Re: [HoE] Caseless ammo and modern weapons

["Eric Young" <ecyoung@mediaone.net>]

>> I find it very hard to believe that caseless ammo is not a lot more
popular
>>  100 years from now. There are far too many advantages to caseless ammo,
and
>>  the technology to do it is almost perfected now. Caseless ammo is
lighter,
>>  cheaper to manufacture, reduces weapon maintenance, etc.... Granted,
>>  currently the only weapon using caseless ammo is the H&K G11 K2. But I
know
>>  this will change in 100 years.
>
>Cheaper to make?  Are you sure?  In any sci-fi game, its always a fair
>question to ask "why do they still use old technology" like
ballistic/powder
>weapons, and the answer is usually the same: cost, materials available,
>manufacturing technology available, etc.

Once you've paid the cost of upgrading your manufacturing equipment the
price of caseless ammo is considerably lower than conventional cased ammo
for the simple reason that you don't have to pay for the brass. It's also
cheaper on weapon maintenance because it doesn't leave as much residue in
the weapon when fired.

>  Sure, the most technologically
>advanced countries are going to have some fancy gizmos, but everybody else
>will still be using older tech.  Even if caseless ammo were to become
REALLY
>widespread, without the facilities to make more ammo, everyone will switch
>back to cased powder ammo.  The only people who were left alive after the
>bombs were dropped were all in rural areas, and if those people can't make
>it,t hen it probably ain't available.

Good luck trying to find cased ammo or any weapon capable of firing it in
100 years. Ever try to buy any weapons made (not replicas) 100 years ago?
Good luck, I've been trying to find a Winchester Lever action shotgun and a
Colt revolving shotgun in good condition for about 10 years now. Haven't
had any luck yet.
If there are any cased ammo weapons around they'll probably be firing ETC
(electrothermal-chemical) rounds.

>>  Which brings me to my next topic, modern weapons. Why are all the
weapons
>>  in HOE basically the same as current issue weapons? This is 100 years
in
>>  the future and all of the weapons are using 1950's technology!
>
>Military technology is developed by the lowest bidder.  Also, any
technology
>that relies on something new and makes all those warehouses full of
ammunition
>obsolete is going to be passed over for something that complies with the
>military's current ammunition requirements.  Sure, flechette ammo is
great,
>but if you've got billions of boxes of 7.62 NATO rounds sitting around,
the
>cost of disposing of all that ammo and manufacturing new ammo would get
>extremely prohibitive.


The military said the same thing about cartridge weapons and smokeless
powder when they first became available.

>>  Certainly in 100 years standard issue weapons will be at least as
advanced
>>  as these prototypes...
>
>Yes, but there is no longer any technology available to maintain such
weapons.
>What happens when your laser burns out, or water gets into your
electronics
>and turns the whole damned thing into a paperweight?  You'll go back to
your
>M-16.


The problem is that by the time the technology to maintain these weapons is
gone, the older weapons will no longer be around at all...


Eric Young