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Published: 2010-05-10 23:04:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 3641; Favourites: 48; Downloads: 168
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An aerial mine I did for an steampunkish battleship I did a long time ago. Kind of stupid. Kind of really stupid. But I thought it be funny, so whatever...Related content
Comments: 38
wow - and I thought it to be an aerial nuclear bomb
nonetheless and awesome work
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haha. nice idea, but no. Thanks!
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nah, maybe if it were invisible and you had a million of them.
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Actually, that would be one heck of a nightmare even today. tether it...and no one in their right mind is going to intrude on your airspace.
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Yeah, but then this one above your own airspace, would be quite bad, as the you gave the enemy bombs he'd only has to shoot down...
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well, the problem...would be what kind of aerial mine you use...something like this yeah, you would immediately know something about...well think of something like the smaller submunition mines..attached to a small helium, or hydrogen balloon. Just the heat of the explosion is enough to cause a jet engine to stall. If you have a special expanding ring fragmentation warhead...anything with in a certain radius would be toast. Also, aerial mines could be tailored to be buoyancy neutral...its tricker in air but it can be done. tethering them...would make for lethal surprises for jet aircraft traveling at high speed...since the aircraft would be cut apart by the wires.
Well, safeties and barometic fuses could be developed to keep these devices from detonating at ground level.
The British used aerial mines in World War II to effective use. It used a rocket to launch a warhead and wire up a set height...then a small drogue parachute would deploy and the warhead tethered by the length of the wire would drift slowly down to earth. if any aircraft flying along the path of these aerial mines contacted the wire, it would drag the warhead, up at the enemy aircraft and the warhead would explode on contact with the aircraft.
It was used as either a low level or mid level air defense against intrudes.
Speaking of barrage balloons...I remember hearing a story...about a Ju-87 Stuka that was actually caught and ensnared mid air in a barrage balloon net. Which I thought was interesting.
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Also a mine like that doesn't need to explode to end a Zeppelin. Just have a mine fire off hollow needles that are designed to embed into the gasbags of a zeppelin. I hear swiss-cheesed gasbags don't hold helium or hydrogen very well...
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That is true...although incendiary was the typical warhead of all anti-aircraft rounds, besides fragmenting (flak).
Zeppelins with hydrogen are like zippos very unpleasant when burning.
However, in WWII the U.S. Navy used Blimps to combat U-boats. They had helium...it takes a while to down a blimp if your just puncturing...since the gas tends to rise...not fall...so you actually have to over pressurize the gas bag.
But, yep aerial mines would be a pain against an enemy using flying airships.
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The thing with puncturing the gasbags of a helium craft, is you would tie up damage control crews to trying to patch the internal gasbags, and if there is enough punctures the panic of the crews as they have to decide if they're going to abandon ship or try to crash-land.
It could actually be a less-violent way to guard airspace in certain areas. Setting up "puncture mines" around certain installations, if the ships get too close, the "mines" start shooting hollow darts at the hulls, looking to "sink" the airship without needing to explode.
I could also see patrol ships having crews on them with needle rifles that can be used to down a airship without using firearms. This could actually be important when fighting hydrogen airships, as deflating airships are less of a threat than burning ones with gasbags full of hydrogen.
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Real aerial mines!? Wow, crazy invention, but sound interesting!
ANd the idea of the seel wires cutting through airplanes sounds sweet!
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Actually there are stranger things...like barrage balloon wedge bumpers...Luftwaffe aircraft were tailored with special bumpers to allow bombers to penetrate areas at low altitude through barrage balloon areas.
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What the f*** !? Crazy bastards.
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Well, its not as crazy as well, jumping in a rocket powered glider like the Me 163 Komet...that has two fuels...C-stoff and T-stoff...one that causes cancer rather rapidly after exposure...and the other well, lets say ignites once it comes in contact with water in your flesh. YIPEEE.
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It's a neat concept... but there's always the issue of 'what if'.
In this case, if the mine got shot at before it was dropped....
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Thanks, and yes it should definitely have some sort of drop mechanism, so it works also as a bomb.
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Awesome
There's still the issue of it being shot down mid-flight though... maybe make the bomb have a thicker hull?
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Hmmm, bigger hull would make up for it, but then I think it is rather hard too shot it down in mid-flight.
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true... but the balloon could always be popped. then again, that would just make the bomb drop anyway.
therefore: swarm of these = win-win situation?
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That is to say, if there even is a drop mechanism...
Is there a drop mechanism?
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I don't think this is a dumb idea at all. Kind of a perfect weapon for an airship. It could deploy them en-masse and completely screw up an enemy's flight pattern. With smoke screens it could be even more deadly. Or even hidden in large natural cloud formations. Then enemies would have to avoid clouds altogether.
If this were in a game, it would be a fun challenge to have to fly around them in a smaller ship or fighter.
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I clouds over enemy territory they would make sense, as they couldn't be shot down. And if they're shot down, they'll fall on your enemy anyways, so...
And avoiding clouds would definitley be a challenge.
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I think this thing is frigging awesome. I wish it was my idea!
If you're that worried about functionality, how about putting rings of det pins into the skin of the balloon itself? For instance, on the attachment points for the cables/rigging. That way, the balloon itself would be a threat.
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completely ridiculous....which is why it is brilliant lol
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it's pretty smart if the enemy is really really stupid. lol looks great.
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Ja, maybe it could be used against flying monkeys.
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Sorta like the Japanese fire balloons of WWII, eh? Interesting retake on this fascinating weapon!
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Yeah, I figure it would be the only way this thing works...
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I love how massive the balloon is in comparison to the mine itself. Stealthy this thing isn't. Does it detonate in proximity or something? (the det pins indicate you need to bump the mine itself tho 
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Thanks! As I thought no ones ever gonna get close to the det pins, I added a radar dish. But then still no ones stupid enough to come close enough to get harmed...just a dumb device
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You disguise it in a permanent smokescreen
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