Pick up the current Pop Science issue.
A few years ago we got a tip of Osama's hiding spot, by the time we negotiated for Pakistani airspace, he had been tipped off and fled.
So, since airspace is limited to 50 miles, the answer is to go over. The new vehicle in the works could drop marines anywhere in the world in 2 hours, from space...



What are you doing with a gun in space?

completely cool.

Just saw that article this morning at the news stand whilst getting my morning coffee...and was hence lost in USCM daydream for a few moments...LOL

M
[img]http://hometown.aol.com/mattworsdell/images/matsubanner1001.gif]

Cool!
Link please.

Mike
A06/TQ0.0.22134E1
There is nothing more impressive than a bloody big Alien
wiggling on the end of a sharp stick!

I think they wait a month to link current issue stuff. It is worth picking up, just to see the Marine armor and pulse rifle. (changed slightly, of course)

What are you doing with a gun in space?

Pop Science is a great magazine and is available in England although normally costs about a fiver since its an import. The website doesnt yet have the full article but some pics are up already at...

www.popsci.com/popsci/avi...index.html

The dropship can be seen below. Reminds me more of Space Above and Beyond than Aliens.

Special-Ops Infiltrator
Vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft for transporting special-ops forces to hostile areas. Blended-wing-body design with six jet engines powering lift fans and providing forward thrust.

Apparently the Marines are more eager than ever to have such an aircraft. Its even been subject to discussion on The Space Show recently (popular podcast about space travel).


[img]http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/09a16f096bd8d010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html[/img]

Sorry, I cant seem to work out how to add a picture to my reply.
Click on the link above then its the first gallery at the top of the page titled Top Secret War Planes of Area 51.

Is this it?
[img]http://img.timeinc.net/popsci/images/2006/09/blackairplanes_ss_1.jpg[/img]
Cpl.
J. HENSON
A25/TQ2.0.72380E5Edited by: [url=http://p220.ezboard.com/bthealienslegacy.showUserPublicProfile?gid=deathbymugumba>Death By Mugumba[/url]  at: 12/12/06 8:29 pm

An update has appeared on the Popular Science website with some cool looking pics of the proposed dropship.

www.popsci.com/popsci/avi...drcrd.html

I haven't seen the physical magazine, but does it say how they're going to get around the fuel problem? To launch the 'dropship' to orbital height is going to take a ton of fuel! Are there booster engines and/or fuel tanks? Once the things up it wouldn't take a lot of fuel to maneuver and land, but getting it UP is going to be a trick.

Jay

Sweet.

In reply to your question about how it will be fueled, firstly the whole thing is still years and years away and the cost of such a venture means it may not even happen within our lifetimes.
If it was to happen soon the drop ships would operate in a similar way to Virgin Galactic. The magazine shows an illustration of the drop-ship being piggy backed upto a high altitude where it is then dropped from the under side of the craft, free-falls a few thousand feet before the hybrid rocket motor (probably Nitrous Oxide and rubber combined for fuel) kicks in and propels the drop-ship to a low earth orbit. From here it could access any countries air space in the world within minutes, make re-entry then glide down to earth and drop off its troops under cover of darkness, stealth style.
Obviously there are many obstacles, the "piggy back" idea for lift off is an extremely cheap way of launching space craft but can take quite a while for the aircraft to reach launch hight, especially for a vehicle of that size and weight (a group of Marines with full gear would weigh shit loads). Re-entry would prove problematic since the craft illustrations in the magazine show no forms of a feathering device seen on Virgin Galactic. Feathering is the only current way for re-entry to be cheap and safe. Space shuttles use heat tiles which are expensive, very heavy and have been prone to failure. Feathering works like a shuttlecock and dissipates any heat to within acceptable allowances.
Also if the drop-ship glides into a war zone there would be no immediate way to lift off again without its initial piggy back craft.
And finally there is the whole issue of weather or not the American military should have the right to drop in anywhere, anytime. Airspace is very sensitive to most countries and a US Marine drop ship gliding into North Korea for instance would be a very easy target for a couple of jet fighters.
So basically America wants to insert troops within a couple of hours to anywhere in the world. At a stretch it would be possible to drop people in but extraction would be unlikely. What they really want and what science fiction (including Aliens) has suggested is a re-usable rocket ship that can take off under its own power, reach low earth orbit, re-enter, land under fire, deploy troops, give covering fire and lift off again and return to base whilst dodging all the bullets from pissed off Korean airspace. This wont happen in our lifetimes, the technology is not yet available and finance implications would make it very unlikely even for a rich army like the US have. It does however make for a kick ass scene from Aliens, and that is enough to please me.