non lethal missile for AA

[PLAGUEz]

Anyone thought about ways to shutdown an aircraft without destroying it or the pilot? Like a non-lethal system. So the aircraft can be captured and the pilots held for questioning.

 

I have ideas, but not ready to share them yet.

Edited April 1, 2014 by PLAGUEz

[Bushmanni]

So how you keep the shut down aircraft from crashing to the ground?

[Pyroflash]

Well, they have missiles with their warheads removed. I guess you could hit a vital area with one of those.

[Nefron]

Maybe have a missile launch a net over the aircraft, tie the other end to a Mi-26 and have it carry the prey back to its lair. I'm thinking that such a missile may enter service by the time sling loads are implemented in DCS.

[Scrim]

I suppose it's a risk to take in answering this seriously due to the date, but what the heck:

 

Won't work because:

 

A, Sending a projectile, even without a warhead, on a crash course at speeds exceeding Mach 2 against a plane travelling at very high speeds, and you don't need the HE to make it very dangerous.

 

B, Even if you in some way can make the missile knock out the hostile plane without destroying it, you'll still have the pilot in the cockpit, and even without suspecting that someone is using super high tech to capture his plane, he'll just never try to execute a smooth crash landing high up in the air over enemy held/contested territory. He'll just punch out, and the plane will fall out of the sky and attempt to attack the ground, using itself as a projectile because of gravity.

[PLAGUEz]

So how you keep the shut down aircraft from crashing to the ground?

 

what a pilot cant glide an plane to the ground, or a chopper can't autorotate now?

[Scrim]

He can, but he won't because he's over enemy territory. He'd just never try that unless his ejection seat won't fire, because A, he'd easily be shot down since he can't take evasive maneuvers and might not be able to use countermeasures, B, it's way more dangerous to try crash landing on unknown terrain than it is to punch out, and C, he won't risk the enemy capturing it if he does crash land it.

[NineLine]

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Discord_missile

[Scrim]

10,000 G's. Way to not take fictitious weapons over the top...

[AegisFX]

Right now, it seems the best way of doing this is hijacking the plane's avionics. For a not-so-well-thought-out example, one plane would target another, and beam some sort of code to the enemy. This code may lock out pilot controls and set an autopilot course to one of your friendly bases.

 

When we talk of non-lethal A/A engagement, I can't think of any other domain than cyberspace that could possibly work. Another example using physical components is to maybe use a missile with a warhead that has a bunch of magnetic devices that will stick on a plane and scramble/reprogram the electronics like I said above. However, as already stated, anything going that fast is a hazard. I'm not sure, but even if the objects were the size and weight of pennies, it would still obliterate parts of a plane. Engine intakes and canopy obviously, though it could possibly perforate the frame in general too.

[Scrim]

Not to mention the fact that the pilot could just go ahead and choke the engines by turning of the fuel, something that's not controlled by a computer for obvious reasons.

[NineLine]

10,000 G's. Way to not take fictitious weapons over the top...

 

Well whatever.. I mean it is Star Wars, the point is, the more electronic things get, what kind of weapons could you develop? Nanotech missiles that 'infect' an aircraft so the pilot no longer has control? Sure that is way out there... but you dont think weapons guys dont think way out there on stuff?

Edited April 1, 2014 by NineLine

[combatace]

How about try to communicate with the pilot and offer him a bribe of say 50 million and offering him an option of getting the plane down or getting fired upon. I suppose 50Mil may be a better choice then death.

 

Just my thought. ;)

[Scrim]

^^

 

It'll probably always be safer and cheaper to bribe a pilot into defecting than to develop a non lethal weapon that will safely take control of the plane.

[Pilotasso]

Im confused, isn't this already implemented?

[CypherGrunyev]

This thread seems stupid. I don't understand why you'd want to disable a pilot's aircraft for "Questioning"

 

If you're talking about a leaker situation, I usually find people respond nicely to "LAND NOW" when I have 4 Eagles behind them.

