Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The 'cat's eyes' laser that can help British troops pinpoint a sniper before he pulls the trigger
dailymail.co.uk ^ | January 12, 2009 | Mail Foreign Service

Posted on 01/13/2009 6:52:44 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY

Snipers or assassins could be spotted in their nests before even firing a shot thanks to laser surveillance technology to be unveiled in Britain.

European and U.S. companies are accelerating research into anti-sniper defences in response to threats in Afghanistan and Iraq and at home.

But most systems use acoustic or thermal sensors that depend on waiting for the first shot.

An alternative developed by the European aerospace group EADS aims to warn of attack and pinpoint the sniper before he pulls the trigger by bouncing light off his telescopic sight.

'It is the same principle as 'cat's eyes' in the middle of the road,' said Peter Talbot-Jones, research team leader at EADS Innovation Works at Newport in Wales.

'Cat's eyes' behave like the retina of a cat by reflecting light from a car's headlamps to illuminate lines on the road.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: banglist; catseye; oneshotonekill; snipers
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-129 next last
To: Travis McGee

“If just 1 or 2% of gun owners “went active””

Why wait until they are in action? They are our neighbors and I can’t imagine they would sleep well knowing that they have angered us.


101 posted on 01/15/2009 6:25:57 PM PST by CodeToad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 96 | View Replies]

To: Dead Corpse

Where did you get that 8% figure? Most sources I have seen have stated that at least a third supported it, with the rest either supporting the crown or remaining neutral...


102 posted on 01/15/2009 6:43:09 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

Cheers, I’ve bookmarked them on Amazon and I’ll order them once I’ve finished a couple of other books I’ve got lined up to read....


103 posted on 01/15/2009 6:48:40 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 88 | View Replies]

To: Dead Corpse

But again, you are assuming that they are all going to be on your side. Its pretty much inevitable that there are going to be large swathes of the population who don’t support you and would sign up to fight you if it came to it. That is the nature of any civil war, you will be forced to face the loyalist militias in addition to government forces....


104 posted on 01/15/2009 6:51:20 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan

Oh clueless one, the Taliban don’t work in the factories that make the tanks and airplanes, or the missiles and bombs, or drive the trucks that deliver same along with food and fuel, to those they would combat.

Big difference.


105 posted on 01/15/2009 7:01:17 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: ExSoldier

Don’t forget the fact that one of the first targets in an insurgency in a developed nation with highly armed citizens is going to be politicians...


106 posted on 01/15/2009 7:14:11 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan
A lot of people are bound to view you as traitors and terrorists, and will view your cause as wrong and their cause as just the same way you will...

And you're expecting these to be the people that a passel of Wall Street and Washington crooks just robbed about 2 trillion dollars from and who are, as we type, running the country over the economic abyss???

107 posted on 01/15/2009 7:19:31 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith

You seem to have missed what I said earlier, so here it is again, what would stop them from A) importing weapons etc from abroad and/or B) getting people who were willing to work for them? As I’ve kept mentioning, the whole entire population isn’t going to be on your side, many of them are going to be ideologically opposed to you and your cause....


108 posted on 01/15/2009 7:23:11 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan
I know a pretty damn wide swath of America, and a hell of a lot of people in the SF Bay area. Under the situation you outline I know of at LEAST a half dozen people that are ideologically nearly 180 degrees from me that would be against the government if they descended to tyranny.

I think one of the things you are overlooking is that there is a line here that is FAR different from that of Europe or the UK when it comes to dealing with the government.

You've cited the Civil War in several instances, but have neglected the fact that it wasn't total defeat that halted it, it was the offering of honorable terms on the field of battle by Grant that persuaded Southern leaders to give up the fight. If that hadn't occured, it is far more likely that the South would have fielded sizeable armies for several more years and the general conflict would have degenerated into a protracted guerilla contest.

The demographic of a North American civil war in the 21st century is light years from the original Civil War and of someplace like Iraq or Afghanistan for that matter. Swaths of territory equal in size to decent countries would go independant and those swaths not only would control a lot of food production, they would control most all of the logistical lines and sources for materials and fuels that the areas one would expect the government to rely on would absolutely have to have to continue an armed conflict.

As has been pointed out earlier, the educational, material and motivational advantages that the antigovernment forces would have over the government forces would be huge. I'd be willing to bet that greater than 50% of the workforces in not only heavy armaments, but especially in small arms, would walk off the job if they were supposed to be cranking out guns for pro tyranny forces. On the flip side, every Tom, Dick and Harry with a workbench CNC mill would be cranking out weapons and really good ones at that.

Your arguements best case scenario in North America would end up like a Zimbabwe but with nearly 75-80% of the able bodied population either armed, or with ready access to arms. Under those circumstances, the Zimbabwe situation wouldn't last very long...

109 posted on 01/15/2009 8:01:07 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith

Well, of course if you phrase the question ‘would you be against a tyrannical government?’ Then people are going to say ‘yes’ but it isn’t going to be that black and white. A government would need a ‘casus beli’ in order to take away freedoms, and some people will support that casus beli, just as they did when the suspended habeus corpus, introduced conscription and deployed troops on the streets of New York in 1863 (as well as fundamentally altering the balance of power over state goverments in favour of the federal government) which are the kind of things you seem to believe would cause the entire population of the US to rise as one against the government....


