22 Comments
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Kulak's avatar

BTW if you have any connections in Ukraine or amongst the Kurds or special forces.. It's very important legally/culturally that the first employment of any of these hypothetical tactics be a US ally.

If the first employment is by a US ally... Then I'm a patriot who helped the noble war effort. If it's by an enemy then the scrutiny happens.

Somehow this is the logic of war speculation.

John Smith's avatar

Good point. Same reason the US was secretly delighted by sputnik: The russians themselves had set the precedent that low-earth-orbit didn't count as violating a nation's airspace. So they couldn't complain later when the US did it relentlessly.

John Smith's avatar

I found this thoroughly enjoyable: Much in the same way that I deeply enjoy cave diving disaster videos. They're so satisfying to fantasise about but I always walk away with the firm conclusion "I never want to do that."

Kulak's avatar

That's exactly the tone I was looking to hit!

This is the highest praise you could have given me!

John Smith's avatar

Ha! You're welcome.

The Prince of Hammers's avatar

Hypothetically, if someone were able to fill a .68 caliber paintball with aluminum dust to try and put a bit more distance between oneself and the target, how effective might that be or not be?

Kulak's avatar

These are the questions that keep me awake.

I once stared at the wall for an hour asking myself the same thing about lighter fluid, steel wool, and a jet lighter as a pilot light.

(no I didn't spend the 200 bucks it would have taken to find out and invent a new kind of warcrime... My years in Cadets are wasted, forgotten the face of my father)

Simon Tanner's avatar

Coventry Bombing, gasp! Pearl Harbor, gasp! Japanese Internment Camps, double gasp!

Firebomb Dresden, Hamburg, and Tokyo? Yawn. Rhine Meadows, never heard of ‘em.

They’re only war crimes if you lose.

JS's avatar

I for one adore the scizo warcrime engineering hour. This paid subscription is the best investment I’ve ever made.

Kulak's avatar

Thankyou!!!! It means so much to me. Most people seem scared to comment... like they'll go on a list (you're already on lists guys... there's hundreds of list)

The Prince of Hammers's avatar

I'd be shocked if subscribing alone wasn't grounds to be on a list.

JS's avatar

Just as long as it’s not the act list it’s probably fine.

JS's avatar

If you can even find this part of the internet you’ve probably been on a list since junior high 😂

Gavin Longmuir's avatar

There is something noble about a partisan attacking a tank -- but there are many ways to disable an enemy, and those enemies are not in the tank all the time.

Louis de Berniere presented an interesting scenario in his South American novel "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts". A self-sacrificing pretty young woman with a serious case of venereal disease disabled the command structure of the occupying military forces by sleeping with all the officers. The officers' resulting painful discomfort caused the army unit to withdraw from the village.

JS's avatar

War by AIDS LAMO

JS's avatar

All I can think of is Shakira doing that WC song as a Ganns smokes crack and mag dumps a hippo.

MM's avatar

Depending on where the air intakes are and where the fire is, you might be able to drive forward and get enough fresh air not to die. One of the advantages of being in something mobile when this happens instead of a grain silo.

Of course you're *feeding* the fire by doing this. Also you would have to know these things and keep the presence of mind to do it instead of unassing. So likely not practical.

John Smith's avatar

Idk. I'd imagine one possibly instinctive response to this by a driver might be to floor it.

Depends on his training of course.

MM's avatar

"My vehicle's on fire! I'd better try to outrun it!"

I'm not sure this is rational. But then I'm not sure unassing is rational either. Mostly, it's "What gets me further away from the fire faster?"

I could see flooring it if you don't realize it's the vehicle that's on fire though.

John Smith's avatar

Well... it does get you away from the guys who set the fire and presumably want to make it worse. Also if you do have to bail out it would be better to do so a few hundred meters away from the guys throwing melta-bombs.

I was mostly thinking of it as a response to a bang and heat. If their training prefers the drivers to become a moving target or make a dash for cover they might do it automatically.

The Prince of Hammers's avatar

Fascinating ideas that I'll use in my creative writing, looking forward to the next one