been recently unveiled to a degree, the Lockheed AIM-260 air-to-air missile, a replacement for the AIM-120 AMRAAM:

Air Force Developing AMRAAM Replacement to Counter China

Not much known about it as yet, other than it will have a longer range than AMRAAM and will fit in the F-22’s missile bay. Rumors abound, including the possibility that it is two-stage, or that it may be an airbreather of some kind.

It *seems* that the US is starting to crank up new weapons systems. Which, if true… ABOUT DAMN TIME. But the real test will be not just ‘weapons in development,” but “weapons in mass production and put into service.”

 Posted by at 4:54 pm
Jun 172019
 

The USAF is already flying bits of the AGM-183A ARRW.

Air Force conducts successful hypersonic weapon flight test

This was a “sensor only” captive carry, which presumably means something along the lines of a wholly non-functional mass/aerodynamics simulator. It doesn’t really look like the sort of thing that could get to Mach 20 with a meaningful payload.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Posted by at 10:27 pm
Jun 162019
 

In response to both Russia and China claiming to have develop hypersonic weapons, the USAF has awarded contracts to Lockheed for two new hypersonic missile systems: the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW: “arrow”) and the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW: “hacksaw”). Little info is publicly available about them just yet (though it’s a safe bet that the Chinese have a complete set of plans; I’d be unsurprised if they had real-time access to the workstations being used to design them), but the ARRW is a boost-glide system that uses a rocket motor to launch a hypersonic glider to around Mach 20. This is not a particularly new idea; ground launched ideas like this go back more than fifty years, with air-launched versions seriously considered at least as far back as the 1980’s. The image below, taken from the SDASM Flickr page, shows a (presumably 1980s) General Dynamics design for an air to surface missile using a twin-engined rocket booster (presumably solid fuel) with a hypersonic glider.

The Lockheed ARRW is likely similar in concept if not detail. The basic idea of a rocket-booted glider is the most practical approach to long-range hypersonic strike weapons, though it’s not as flashy or trendy as airbreathing system such as scramjets. but while rocket systems would weigh more than an air breather, quite possibly by a lot, they would be much more reliable, cheaper to develop and capable of *far* greater speed. The ARRW, after all, is supposed to reach Mach 20. A scramjet would be damned lucky to exceed Mach 10, and testing has shown that a scramjet would but damned lucky to maintain that speed for long.

The heavier gross weight of a rocket system compared to an airbreather means that an aircraft could carry fewer weapons. The obvious solution is to build more carrier aircraft. While there will be no more B-1B’s or B-2’s, the B-21 *may* be built, though unlikely in any real numbers. A more practical solution might be to build specialized carrier aircraft, perhaps based on modified jetliners, perhaps even made unmanned, designed to fly in massed armadas with one or two manned control planes.

 

 

 Posted by at 4:06 pm
May 302019
 

Software Maker Salesforce Tells Gun Retailers to Stop Selling AR-15s

Not *just* AR-15s.

Salesforce’s “Acceptable Use Policy” goes beyond a ban on AR-15s, to include any semiautomatic firearms “that have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any of the following: thumbhole stock, folding or telescoping stock, grenade launcher or flare launcher, flash or sound suppressor, forward pistol grip, pistol grip (in the case of a rifle) or second pistol grip (in the case of a pistol), [and/or] barrel shroud.”

The policy also makes clear that gun retailers cannot sell “high capacity” magazines if they want to use Salesforce software.

The “deplatforming/depersoning” of anyone – or anything – to the right of Stalin continues. So if you use “Salesforce” products, even if you’re not actually int he firearms industry, you’d probably be well advised to start looking for alternates. Because if you or your business aren’t sufficiently woke, they might shut you off at a moments notice.

I understand that there was once an age when businesses wanted your businesses, whoever you were. It’s a business model that I still ascribe to; I honestly don’t care if you’re left, right or indifferent, I want you to buy my stuff. But then, I guess I’m old fashioned.

I certainly wouldn’t fit in in Hollywood. For example:

Olivia Wilde Told Trump Supporters Not to Watch Her Film and Now It’s Flopping

In contrast: hate me all you want. Buy my stuff.

 

 Posted by at 7:38 pm
May 252019
 

Two MOPs, in fact. Note that the scene of the B-2 unloading two Massive Ordnance Penetrators is from a different test than the footage of the MOPs hitting the ground. The B-2 shot is in glorious Extra Slow Motion, and the B-2 leaps skyward in the process. Given the weight it rather suddenly lost, it’s not surprising that the aircraft would suddenly climb.

 Posted by at 6:27 pm
May 212019
 

I’ve recently returned from several weeks of travels. In the process I stopped at the Rock Island Arsenal Museum and took a lot of photos (something like 200) of their large display of firearms. Because why not, I’ve uploaded all of them to Dropbox for APR monthly funders; guns aren’t aerospace, of course, but there tends to be some overlap in interest. One wrinkle: these were taken with my best camera, which means each photo is about 13 megabytes; 200 of which adds up to a lot.  It took a ridiculous length of time to upload them all.

 

I have uploaded the full set of ~200 photos to Dropbox available to $4 and up subscribers to the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

If you’ve been wondering why blogging has been a bit reduced and why emails might not have been answered… well, there ya go.

 

 Posted by at 2:59 am
May 192019
 

I haven;t even seen “They Shall Not Grow Old” yet, and here comes another documentary that uses modern computer tech to boost the image quality of old war films. in this case, “The Cold Blue” will be about the B-17 in World War II.

Take a look at the trailer below and try to convince yourself that you’re not interested. You’re made of sterner stuff than I if you want the video in conjunction with the reading of “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” and you don’t get a case of the uncomfortables.

Read about it HERE. Irritatingly it’s one of those “showing for one day only” movies.

 Posted by at 2:57 pm
May 132019
 

But it’s a missile with fookin’ swords.

Secret U.S. missile kills terrorists with knives instead of explosives

The R9X is a modified version of the Hellfire. The warhead is removed and replaced with six deployable sword-sized blades. It kills the target not with an explosion, but with a hundred pounds of missile moving at the speed of sound slamming into the guys head, the blades just making sure that the target is super-dead.

 

The purpose of this is to limit collateral damage so that individuals can be targeted in urban areas without too much risk to surrounding civilians. Perhaps Representative Swalwell will consider using these rather than nuclear weapons when he fantasizes about murdering American citizens who dare exercise their constitutional rights.

 

 

 

 Posted by at 10:53 am
May 062019
 

Cory Booker wants to require federal license for gun owners

Because of course he does.

Booker argued that just as a driver’s license demonstrates a person’s eligibility and proficiency to drive a car, “a gun license demonstrates that a person is eligible and can meet certain safety and training standards necessary to own a gun.”

Even though there is no such thing as a requirement to have a drivers license to own a car, or even operate a car on private property. You only need a drivers license if you plan on operating a car on government property (i.e. public roads).

And because of course:

Booker’s plan also includes… universal background checks for gun buyers; the reinstitution of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity firearm magazines

In other words, criminalizing millions of currently law-abiding citizens by making them felons for owning bits of plastic.

 

 Posted by at 12:48 pm