[sobek]

what a pilot cant glide an plane to the ground, or a chopper can't autorotate now?

 

The A-10 has about 14 tons of loaded weight. Pilots are told to eject if the conditions are not *very* good for a manual reversion landing.

 

F-16 without its EPU systems running is a no brainer ejection.

 

It's probably the same for most jets.

[NineLine]

^^

 

It'll probably always be safer and cheaper to bribe a pilot into defecting than to develop a non lethal weapon that will safely take control of the plane.

 

 

Yeah, but what if you could repurpose the aircraft in flight during a fight :)

[Scrim]

Costs again I guess. Way cheaper to develop a superb missile to blow them out of the air, than to build a fancy weapon that embarrasses them :P

[cichlidfan]

A missile with a big net. Yup, that's the ticket. :smartass:

 

EDIT: Of course, it might be easier to get a few Scanners to take control of the pilot and have him land it where you want.

[NineLine]

Costs again I guess. Way cheaper to develop a superb missile to blow them out of the air, than to build a fancy weapon that embarrasses them :P

 

Right now I guess, but we dont know what might happen going into the future, and embarrassing them isnt what I had in mind... you take control of an aircraft in a fight, and now you just added one more to your numbers... now what could you do with that :)

[GGTharos]

It's called an interceptor. Maybe two.

 

Anyone thought about ways to shutdown an aircraft without destroying it or the pilot? Like a non-lethal system. So the aircraft can be captured and the pilots held for questioning.

 

I have ideas, but not ready to share them yet.

[Fjordmonkey]

Anyone thought about ways to shutdown an aircraft without destroying it or the pilot? Like a non-lethal system. So the aircraft can be captured and the pilots held for questioning.

 

I have ideas, but not ready to share them yet.

 

Let's take this idea and run with it, shall we?

 

Let's say you produce a missile equipped with an EMP-warhead. For those that don't know what an EMP does, it's basically a high-energy electromagnetic pulse that will fry any unprotected electronic components caught in its field.

 

Let's say you fire this missile at...oh, an A10. You'll kill off anything driven by electronic systems, including the engine management components, but the pilot should still be able to fly the thing due to its hydraulics still being up. Theoretically, he should be able to land (if he survives the EMP, as EMP's can have nasty side-effects to human nervous systems, which are, in effect, electric). The same goes for things like an F5, the F4 Phantom and maybe even the F15 (Not sure on that one). You might be able to land those if you're good enough a pilot or just lucky enough.

 

Let's say you fire such a missile at an F16 or F18, frying their electronics completely. Well, congratulations, you've just killed the pilot, just not instantly. Neither of those two jets can fly without their computer systems keeping the inherently unstabile airframes under control, so the pilot will have to egress the plane right quickly. But wait, there's a catch! What do you think drives the sequencing-system that times canopy-jettison and seat-booster initiatiors...?

 

Yep! A Mini-computer!

 

See where I'm going with this?

[GGTharos]

Theoretically, he should be able to land (if he survives the EMP, as EMP's can have nasty side-effects to human nervous systems, which are, in effect, electric).

 

Bloody unlikely to directly affect a person, unless you're conducting a pure electrical attack, not EMP - and then, the lighting-strike protection of those aircraft comes into play.

 

The same goes for things like an F5, the F4 Phantom and maybe even the F15 (Not sure on that one). You might be able to land those if you're good enough a pilot or just lucky enough.

 

Again, see the above. I have no idea why you'd think you have to be 'lucky' or 'good enough' (are there pilots who aren't good enough?) to land one of those after an EMP strike. You think all those cessna's flying around today land on luck .. repeatedly? :)

 

Let's say you fire such a missile at an F16 or F18, frying their electronics completely.

Nope. See above.

 

So, it wouldn't work, but for a different reason you believe it would not work.

[RvETito]

Thread started on 1st of April? Couldn't imagine a better timing for a joke :D