Should people be allowed to own their own cruise missiles? It’s a favourite question among libertarians discussing gun control, and always good for a chuckle. But now we are going to have to grapple with this issue for real.
Says Bruce Simpson, 49:
Some time ago I wrote an article in which I suggested that it would not be difficult for terrorists to build their own relatively sophisticated cruise missiles using off-the-shelf components and materials.
Not surprisingly, that piece has produced a significant amount of feedback from the tens of thousands of people who have read it so far.
Included in this feedback, I’ve received quite a number of emails from former and currently serving US military personnel who acknowledge that the threat is one they are very much aware of and for which there is little in the way of an effective defense available.
Today the BBC was one of many news organisations to supply more feedback:
A New Zealand man says he is building a cruise missile in his garage with parts bought on the internet – for less than $5,000.
Internet developer Bruce Simpson, 49, says on his website that the aim of the project is make governments aware how easy it would be for terrorists to build a low-cost missile – not to provide the instructions.
He also insists that the national air force would have no means of stopping such a missile.
There has been no official comment so far from senior defence or police officials in New Zealand.
According to the website, Mr Simpson purchased a GPS development system for the project for $120 through online auctioneers eBay.
Life for Mr Simpson, 49, will never be the same again:
Regular Aardvark readers already know of my activities in the area of jet engine design and most recently, my DIY cruise missile project.
Well it seems that the mainstream media have also discovered the website and after the NZ Herald published a story yesterday, just about every news organisation in the world has picked up on it and either rung or emailed me.
When I staggered from bed on Tuesday morning, having managed to catch just a few hours of sleep, I found myself besieged by film crews and reporters, all eager to get an interview and more information on a story that seems to have grown like wildfire.
You heard it here 2,748th. Journalists eh? Always poking their noses in where they don’t belong.
Michael Jennings, who has a thing about bearded New Zealanders and suspects Simpson of facial hair also, has the story in his sites, as does the ever reliable Dave Barry, although both are on the still-cretinous Blogger, so archives, etc etc. Just type their name.blogspot.com and scroll down is all I can suggest. Either that or get Simpson to fire a cruise missile into the Blogger headquarters. Movable Type will surely pick up the tab, and if they don’t maybe I will.)
As a dabbler in homebrew mechanical stuff and automous robotics, I’ve run across that guy’s page before. Great info on Pulsejet engines and related materials.
Another wacky NZ homebrew jet engine guy is the “jet powered beer cooler” at ”
http://www.asciimation.co.nz/beer/
For a potential weapons platform, I was also interested in the high altitude glider project at:
http://members.shaw.ca/sonde/index.htm
various forms of scaled up R/C aircraft have always been a potential weapon, the difference of late is the mass availability of control systems with powerful embedded controllers and low cost/low weight/very accurate GPS and a large community of hobbyist types working with small controllers which are dirt cheap to buy and develop.
An example – the team on the East Coast trying to make an R/C aircraft that can cross the Atlantic on it’s own.
http://www.dc-rc.org/star.htm
Add enough of this stuff together and you can put a hobbyist built airframe on target via GPS just about anywhere – it’s a matter of payload, range and construction cost.
Hmmm………..I wonder if anyone is smuggling stuff with this kind of thing yet? A blimp would be even better as it moves so slowly that awacs would filter it out.
If every non-criminal citizen of your respective nation were to have his or her own cruise missile, it is hard to think of any foe that would be stupid enough to attack that nation or its interests.
Think about how much more secure your shipping and airlines would be if their crafts were equipped with military hardware and weaponry.
Think about what would have happened if said country was America and this policy was in place at noon on 11 September 2001.
A policy like this would also add another slight benefit in that foreign policy, military decision making, and ultimately the entire regime, would be much more accountable to the people.
The opposite of this position is one that asserts that only the State can be trusted with mighty weapons. This position fears – heaven forbid it – that the people should have force of arms capable of protecting their own liberty, instead of the interests of the government/majority/party.
Not surprising…not surprising at all.
I think that could even be done as a senior capstone
project at my University. 😉
Should people be allowed to own nuclear weapons? Should I be able to order multi-megaton nuclear warheads through my local gun dealer? This libertarian idea that we should all be armed to the teeth just reminds me of that quote “An armed society is it’s own best excuse.”
A V-1 “Buzz-Bomb” with a GPS receiver, terrain map, control processor and some servos from an RC plane should do nicely.
I have been informed that he does indeed have a beard. More stereotypes confirmed
Commercial GPS systems are not that hard to detect or to jam. And ask the IRA: effective warheads are really heavy and difficult to build.
You can scare the bejesus outa people, but you’re not going to build an militarily effective cruise missile in your garage.
Thats exactly why al keida used airliners and organic terminal guidance.
I like your style