110 posted on 01/15/2009 8:33:58 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan

20,000 regular troops. 230,000 militia. 2.7 million in the 13 original colonies. Crack a history book.


111 posted on 01/16/2009 5:33:35 AM PST by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 102 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan
Re-read what I wrote. I'm only assuming 10% of GUN OWNERS would defend their Country from tyranny. Not 10% of the population, not 10% of the military.

We're already some of the more well read, historically astute members of American Society. We've had to be just to defend ourselves as Marksmen and Patriots against a seemingly endless onslaught of detractors and outright enemies. We're already trained as outdoorsmen, hunters, marksmen, and former/active military.

Sometimes we even need to defend our Rights from folks on our own side. Those who would give up before a shot is fired or feel that freedom just isn't worth the hassle. People like you apparently. Although, your relatively new status brings your motivations into question. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

112 posted on 01/16/2009 5:40:48 AM PST by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 104 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan
Here is my original post on special forces underground taken from archives.org.

An open letter from a 'Green Beret'

The Resister: The Political Warfare Journal of the Special Forces Underground_Spring 1998 'Defector in Place--USSOCOM'

This letter is addressed to old family Reds, central bankers, military traitors (past and present), academia, media pundits, "civil rights" activists, and "Greens." Your worst fears are justified; Special Forces Underground is real. It's not just a subtitle on the Resister's masthead. Worse for you, is that it's not just in Special Forces. It exists in all branches of the military, in federal agencies, among civilians, and in several foreign countries.

I am an old Special Forces active duty soldier. I've worked with people in all branches of the military, alphabet soup federal agencies, police departments, and civilians. While most people I've worked with are passive supporters of resistance to your "global community," there are some who are willing to actively defend what they believe in.

I will continue to perform my appointed military duties in a professional manner. I will publicly agree with your collectivist policies and parrot your slogans. I pay my taxes, don't belong to any "militia," and won't join any "extremist" group. For all outside appearances I am one of your "global community" peasants.

Having traveled extensively I have seen firsthand the results of failed collectivist governments who have looted their countries into squalor.

Most politically attuned people I know have seen it also and know that the only way you can achieve your global community is by doing the same to America. Some think resistance is futile. Maybe it is.

But we are willing to fight you, and make you pay DEARLY for your arrogance. We are moral, principled, and believe in the ORIGINAL Constitution and the philosophies that define it. You see, your mistake was that you thought we'd just mumble our oath and then contradict it when ordered to. But YOU--you promoters of the "brotherhood of mankind"--are the enemies domestic we are sworn to defend the Constitution against. We didn't choose you as the enemy. By your collectivist ideologies and actions, you self selected.

We pray to the God you SCORN that the day never arrives when we are finally compelled to turn against you, what you expected us to do to enemies foreign. If that day does arise, lament. For I, and others like me, have been trained in the blackest of arts, and the darkest of crafts.

Your minions are useless cattle. They cannot protect you. You cannot hide. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE, but you'll NEVER know whether der guten soldat you hired is one of us---or not.

So, to all you altruist-collectivist global citizens:
"YOU WILL FIND NO JOY IN YOUR NEW WORLD ORDER."

113 posted on 01/16/2009 10:34:15 AM PST by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 81 | View Replies]

To: Dead Corpse

That doesn’t include all the non-military supporters, without a sizable quantity of whom the revolt would have failed quickly....


114 posted on 01/16/2009 6:03:30 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 111 | View Replies]

To: ExSoldier

Not much in that post I can disagree with. I reckon if there was a sizable revolt, it would cause a lot of disruption and difficulty.
Perhaps it could be viewed in many ways like a ‘nuclear option’, in that the mere threat of it holds the government in check, but if you ever had to actually use it, you have already lost....


115 posted on 01/16/2009 6:08:39 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 113 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan

It would seem to make it more relevant and broader in its scope, to include countering technology.


116 posted on 01/16/2009 6:20:59 PM PST by AmericanVictory
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Axenolith
Don’t forget the fact that one of the first targets in an insurgency in a developed nation with highly armed citizens is going to be politicians...

The very reason they are quaking in their boots, and pushing more and more antigun legislation at every turn.

117 posted on 01/16/2009 6:28:32 PM PST by going hot (Happiness is a momma deuce)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 106 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek
for that same reason, is why Russia never invaded the US
during the cold war a Russian General defected to the US, during his debriefing he was asked..why have the Russians never invaded the US.
His answer was, we know where all your military bases are, where your planes tanks, and aircraft carriers are...but the one deciding factor was that we had no idea of the number of armed civilians in the US...
118 posted on 01/16/2009 6:44:13 PM PST by Gone_Postal ("Men who say it cannot be done, should not interupt those doing it.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Gone_Postal

Well, that sounds like a load of old balls to me. I’m pretty sure the nukes, naval and air superiority meant that it would have been pretty stupid to even try....


119 posted on 01/16/2009 6:49:30 PM PST by sinsofsolarempirefan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: sinsofsolarempirefan
The 230,000 were NON-MILITARY. They were citizen militia. Your Mel Gibson "Patriot" types.

Remedial History classes for you...

120 posted on 01/17/2009 5:52:03 AM PST by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 114 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-129 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson